Chirakkal Mahadeva Temple, Puliyanam, Angamaly, Ernakulam Dist.

Chirakkal Mahadeva Temple, Puliyanam

The vibrant Angamaly town, 30km from Kochi, is already busy when we reached there by early morning. Under a partly cloudy sky vehicles are breezing past as if to catch up with fleeting life. Vendors are seen getting on with their morning business and people are starting about for the day’s labor. Surroundings already molded into a typical Indian street canvas. We got down at the junction and waited at the bus stop for the journey ahead.

As we waited, from a building opposite to us we heard repeating siren. A man standing close to us in the bus stop said  “It is the siren for every hour. The clock never shows right time, and the siren is scary, as you can assume it is our municipal building.” We smiled at him wondering from where they manage to get these kind of instruments! 

There are few local dwellers around who too are waiting for the bus - “Will we get bus to Chirakkal from here?”, I checked. “Yes, just wait for a while. Bus will stop here” we thanked him and continued our wait. In a while, we got our bus, an old model private bus, to the destination of the day - Chirakkal Mahadeva Temple

Puliyanam Bus Stop

From Ilavoor junction, the bus soon took a turn from crowded highway towards Puliyanam. In a while the surroundings changed - there came a serene greenery around, we felt fresh air to breath, found more space to feel and in fact sensed more time in life! – yes, a journey from materialism of town to serenity of village is so tranquil! Our bus took us around 8 km inside and finally we got down at Puliyanam government school stop. A simple and sedentary surrounding welcomed us. The signboard down a road gave us the directions. We walked around half a kilometer along that uneven road surrounded with homes. Just as we were about to reach the temple, Tripthi found her footwear damaged. We kept it on the roadside and walked barefoot to the abode of the Lord.

The entry to the temple via the road is from the West. Lord Siva here is facing East. The temple, in Kerala architecture, is completely renovated but the concrete culture has taken out the traditional aura from the structure. “How true is it that when artificial-man-made compounds get into construction, it takes out life and divinity in it.”, Trips commented. “Not just construction, it is true in everything!”. Without Dwaja or Gopuram, the temple has no ancient vibes around it, yet the large Balikallu stands as a reminder of its rich old days. Inside the Valiyambalam, the square Sreekovil is two storied and the Lord is consecrated in Rowdra bhava. There is no Devi prathista in the temple. There is a namaskara mandapa in front with Nandi idol. On the North there is Ganapathi and on the outside, there is a subshrine of Sastha and Devi.

Towards the east side, we see a grass rich pathway which takes us to a large pond (Chira in Malayalam), probably an indication to the temple’s glorious past. We walked down to the pond and standing there our mind traversed back to its past – this might have been a grand pond surrounded with green grass and tall coconut trees, around it there might have been those meandering cows, and from the distance we could be seeing the big temple, stone built with traditional architecture and with the people walking around in their antique styled costumes and with a hairstyle with a tuft!

Path to Chira

After spending some time near Chira, we walked back and on the way out talked to one of the temple administrator - “Astrologers state that in the Chira the old flagpost and vessels of this temple are still lying deep in it. Also, since Lord Shiva here is in Rowdra Bhava the view of this Chira is what cools down the power. Hence the Chira is kept intact. This temple might have got destroyed during Tipu’s raid. Moozhikulam temple is nearby which also was destroyed then. And all these areas around which you see when you walk down were part of temple compound. At some point in time most of those got appropriated by people. Now lawsuits are going on for it.”

It is considered this temple was under Chirakkal Kingdom which was a branch of Kolathiri dynasty who were descendants of Cheras. For reasons unknown, the temple later came under Alangad Kings which further came under Travancore Kingdom. Finally now, the temple is managed by Travancore Devaswam Board. Tantram is with Badrakaali Mattapilli Mana. Temple has two poojas and Sivarathri is celebrated with the support of people around this temple.

Spending almost an hour in the temple and its surroundings, we started our journey back feeling the gentle breeze from the east Chira with the hymns of Sreerudra in the backdrop.

Footnote : 

References : 108 Sivakshetrangal (Malayalam) - Kunjikuttan Ilayath