PAYYANUR PAVITHRA MOTHIRAM-PART 1 Dear friends, Today duringour upakarma while pavithram was served, I was telling my brother’s son about Payyanur pavithra mothiram.I told him I have read somewhere if we are wearing a Pavithra mothiram made atPayyanur and worshipped at Muruga temple there, it can be a substitute to ourPavithram made out of Dharbha when it is not available. I felt I should nottell him that it couldreplace.
Afterfinishing all functions related, I thought I could write of Payyanur and Murugatoday. Hope it would give an interesting reading. Sincerely, GopalaKrishnan 24-8-2010.Reposted on 23-1-2021 after editing and updating. Gopala krishnan 1. Payyanur Payyanuris a municipality situated in the Kannurdistrict of Kerala. The place derives its name from the renowned Sri Subrahmanya SwamiTemple located here. Payyan is an appellation of Lord Subrahmanya and ooru means "the place". Thus Payyanurmeans the land of Lord Subrahmanya. Payyanur is alsowell known for Pavithra Mothiram, Astrology, art forms like Theyyamand Poorakkali, and historical movements like that held at Korom. Update- Rare shops in Chennai have really made andworshipped Pavithra mothiram and weight is too much and so theprice. Most show ordinary ring with print of Pavithram in the face. 2. Payyanur Brahmin settlements Payyanur isthe northernmost of the traditional Brahman settlements of Kerala. When Brahmins took over the control of the society of Kerala, theyformed 64 "manigramas "(villages) and Payyanur was one among them. Later for theadministrative convenience they grouped these 64 villages into four “kazhakas”. Of course,Payyanur was again one among them (Perinchelloor, Parappoor and Chengannurbeing the other three). Sree Subrahmanya Swami Templewas the temple of the Payyanur kazhakam. It is observed that the customs of theBrahmins of Payyanur is entirely different from that of the Brahmins of otherparts of Kerala. The main peculiarity is of the Brahmans of this village isthat they follow matrilineal. This is told of Kerala Brahmins- Nampoothiries. 3. Payyanur temple SreeSubrahmanya Swami Temple of Payyanur is believed to be constructed by LordParasurama, the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. There arereferences in Hindu Puranas about this temple and the temple town Payyanur. In Brahmanda Purana thetemple and its town is being mentionedwhile Muni Garga explains about Kerala to the Pandavas during their exile(vanavasa). SubrahmanyaSwami Temple is closely related with the Payyanur. Even the name of the town is originated dueto the existence of the temple as Imentioned earlier. 3.1 Temple re construction This templewas destroyed two times. Once due to a fire and then during the attack of Tippu Sultan ofMysore the temple was reconstructed inthe present form in Malayalam era 967 (AD 1792) 3.2 Deities in the temple Apart from themain deity, Subrahmanya, there are other deities also being worshipped here.They are Lord Antipathy, Bhootathar, Kanya Bhagavathi, Sasthavu and Parasurama.Kshetrapalan and Vairajathan are also being worshipped. 4. Payyanur temple Features There are manyunique features about this temple in the rituals performed, the architectureetc. First of all the 12ft tall compoundwall constructed in a unique style is very rare kind in the temple architectureof Kerala. The total area of this temple compound is above 3 acres. The two-storied sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum)is in the shape of “Gajaprishta” (back of an elephant). The 6-ft tallidol of the main deity Lord Subrahmanya is another attraction. 4.1 No flag staff In most of theKerala temples the festival begins with the hoisting of the sacred flag. But here there is no such custom of "kodiyettam” (flag hoisting)and even the flag mast is not presenthere. The “Ilanji”tree in the front-yard of the temple remains a surprise to all devotees since this tree always flowers but never give fruits. 4.2 Kshathrias not allowed Peoplebelonging to the "kshatriya" community are not allowed to enter into the inside of the temple. Entryto the 'naalambalam" is denied to the monks who wears saffron. I could notget the reason for this. Also I read as in Kidangoor temple women are notallowed with in Nalambalam. Also nampoothiries who perform Aabichaaram (Blackmagic) 4.3 Temple timings The"palliyunarthal"(the waking up of the deity by blowing the sacredbells and chanting hymns) is held at 3:30 in the early morning The routinefunctions starts with the poojas at 4:00 am and by 12:00 noon the temple isclosed. Again at 5:00 PM in the evening it will beopened and around 9:00 PM closed. There area total of 5 "poojas" and 3 "seevelees" held per day. 5. Temple Festivals The majorfestival of this temple, the“Aradhana Mahotsavam” is celebrated from the 1st of Vrishchikam to 14thof the same month of the Malayalam Era.Aradhana Festival isconsidered as the festival of thewhole Payyanur. The Aradhana festival of Payyanur temple marks the beginning of the festival season ofPayyanur and neighbouring places. The "tidampu ezhunnellathu"(procession ofthedeity) accompanied by the traditionalmusical instruments and other sacred formalities are the main ceremony of the festival. A number of cultural events are also heldalong with the 14-day long Aradhana festival. The “Kalabha Charthu" which is on the day ofAtham in the month of Medam iscelebrated as the "punaprathishta dinam" (the reinstallation day of the temple). 5.1 Tripoothari- A festival of communal harmony Triputhari,the harvest festival is also one of the functions celebrated here. Duringtriputhari, the newly harvested rice is cooked and offered to the deity. Thisfestival is a good example of communal harmony and co-existence. Thesugar used for the ‘payasam’ (the traditional pudding) is brought by a Muslim family of Payyanur. When the date for the festival is decided, anofficial visits this family at kelothand informs them about it. On the festival day a member from that familybrings the sugar in a brand new pot to the temple. In return he will begiven rice, coconut, bananas etc as a compliment from the temple. Nothing is told ofPavithra mothiram? I will start with pavithra mothiram in next part. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/304115957.1710582.1611392793391%40mail.yahoo.com.
