Vellayani Devi Temple is a highly revered pantheon located in the serene pastures of the village called Vellayani, 9 kms away from the Trivandrum city, in Thiruvananthapuram District. This 700 year old shrine, situated on the banks of lotus-filled Vellayani Lake, is one of the renowned historic temples in Kerala. The temple enshrines Goddess Kali as the presiding deity in the most ferocious form and is one of the very powerful abodes of Kali worship in Kerala.
Other deities
worshipped here include Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh and Nagaraja. The temple
also has a separate shrine dedicated to Madan Thampuran.
The Pongala Festival attracts thousands of devotees from in and around Trivandrum, Kerala. The annual Pongala
Festival at Vellayani Devi Temple is celebrated during the Malayalam
month of Meenam on the Aswathy star day (Aswini Nakshatra). In 2012,
the Vellayani Devi Temple Pongala festival was on 25th March 2012 -
Sunday.
Vellayani Devi Temple
is renowned for celebrating the longest (50 days) non-pilgrimage
festival of South India. This festival held once in 3 years is known as
the ‘Kaliyoottu Mahotsavam’ – which literally means ‘the festival of
feeding the Devi’. During the festive occasion thousands of people from
all over the district visit the temple to pay respect to the deity.
The 'Nilathilpporu' marks the conclusion of the 56-day-long ‘Kaaliyoottu' festival at Vellayani Devi Temple. During the climactic moment of this ceremony, the demon 'Darikan' (the man with the small symbolic crown) weeps and begs for mercy from the Goddess (the person with very large thidambu). Subsequently the Goddess beheads the demon. The goddess Kali's thidambu is depicted as having twisted serpants as hairs and having elephant heads as ear-rings.
Vellayani Vishnu Temple, an ancient temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, situated nearby is worth visiting. A sage used to meditate under this banyan tree, thousands of years ago. One day, a beggar came up to him and asked for some water to drink. The pot was almost empty. The sage poured the last few drops in the pot into his palm and with a prayer, threw the drops as far as he could. To the beggar's amazement, a lake appeared, growing bigger and bigger. Out of the depths of the lake, arose an idol. The sage lifted it and placed it under the banyan tree.
The temple faces the Vellayani Lake. At sunset, the mournful sound of a conch and the gentle beat of a drum fill the air.
The temple faces the Vellayani Lake. At sunset, the mournful sound of a conch and the gentle beat of a drum fill the air.
When the the walls of the Vellayani Palace (now Vellayani College of Agriculture) were built, it collapsed. Perturbed by this bad omen, the Queen, the then ruler of Travancore, consulted her astrologers. It was said by the astrologers that "when the Lord does not have a roof, how can the Lord's servant have one" ? This cryptic remark was soon deciphered when the palace servants discovered the ruins of an ancient temple. The idol stood proudly on its pedestal but the roof of the sanctum sanctorum had been blown off. As soon as the Queen restored the little temple, work on the palace resumed without any problem.
The temple faces west, which is rare for Vishnu temples. The idol is in standing posture and has four hands. The hands at the back hold the conch and the chakra while one hand in the front holds the club, the other shows varada mudra.
On the base of the South wall of its mandapam, there is an inscription in vattaezhuthu script. The inscription dates back to the reign of the Venad King, Veera Rama Varman, the year is believed to be AD 1196. The inscription registers a gift made by the officers of the King to the Vishnu temple for meeting the expenses relating to the daily offerings of rice and for burning the sacred lamp. Today, the Travancore Devaswom Board is in charge of the temple.
