Kallekulangara - Hemambike Pahimam..

Hemambika Temple is situated at Kallekulangara, Akathethara village in Palakkad district and is also known as Emoor Bhagavathy Temple or Kaipathi Temple or Kallekulangara Bhagavathy Temple. The principal deity worshiped here is Goddess Hemambika. There is no idol except two upraised divine palms of hand of Goddess Hemambika.  There are some amazing stories on how such an idol came into existence. It is also believed that the deity takes three forms a day viz., Goddess Saraswathi in the morning, Goddess Lekshmi in the noon and Goddess Santhi Durga in the evening. It is believed that this ancient temple was established by Lord Parasurama who consecrated Balambika of Kanyakumari, Lokambika of Lokanarkavu, Hemambika of Kallekulangara and Mookambika of Kollur. According to the legends, Goddess Hemambika and Sree Durga together killed Neelasura, a powerful demon king, who was a real menace for the hermits and locals at western ghats (Sahya mountain ranges) during early periods. After demolishing Neelasura, Sree Durga sat at Manapullikavu and Hemambika found her abode at Karimala and was worshiped there for a very long time.

As said, during the ancient period, the original abode of Goddess Hemambika was on the top of Karimala hills near Palakkad Gap.  A senior Brahmin of Kurur Mana of Kallekulangara and Kaimukku mana used to worship the deity regularly by going all the way to Karimala in early morning. They became old and were unable to reach Karimala. Hearing their prayers, Goddess appeared in dream and told Kurur Namboothiripadu that her presence would be felt in a pond near to his house. To his surprise, he could find a pair of palms of Goddess in the pond. The delighted Brahmin jumped into the pond to catch the palms but they turned into stone. Next day, to everybody's amazement, the entire area was seen raised above the water level in the pond.

Later, with the aid of Palakkad Rajah, a temple was constructed and the idol of divine hands were consecrated. This is the one and only temple in India where the unique idols of two hands of the Goddess is consecrated. In earlier periods the worship was only in the morning and it is believed that it was Sri Adi Sankaracharya who initiated the Thrikala pooja(worship at three times a day) at the temple.

The idol was the tutelary deity of the Palakkad royal family. It was in this temple that the coronation ceremony, also known as Ariyittuvazcha, of the kings of Palakkad is conducted. The temple became famous during the period of Sekhara Varma Valiya Raja(1831-1911 AD). 'Neelasura Vadham' Kathakali verses based on the origin of the temple and enormous powers of the Goddess was also written by Sekhara Varma (known as Kombi Achan). The administration of the temple was looked after by Palakkad royal family till 1994. Now it is under the control of the Malabar Devaswom Board.

It is said that Smt. Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, decided to choose the palm of the Goddess as the election symbol of Congress-I after her visit to this temple and impressed by the powers of Goddess. Navaratri festival at Hemambika temple is considered auspicious.

Omalloor - Rekthakanda Omkara Moorthaye Nama

Omallur Rekthakanda swamy temple is situated at Omalloor, 12 km east of Pandalam in Pathanamthitta district and is about 4 km from the district headquarters. It is one of the famous temples of Lord Sastha worship although legends are quite a few and they do not reveal the actual origin of the temple as well as the idol. The deity's vehicle as seen atop the Golden flag mast is the horse, the vehicle of Lord Sastha (aka Vaji Vahana in hymns). 

In ancient period, the place was known as Nallur and it was after the consecration of Omkaramoorthy (Infinite Almighty) that the name was changed as Om-Nallur which was later transformed as Omallur. The temple traces its history to 8th century AD. The legend behind the establishment of the temple says that once Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu decided to find out the length of Shivalinga. Lord Brahma started journey upwards and Lord Maha Vishnu downwards. Even after several years of journey they could not reach their destinations.

 
Lord Brahma claimed that he reached the apex and produced a flower (Kaithapoovu) of Screw-pine as evidence. Realising that Lord Brahma was telling lie, Lord Shiva slash one of his heads. Lord Vishnu caught hold of the slashed head without falling into the Earth and consecrated at Kallalil, a near-by village of Omallur. Years later a competition was held at Kallalil village by two rival groups. The defeated group took the idol and threw it into the Achankovil River. The spirit of the idol took the form of a flower and a boy who was taking bath in the river with his mother caught hold of it. Then the Lord revealed himself before them and directed to build a temple there for him. It is also believed that the Lord appeared as Adisastha (the primordial form of Sastha) and a temple was built for him and was consecrated as Lord Rekthakanda swamy.

Lord Rekthakanda also called as Omkaramoorthy (Parabrahma) is the presiding deity of the temple. The stone idol symbolizes no image. But worship is done in the sankalpa that the deity is Lord Sastha. Lord Siva, Goddess Bhagavathy, Lord Ganapathy, Saptha Mathrukkal (Seven holy mothers – Brahmini, Maheswari, Kaumari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Indrani, and Chamunda), Nagaraja, Naga Yakshi are the sub-deities.

Omallur temple is a pilgrim centre on way the way to Sabarimala. The temple is under the administrative control of the Travancore Devaswom Board. The annual festival of 10 days is celebrated in the month of Medam (April-May). The festival is organized under the management of 10 Karayogams of Omallur. On the festival days, there is a customary Aarattu procession (holy bath) on each day to the Ozhuvathu Aarattukadavu at the river Achankovil and is also a rarity of the temple. 10 to 30 decorated caparisoned elephants will accompany the Aarattu procession. Omallur temple have many interesting stone carvings with Kallunadasvaram (Nadasvaram made up of stone) and Kalchangala (chain made by stone) are two among them which are seen rarely in temples of Kerala which also show the antiquity of this ancient temple.

The splendour and pompous of the procession of the deity over the caparisoned elephants accompanied with chenda and panchavadyam playing, and public reception on the market junction with nadaswaram play by reputed organists; and the return procession during the night in the light of many ceremonial lamps and the fire works at the conclusion of each day, all lead to a nostalgic recollection to every non-resident Keralites who are connected with Omalloor village.

Photo courtesy: Rahul Ashadam Photography