Kottayam Panachikkadu Dakshina Mookambika Temple- Kerala

Address

Kottayam Panachikkadu Dakshina Mookambika Temple- Eravinalloor Panachikkad Temple Rd, Panachikkad, Kuzhimattom P.O, Kerala 686533 Phone: 0481 233 0670

Diety

Mahavishnu Amman: Saraswathi

Introduction

The Panachikkadu Temple, also known as the Dakshina Mookambika (Mookambika of the South) Temple, is a temple dedicated to the goddess Saraswati. The temple is located in the southern region of the Indian Peninsula, in Panachikkad in Kottayam District, Kerala, India. This temple is more than 1000 years old temple in Kerala. It is one of the most prominent Saraswati temples for devotees in Kerala. But, the main deity of the temple is Lord Vishnu, who was installed long before Goddess Saraswati. Still the temple is known as Saraswati temple, due to the popularity of the Goddess. There are sub-shrines for Lord Shiva, Lord Ganapathi, Lord Ayyappan, Snake deities and Panachikkattu Yakshi inside the temple.

Puranic Significance

Kottarathil Sankunni’s Aithihyamala has a detailed description of the temple, which has more than a thousand years of history. Nambudiri of Kizhapuram Illam had no male heirs to carry out the rites. He was about 60 years of age and had lost all hope of having a son. He set off to Varanasi to take a bath in the holy River Ganges. On the way, he stopped at Mookambika and stayed there for a few days and prayed to his deity. The serenity of the place enamored him and he decided to chant bhajans there for a year. After spending a year in the temple, the old man dreamed of a beautiful woman who appeared and told him that it was impossible for him to have a child in this life, and told him that it would be better for him to go back to his home and adopt a child from a family Karunattu nearby. The woman of that family would be destined to have two children in the near future. The old man accepted his fate and returned to his homeland. Upon reaching Panachikkadu, he decided to take a bath in the temple pond. He put his Olakuda, an umbrella made of palm leaves, on the southern side of the temple and went to bathe. After the bath, he tried to pick up his umbrella, but he couldn’t. The Nambudiri stood puzzled. Then a man magically materialized and explained to the Nambudiri that the Goddess Mookambika Devi was staying in the umbrella and that the Nambudiri would have to transfer the divinity to an idol before he could retrieve the umbrella. He also told the Nambudiri that an idol suitable for transfer was lying hidden in the nearby forest. He warned him that he would have to appease its protector, a Yakshi, before taking the idol. The Nambudiri did as he was told and the Goddess Panachikkadu Devi was established as the deity of the place. Another smaller idol was placed facing west as Archana Bimbam. The idol was erected in a low terrain filled with water without a roof, making it seem as if the Devi was seated in the middle of a pond. The main idol is now covered with creepers and shrubs and is not clearly visible. The leaves of the creepers are considered Saraswati leaves. The spring water flows continuously until it touches the feet of the Devi. This water never dries, not even in the peak time of summer. Since the Devi remains on such a saras (small rivulet), the Goddess is called Saraswati. The water required for pooja and other needs is drawn from the spring. No other water sources seem to exist.

Festivals

Among the holiest sites for this ritual is the Panachikkadu Saraswati Temple, where it takes place during the Panachikkadu Festival, on the last day of the Navaratri Festival, Vijayadashami