Uliyannoor - The God of the Divine Carpenter

Uliyannoor Mahadeva temple, located at Aluva in Ernakulam district, was designed and constructed by Perumthachhan at a distance of about 20 metres from the old temple made by Parashurama, following a request from the namboodiri families. Perumthachhan was 1 among the Vararuchi's 12 children. He was professionally a carpenter, but he was a brilliant arithmetician too.

But unfortunately with passage of time, these things were demolished. Uliyannoor temple was build, adhering strictly to the traditional legacy. Garbhagriha of this temple has a circumference of 42 metres which is adorned with goodness of Perunthachan's architecture. The main deity is Lord Shiva who faces east while Parvathi devi is also worshipped on the west end of the sanctum. The temple got the name, Uliyannoor from the phrase "Uliyante ooru" which meant 'carpenter's village'. It is also believed that the name evolved from the word "Ulliyathur" which means 'slipped chisel'.

This temple complex was built by Perumthachan. Lord Shiva's deity faces the east and the Periyar river. Garbhagriha of the temple has a circumference of 42m which was adorned with the skill of Perumthachan's architecture. 68 wooden pillars in the temple signify 64 art forms and 4 Vedas. Temple has a wide namaskaramandapa. A big statue of Nandi faces the west.

Annapoorneshwari is also worshipped here and is considered as another consort of Lord Shiva. Towards the south of this temple lies the 12 feet tall Lord Madathillappan temple. This temple has an idol of Swayambhoo Ganapathi on its southern entry. All these temples together make up the Uliyannoor Mahadeva temple complex.

Once when the construction of Uliyannoor temple was taking place, Thachan was unable to fix the pillars properly. He started praying. It is believed that he heard a corporeal which told him a solution for the same. That is how that temple got the name 'Thashttam Shivakshethram'. Uliyanoor Thachan later came to be known as Perumthachan.

Vararuchi, a brahmin, was also a famous scholar of the kingdom of Ujjayini. Since Vararuchi was extremely talented, Raja Vikramaditya was fond of him. By the age of 14, Vararuchi learned 4 vedas and all the shastras. But once Raja asked Vararuchi a question (which is the best stanza in Ramayana) which he was unable to answer. He was given a time period of 41 days. Vararuchi immersed in thoughts about this question. But still he was unable to find an answer. Hoplessly, he sat under a tree in a forest. Then he overheard the conversation between certain forest nymphs. They said that, the man sitting under this tree will get married to a Parayi(low caste) girl who will born that night and he doesn’t even know the answer of the question king asked. They discussed the question and the answer of that particular question. Since Paraya cast was well below Brahmins, Vararuchi made a mental note to kill that child. Jubilantly he re-entered into the king’s darbar next day and presented his answer. King was thoroughly impressed. The whole darbar broke into applause. Having realized that king was in happy mood, he told king that their kingdom will be in danger soon and that was because of a paraya girl born last night. When king asked him a solution for the same, he said be flown off on a boat in the torch lit hit on her head. The cavalry men obeyed kings orders. A Brahman who was chanting his morning prayers saw this child and considered himself blessed to get her as he did not have children. He took her to his house. She was brought up as his child and was later married by Vararuchi himself unknowingly.

Among Parayi’s 12 children Perumthachan was the most famous one. He was a renowned carpenter. As Perumthachan’s fame was building up, it is believed that, his son created a river by using his chisel. The river started flowing through the piazza of the temple. This temple was famous for its wealth. Once a few thieves decided to loot the temple. They entered the temple premises and set everything ablaze. It is believed that a divine person collected the treasure of Madathilappan and jumped into the river flowing through the piazza. The golden flag staff also fell into that river.

Once, Perunthachan was assigned the task of designing the temple pond. Then, there arose a fight between the karakkar (local residents) regarding the shape of the pond. Some wanted it to be in rectangular shape, some wanted it to be circular, others square. Perumthachan agreed to design a pond which matched with everybody’s interest. After construction everybody was surprised to see that it looked rectangular, circular and square in shape simultaneously, when viewed from different angles. Everyone was satisfied. Perumthachan’s fame increased. Peruthanchan had a son who was also very skilled at carpentry. He once asked Perumthachan whether anyone would go to pond crossing the river; the river was then far away from the pond. Perumthachan laughed at his son’s foolishness. But it is released that his son used his chisel and diverted the river’s course such that it started flowing between temple and pond. Hence pond started losing its fame and later it was abandoned. Son’s fame started to increase.

Perumthachan constructed a bridge across the Periyar River. It had a wooden doll on its end. When a person starts from one end of the bridge, the doll starts moving down and by the time the person reaches the middle,doll fills its mouth with water and when the person crosses the bridge it spits on that person’s face. But Perunthachan’s son was more clause , he designed another doll which starts to move from one end of bridge as the person starts to walk. It reaches the other end before that person and slaps the doll which spits. Therefore the doll was unable to spit on anybody’s face. Perunthachan felt insulted. Slowly his son started becoming more popular. Perumthachan feared that his son would be a threat to his fame and that he would be a threat to his name. More over his son was more clever and more skilled than him at carpentry, but was arrogant and imprudent and never showed respects to anyone. Perumthachan was furious about this and it is said that he killed his own son by dropping a chisel on his head and hence the village got the name Uliyannoor.

The village of Panniyoor on the banks of River Nila (Bharatapuzha) once decided to build a temple complex (Panniyur Varahamurthy temple) that would be better than the ones even in Heaven. The onus of building this marvel fell on the master carpenter, Perumthachan. With a team of fine carpenters in the region, Perumthachan started the work and soon the news spread to the Heavens that the architecture of the temple complex in Panniyoor village had the potential to overshadow the splendour of the Gods. As insecure as only he could get, Lord Indra, the King of Gods himself, set out on a journey to the village to find for himself if there was any truth in these rumours. Once he saw the brilliance of the work in progress, he was overcome with envy and started plotting against the carpenters’ team. Every day, once the carpenters went out of the temple complex after the day’s work, Lord Indra would come to the workshop and make wrong markings on the wood, so as to confuse the carpenters the next day. With wrong measurements, they failed to finish the work in time, but were not aware that it was the handiwork of Lord Indra. Every single day, they ended up having to redo their work the previous day, and this delayed the project. Perumtachan however realized that it was the handiwork of the jealous Indra who wanted to scuttle the initiative. He understood that his fellow carpenters would lose their reputation and therefore their livelihood if they did not complete the project on time. He decided that since he couldn't find a way to appease the Gods, he would rather quit than jeopardize his colleagues' careers. He jabbed his chisel and measuring scale into the temple wall and left the temple courtyard in anger pronouncing that he has decided to stop working and was going to be a nomad. Since Perumthachan was no longer in the picture, Lord Indra too expectedly, returned to his abode. Through his sacrifice, Perumthachan ensured that the carpenters in his village were never out of work. This 4,000 year old temple to this day stays as an incomplete work of art and looks like a work in progress. A chisel and measurement scale are visibly inserted into the wall. Another version of the story is also there and is given in the post of Panniyur Varahamurthy temple and hence is not repeated here.

Once Perumthachan went to see Agnihothri, his brother. He was made to wait outside as Agnihothri was busy with morning prayers and rituals. When Perumthachan asked his maids what he was doing they said he is doing his rituals. Each time they said a name, he dug a hole and by the time Agnihothri finished his prayers and came out to meet Perumthachan there were couple of holes on the ground. Then Perunthachan said if he had dug a single hole, then it would have been deep enough by move, and he would have water. Agnihothri understood that Perunthachan was criticising him and his act of worshipping many gods at a time. But Agnihothri replied by telling that if Perunthachan had dug holes for some more time there, he would have found water in each hole and also reminded him that springs are linked with each other. Perunthachan also agreed to this.

Photo: Perumthachan's Chisel as seen attached to the wall at Panniyoor Varaha Murthy temple

Entry to the temple should be made only after taking bath or washing oneself properly in Periyar river. First, one should pray before Madathilappan and Lord Mahaganapathi and only then one should pray before Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi. It is believed that Dampathi darshanam (where couples come together and pray) is more effective. This temple is also famous for offerings related to academics. "Murajapa" and special "Thantri pooja" are other important offerings here. The Ghee obtained after the pooja is given to kids for improving their intellectual ability.

Udayasthamana pooja, Appam nivedyam etc. are important offerings to Lord Ganapathi. Vinayaka Chathurthi is celebrated here with lights, colours and special poojas. Important offerings for Madathilappan include Dhara, Ksheeradhara, Kalabhabhishakam etc. The Ashtami in the month of Vrishchikam is also celebrated here.

The Thiuvathira of Makaramaasam, Shivarathri, Meedavishu Sankrama etc. are celebrated in all grandeur. The Punartham of Midhunamasam is celebrated as Prathishta dinam. Kalabhabhishekam, Chathushatha Nivedhyam etc. are other important offerings.

Considering the structural importance, the ancient temple was declared as protected monument by the Department of Archaeology in 1998.