24 Jan My memories of Cherukol Bhadrakali Temple
The Bhadrakali temple along side Kallupalam-Eravipudurkada road is a temple of at least a century of antiquity. The temple , a small tile roofed structure with a closed room with wooden walls and a lockable door facing northerly and opening into a space open on three sides with wooden plank trims and wooden pillars at the upper level while lower tier had a varandah running through all the four sides.
Anjali timber and palmyra palm timber were used in the construction. Palmyra palm timber went into the making of the meshed wall around the lower varandah and also for the roof.the room or the sanctum had wooden walls all around and used Anjili timber.
This where the icon of Kali Devi was placed in. A very simple trident of iron and a short. Wooden column planted on the floor very close to the southern wall of the room and roughly at the center of the length of the wall.
The story has it that it was Panayapattu Padmanabha Pillai was the man who built this temple for the Kali matha. Or it could be even the chief of Kunduvilakom who did the building. Cross checking is rather nearly impossible.
The reason for initiating a temple for Kali is simple. In the granary room of the home, there was a small anthill when this chief of family opened the door for giving a measure of rice paddy for home use. No women were allowed to enter this granary room as they might make the space impure.
To his own surprise an anthill in the room the chief had to knock off. Then blood like stuff oozed out of the anthill. The old man was in a pensive mood as he did not think that the anthill inside granary room is in good meaning. Instead it conveyed sad meaning like around the corner some misfortune is destined to happen.
When the man slept at night he suddenly woke up as he dreamed of that Kali Devi needs a better place to stay and sleep. That place will be marked by placing Flowers etc at that spot.
This duty bound man rose up early walked over to the spot where he would come across the spot a decorated with a cow dung ganapathay. And that is the place where the future temple will be built.
The temple for Kali was built in the place,
Thus came the Kali temple of Cherukol.
a place to sleep
No Comments