Kumaranalloor Devi Temple
Kumaranalloor Devi temple is one of the Adiparasakthi (supreme goddess) temples situated in Kumaranalloor in Kottayam District . It is one among the 108 Durga (Goddess Durga) temples in Kerala. This temple is considered to be more than 2400 years old. The main deity here is Goddess Durga. It is believed that the spirit of Madurai Meenakshi resides in this temple.
HISTORY
This temple was actually built for Lord Subrahmanya during the reign of the emperor Cheraman Perumal. At the same time he began the construction of another temple at Udayanapuram for Goddess Durga. While the construction of these temples where going on, an incident at Madhurai Meenakshi Temple in TamilNadu. Devi’s precious gem studded nose ring was stolen. The king ordered to find the culprit. Because the nose ring would not be lost without the knowledge of the temple he ordered to kill the priest if he couldn’t find the solution in 41 days. The innocent priest was confused and scared . The priest spent his days crying and praying at the feet of Devi. On the 40th night, Devi appeared in his dream and told him to leave the place at once. He suddenly opened his eyes and saw a divine light moving so he followed the light. The light led him to a far away place which later became Kumaranalloor. Here the temple for Subramanya was under construction.
During the idol consecration, Devi Chaitanya (spirit) entered the shrine and there heard a divine voice saying ‘kumaran alla ooril' (this place is not for Kumara (Subramanya)), this place is for Kumari (Devi). Thus it got the name Kumaranalloor. Hearing the news Perumal decided to place Devi’s idol. He found an idol lying in water at a nearby place called Vedagiri. At the time of installation, a Brahmin sage appeared and installed the idol and suddenly vanished after that. People still believe that the Brahmin Sage was Parasurama.
ARCHITECTURE
The temple architecture is unique. The nalambalam(rectangular courtyard) and sreekovil(innermost sanctuary) is built in Sreechakra (Ring like object in Devi’s hand )style . The temple has four gopurams one each in the east, west, north and south . The main gopuram (entrance) is faces towards the east. The other three gopurams and facing west , north and south. One can see a golden dhwajom (flag staff ) when entering through the main gopuram.
There is a balickal pura with carving s and sculptures of many different deities like Ganapathy, Siva etc. Inside the nalambalam , there is stone paved path surrounding the sreekovil . The deity of Siva is to the right of the Sreekovil and Bhadrakali is situated on the south of the temple.
There are murals (wall paintings) on the outer walls of the sreekovil. The murals are of gods and the stories of the epics Ramayana and Mahabharatha. The colours for these paintings are made natural colours and medicinal plants.
FESTIVALS
The most important festival of this temple is Thrikkarthika which is celebrated in the month of Vrischikam (November–December). It is a ten day festival that starts with holy flag hosting (Kodiyettu) . Special poojas are conducted from the next day onwards. The ninth day of the festival (Karthika) is the most important day. The festival concludes on the tenth day by taking Devi’s idol will be taken to Meenachil River for Holy bath (Aarattu) in the morning and Vilakku in the evening .
Arppan App
Arppan is an app that offers people to book temple offerings in advance and in accuracy. This app will help those who find it difficult to reach the temple directly to make offerings. The Arppan App is now available on AppStore and PlayStore.
or you can download this application for free visit https://onelink.to/45sgub
All the offerings of Kumaranalloor Devi Temple is available in Arppan. You can book your arppans through Arppan App.
May all your Arppans Come True !!