Ikkare kottiyoor

Ikkare kottiyoor 

photographer Janan E.R

The temple looks like a naalukettu with an agra mandapam and an inner court yard .The garbhagriham is at the rear side. The naalukettu has three entrances and is built with laterite stones and tiled roof The square garbhagriha at the rear side is of saandhaara type.On either side,there are rooms.one of the rooms has a door to the outside.A deepasthambham  stands out side.There is no well for the temple but water is taken from the therththakundam.

There are some exquisite wood carving on the ceiling of the agramandapam depcting ashtadikpaalas, peanace   of himavaan, birth of paarvathi ,paarvathiiswayamvaram kiraathaarjuneeyam, ananthashayanam, parrot,bangles etc..At the projected ends of rafters mural paintings of leaves,creepers and flowrers are depicted.

Deites 

panchaloha idol of of Lord Siva ,Godess Paarvathimirror type idol of Sree Porkkili bhagavathi(bhadrakaali)During festivl days the idols of Lord Siva and Paarvathi are taken to Akkare kottiyoor

The temple is kept open on all days (except during the festival days at akkarekottiyoor)from 6.00 am to 8.00 pm

Offerings appam,,sharkkarappaayasam,pushpaanjali and koovalamaala are popular 

Sree (Trccharumamanna) Siva temple Kottiyoor

Sree (Trccharumamanna) Siva temple Kottiyoor

70 kms south -east of Kannur The road from Kannur via Mattannur-Irritty joins the Thalasseri -Kottiyoor road at Peraavoor.From Peraavoor-Manaththana-Kanichaar-Kelakam-Kottiyoor is the route

11th June 2013

Legend Kottiyoor,situated on Sahyaadri mountains ,also known as southern kaasi(vaaranaasi),is believed to be the place where series of great sacrificial rites were  performed by Daksha prajaapathi.Once he held a great yaaga known as Brahaspathihavanam.For this he did not invite his daughter Sathiidevi and Lord Siva.Sathiidevi went to attend the yaaga ignoring the warnings of Lord Siva. Lord Daksha ignored her.In great despair ,she prepared an altar of fire and ended her life.Hearing this tragic incident ,Lord Siva got infuriated and beat his matted hair on the ground.From this two deities Goddess Bhadrakaali and Lord Veerabhdran emerged.

They were directed by the Lord to proceed to the yaaasaala.They disrupted and destroyed the yaagasaala and killed all including Daksha.All rishis and devas were in fear.At that time Lord Brahma and other Devas approached Lord Siva and prayed to shed his anger.Satisfied with their prayers ,LordSiva became calm and agreed to restore the life of Daksha.As his head could  not be traced,head of a lamb was fixed on Dakshas body and he was revived.By the grace of Lord Siva ,Daksha completed the yaaga.
History

The site of the yaaga was then subsequently covered with dense forest. Centuries later a band of Kurichyas,(the hill tribes living around kottiyoor) were hunting deer when an arrow stuck at a granite stone and blood ozed out.This phenomenon puzzled them and they reported the incident to the eldest member of the near by patinjaatte illam and also the Kaaranavars of Kulangaraththu,Aakkal,Karimpanakkal,chaaththoththu and Thittayil tharavaats.All of them assembled at the site.The namboothiri,well versed in  thantric lore got an intuition that an idol is lying at a particular spot.The members of the nair families who accompanied him were asked to dig the ground there.To their great surprise they found a swayambhoo idol there.It is believed that God Himself appeared in the yajnabhoomi for showering blessing on all.The present trustees are said to be the descedants of these nair families.The place where the swayam bhoo idol was found is known as Akkare Kottiyoor in the midst of waters of Baavali river

As the moolasthaanam of the temple is not accessible always another temple was built in ancient times on the southern side of the vaavalippuzha. This place took the name Ikkare kottiyoor which is at a distance of 3 kms. 

Both these places together constitute Kottiyoor temple.During the festival days ,the idols of Lord Siva and the Goddess are taken to the Akkare kottiyoor and the shrine is closed. ,thouh the idol of Goddess Bhadrakaali continues to be there

The gopuram of Akkare kottiyoor at Manaththana deserves special mentoin since from here start the limits of Akkare kottiyoor on the southhern side.The H.R &C.E department took over the temple in 1954.
Akkare kottiyoor The extent of  the present area is  42 acres

of forest land ou of which 12 acre constitute the temple .There is no  building but temporary sheds are erected on tharas during Festival days. A temporary thatched shed is erected on Maniththara, facing east which has the swayambhoo idol of Lord Siva.Though  the idol faces east the theertham and prasadam are distributed by the priest facing west.

Ammaarakkal

 No shed is erected on Ammaarakkal,the spot where Sathiidevi ended Her life in the alththaar.But it has a lamp covered with a giant size oolakkuta(an umbrella made of palmyra leaf) 

The thitappalli at the south of maniththara,is a semi-permenant shed with laterite stone and palmyrah-leaf roof.Bhandaaraththra(vaal-ara),at the south-eastern side and facing north,is a semi permanent building with laterite wall and wodden ceiling.All essential items used for the rites are kept above the ceiling of the structure.Apeepul tree also stand on the north of Ammaarakkal .thara,besides the Bhandaarathara.All these tharas are surrounded the hoyl waters of vaavalippuzha known as Thuruvamchira ,which take the form of a square pool having three outlet to the river on east,west and south-east.The ancient name of Thiruvamchira ws Rudhiram chira which is believed  to have been formed by the blood which gushed out at the time of beheading Daksha. During festival days a barricade is built around the maniththara,vaalara,thitappalli,and Bhandaaraththara using cdjan leaves.

During festival days 8 temporary sheds are built to the north of the western most outlet meant for chaaththoththukayyaala(2nd ooraalan),ochar(vaadyakkaar),kozhikkottari(thantri),patinjaattethth (namboothiri),eazhillakkaar,kovilakam kayyaala,executive officer,besides the police outpost. On the southern side of the outlet are sheds for peru-nair,officer,vaariyarnambeeshan aakkan(3rd ooraalan),kolangara(1st ooraalan),thittel(4th ooraalan),pantheerati-kaambram namboothiripaat.usha-kaambram nan-mboothirippaatand panniyoor namboothiri..On the south-eastern side are the sheds for kalasamandapam,aasaari and kotterakkaavu.To the south west of kaasha mandapam are the portions for paloonam kanakka-pillai, nanthyaarvalli(thantri).To the north of eastern outlet are the sheds for peruvannaan,perumkaalavan,and kuricchyan.It is a uniqu feature that persons of different classes responsible for celebrating the festival reside at the same place.Each has certain privilages and rites in the temple.There are no facilities for the stay of devotees at the temple site 

Poojas are held only for one month ie from Chothi asterisk in the month of Itavam to Chithra asterisk of in the month of Mithunam. During this period the temple is kept open through out the day

Offerings neyyamruthu abhishekam,ilaneer abhishekam jalaabhishekam,kalabhaabhishekam ,pushpaanjali,maalachaarththal 1000 kutam jalaabhishekam 

Prasaadams distributed includes kalabham,ashtabandham,aatiya-ney,ilaneer,ootapovu,ootavati ootapoovu s are believed to be the beard of Dakshawhich was taken by the bhootha-ganas of Siv

Deities   Kottiyoor-Perumaal (swayambhoo of sila-linga type)

Ammaarakkal thara is important as this is the place where Sathiidevi ended Her life in the burning altar

The sword of Veerabhadra(believed to have been used for be heading Daksha ) is kept in the thara facing west 
FESTIVALS  The rituals of kottiyoor has 7 angams and 4 upaangasams 
1 praakkoozham It means measuring ofpaddy(nellalavu), rice(ari alavu) ,beaten rice called (aval alavu) on Vishaakham in the month of Metam On the same day purifactory and other thantric rites are held at the Aayillaarkaavu by the PatinjaatteNamboothiri.The nivedyam is knon as appata .There is a belief that whoever feels the appata sour on tasting he will die within a year.After these rites the karanavars of the 4 ooraalaars familiesare given prasadam.On the same day  the yaaga-parichaarakaars  are honoured at Krimpana gopuram by the ooraalaars.Then both the ooraalaars and parichaarakaars reach Ikkar kottiyoor temple,well befor the commencement of the rite known as Neerezhunnallaththu.

By dusk on the chothi asteriskof Itavam, the first day of the commencement of the festival ,a sword daily worshipped at Muthireri kaavu in Thavinjaal village of Maananthavaati taluk is taken to Ikkare kottiyoor temple by the priest of that temple(Vaal-varavu).

vaal-varavu

The belief is that this sword was used by Veerabhadra to cut off the head of Daksha prajaapathi.After beheading Daksha ,Veerabhadra threw away the sword and it fell at the site of Muthireri kaavu.
At the same time Agni(fire) is brought  by Thetannoor Vaariyar from the Jaathiyoor matham of Marthonkara(kuttiyaati)of Vatakara taluk,after observing strict vritham.The Agni is then taken to Ikkare kottiyoorunder the leadership of Patinjaatte namboothiri.Then after purifactory rites,the lamp at Akkare-kottiyoor known as Chothi-vilakku is lit.
It is significant that the wicks for these lamps are made and brought from the Sree Theru Ganapathi temple of Kooththuparamba by Maniyan chettiyaar.These wicks are are specially prepared after observing vritham.
The next ritual is naalam thurakkalwhich denote the removal of astabandha which had been used to cover the swayambhoo idol in the previous year..It is followed by Neyyamruthuabshishekam of the swayambhoo idol

performed by Usha-kaambram namboothiri.The ghee for  the abhishekam is brought by four traditional nair families of Iruvanaat,pallippaalan kurup,kuttiyaattoor and thammangaatan nambiyaarThose who bring ghee to the temple 



 are known as neyyamruthakkaars and they have to observe the customary vritha and rituals.They will have to wait  at Ikkare-kottiyoor till the muhoorththam for entering Akkare-kottiyoor comes.
On the next day (on Vishaakham asterisk),the ornaments and swords of the deities are brought from Karimpana gopuram in procession by the 

kuti-pathis(store-keepers),ezhillakkaars(belonging to 7 nair tharavaats)to Akkare kottiyoor.This ritual is followed by ari-alavu for the rites,abhishekam prasanna-pooja,sree-bali and sreebhootha-bali.

The daily routines start with jalaabhishekam followed by usha-pooja by usha-kaambram namboothiripaat and panthiirati-pooja by pantheerati-kaambram namboothiripaat.In the evening there are rites like sahasra-kumbhaabhishekam,navakam,pancha-gavya abhishekam and aththaazha-pooja.All these items are done by Kozhikkaattiri bhattathirippaat and Nanthyaarvalli namboothirippaat.The daily rites ends with sree-bali and sreebhootha-bali.
On the Thiruvonam asterisk ,paalamruthu-abhishekam is the important rite.The milk is aken from Karothth by thesthaani nairs after observing vrithm.The milk is taken  in mulam-kutti(bamboo-goblet)covered with a scorched plantain leaf.The bearers of milk also have to wear caps made of plantain leaves and take it to the site

under palmyra-umbrellas. The abhishekam  of this milk (paalamruthaattam)is then done by the thantri after mixing the milk with pancha-gavyam
On the 8th day of Thiruvonam asterisk ,they keep the tender coconuts ,before the deity known as Ilaneerveppu and offer kaanikka before returnig home after worshipping the deity.lacks of people come on this day 

 to worship .The devotees mainly from theeyya community ,observe vritha from vishu day,Though all can place Ilaneer and gingely oil ,seven families have some privilages for this.Of them the privilage of bringing Ilaneer and copper-pot full of gingelly oil on head from the Eruvatti vettakkorumakan templerests with the Eruvatti-thandayaan.The custom of taking these items in procession led by a person from Anjoottan community has been folowed for centuries.He is known as Anjoottaan sthaanikan and he wears the dress of Viirabhadran.The vaadyakkaar belong to traditional families.The devotees have special caps made of arace-nut palm leaf.with pearls fixed to colourful threads.
The important ritual on the next day (Avittam asterisk) is Muththappan varavu(arrival o Bhoothaganas to the Yaaga bhoomi)accompanied by Curichyaas.At the specified muhoorththam Eazhillakkaar enter the Bndaarappura take the sword of Sree Veerabhadra and honour the Muththappan and bid him farewell.
Revathi and Rohini asterisks are important..The Aaraadhana of Rohini astersisk is the privilage of Krumaththoor illam 

SHIIVELi

From the makam day women are prohibited to enter the Thiruvam chira.The main thantri is allowed to sit on the Maniththara. Nallooraan sthaanikan accompanied by 13 persons of Kushava community ,proceed to the Maniththara after observing vrithm.Contiuining  the vritham at Thiruvanchira ,they wear valkkala (cloth made of bark)and holy ashes are smeared all over the body.Each one enters the Maniththara  independently and worship the deity at night in secret and takes prasadam from the thantri and leaves in disguise after taking food.These rites are held for three days.(on Makam,Pooram and Uthram asterisks)
On Aththam astersik 1000 kalasams are offered.On the next day morning  Abhishekam of the swayam-bhoo idol is done.There after a macchaan  (a  sthaanikan)takes out the bhadradeepam from the shed at Maniththaraand the shed is up rooted and its materials are put into  the holy waters of Vaavalipuzha. Then Klashaabhishekam 

is held. Thereafter Dakshinas to thantris are given by the ooraalars. 
Taking sword back to the Muthireri temple is the next ritual.All the ornanments and idols are taken back to the respective locations besides performing a yaathraaa-bali at the Ikkare kottiyoor temple.Then the atiyanthirakkaaran takes food from Maniththara and pollutes it.This pollution continues till the next season.