India's first temple of 51 goddesses named after 51 Malayalam alphabets in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: For the first time in India, 51 goddesses named after 51 Malayalam language alphabets are being consecrated on the occasion of 'Maha Navaratri' at Pournamikavu temple near Vizhinjam in this district of Kerala.

The 51 idols are completed at Myladi, the second largest sculpture village after Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu. The idols will be brought to Thiruvananthapuram on the eve of Navaratri festival for the installation ceremony.

The ambitious project to install these goddesses was planned by Chief Tantris of major temples including Pushpanjali Swamiyar of renowned Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple, Mitran Namboodiri, Malliyoor Sankaran Namboodiri and well known musician Kaithapram Damodaran Namboodri, Temple trustee MS Bhuvanachandran told UNI.

Whatever be the language, according to Vedas, letters have special powers. Realising the powers of the letters, the deities behind each Malayalam alphabet was found from vedic scriptures including Rig Veda, Siva Samhita, Devi Bhagavatam, Hari Nama Keerthanam and works (Kriti) by Adi Shankara.

Before fixing the final form of the deities, they had conducted decade long researches and discussions. There has been evidences pointing to the fact that the erstwhile scientists and sages had realised the power of alphabets and words and had recoded it for the benefits of the posterity.

The first challenge was to scientifically codify all these knowledge and fix a final shape for the idols.

Even modern centres of excellences and well known universities in the western countries have studied and analysed the power of Mantras. The sculptors and researchers also have gone through the research studies and compared it with what is stated about this in the Vedas.

The results of the research were interesting. They realised that all the deities behind this letters were 'feminine' gods in Devi cult. They identified 51 deities for 51 Malayalam alphabets and got them reincarnated in the stone sculpt chiselled out by great sculptors of Myladi.

At the bottom of each sculpt, they have sculpted the alphabet in a most attractive way.

Talking to UNI, Pushpanjali Swamiyar said the reference to these letter deities has been referred in the Hari Nama Keerthanam, Sloka number 14 to 16, by Ezhuthachan, the father of Malayalam language.

Though Goddess Saraswati is considered to be the goddess of letters, she is the deity of only one Malayalam alphabet 'Tha'.

She has another name called Thamasya Devi, which means one who banishes darkness. It may be noted that in the Vedas and Puranas, goddess Kali was depicted with wearing a garland of 51 skulls with each of them representing alphabets in the Vedas and Puranas.

Another interpretation about the garland of skulls is that it would ward off death. Even when the body returns to earth, the garland of letters will not be destroyed.

Mr Bhuvanachandran, the brain behind the project, said their 12-year long efforts has culminated with the installation of the deities. Each of the idols has a distinct attire, jewellery, weapon and Vahana.

“Before deciding over the three dimensional pictures of the deities, elaborate efforts were made to prepare the sculpture with minute details based on scriptures in the Vedas and epics” he said.

Chief sculptor Madan kumar said though they got the three dimensional picture, they also had to undertake long and strenuous penance and meditation to visualise the deities in this format as they were creating the goddesses of power.

The trained sculptors selected Krishna Sila from Namakkal, Dindigul as it is the ideal stone for sculpting.

Each stone measuring 15 feet in length and 10 feet in breadth was brought to Myladi, Madan Kumar said.

It needs mastering special skills in sculpting idols and that mastery comes from the long tradition. Madan Kumar's father and grandfather were well known sculptors.

When they started working on the idols of letters, the major handicap was their lack of knowledge in Malayalam. While Tamil language has 247 alphabets, Malayalam language has only 51 alphabets. There were 31 sculptors involved in this work.

"To construct temples for alphabets in other languages -- Kannada, Hindi, Marathi and Sanskrit -- inquiries are received in the temple contact number, 9447010690, from respective States as these languages also have 51 alphabets as in Malayalam," Temple trustee MS Bhuvanachandran said.

The specialty of Pournamikavu Devi Temple, situated at Vizhinjam in Kerala is that it opens only on 'Pournami' (Full Moon day) of every month.

The temple, situated 17 km from Thiruvananthapuram, has India's largest Panjamukha Ganapathi idol carved out of 'Krishnashila,' in a single stone.

According to history, Pournami Devi was worshipped by Ay dynasty as their war-goddess (the 'Padakaali Amma' having five forms Bala Bhadra Devi, Soumya Bhadra, Veere Bhadra, Shoora Bhadra, Samhara Bhadra).

The Ay kingdom functioned as a buffer state between the powerful Pandyas/Cholas (Tamil Nadu) and the Cheras (Kerala) in the medieval period.

Vizhinjam was the administrative capital of Ay kingdom, which is believed to have ruled over parts of the southern India between the 8th and 10th centuries A.D.

It is believed that Ay kingdom had established an educational centre known as Kanthalloor Salai, which is believed to be existed between the 9th and 10th centuries.

The region had witnessed several battles in which the Chola and Pandya dynasties attempted to gain control of the port town. Later, Vizhinjam gradually lost prominence after the 10th century after coming under constant attack of the other kingdoms.

Ay dynasty was an Indian Yadava or Ayar ruling lineage which controlled the south-western tip of the peninsula, from the early historic period up to the medieval period.

The clan traditionally held sway over the harbour of Vizhinjam, the fertile region of Nanjinad, and southern parts of the spice-producing Western Ghat mountains. The dynasty was also known as Kupaka in the medieval period. (UNI)

(Photo Credit: Facebook/@Pournamikavu)