PERUVANAMMAHADEVA TEMPLE, TRICHUR DISTRICT KERALA-COMPILED
Dear friends, The Peruvanam Mahadeva temple is at Chirrup comprised inOorakam village of Thrissur District. It is located about 10km south ofThrissur town on the Thriprayar route, near Thayamkulangara bus stop, at adistance of 100 meters south. This is a very old temple. Padmasree Kuttan marar is native of Peruvanam.This temple has many specialties like no annual festival, Two Shivalingain one peetam etc. Peruvanam pooram is considered now as temple festival,though the deity at Peruvanam does not participate in the pooram. Hope a divine reading. Gopalakrishnan 19-07-2025 Introduction Peruvanam Mahadev Temple is a Shiva Temple situated inPeruvanam of Thrissur District, Kerala, India. The temple is said to be inexistence with the origin of Kerala and the advent of Parashurama. It is one among the famous 108 Shivatemples in Kerala, and is the main temple of the old time Peruvanam village.With in the campus the Bhadrakali andSubramanya temples are on the west, aSastha temple and a Ganapathi are on the north, a Vishnu temple is on theeast and a Durga temple is on the south. The opulent templecomprises of two shrines namely 'Irattayappan Temple' on the North and 'Maadathilappan Temple' onthe South. The dual Shivalinga is the unique feature of the Irattayappan Temple whichis the reason why its prime deity is also known as Irattayappan denoting theduality. Madathilappan Temple's sanctum is considered to be the tallest one inSouth India. One of the most famous festivals which are celebrated in thetemple is the Peruvanam Pooram. The Archaeological Survey of India has been protecting the temple since1982. Legend As per legends, after Saint Parashurama reclaimed Kerala fromthe sea, 64 Gramams were set up by him out of which Peruvanam Gramam was themost important one. Sage Puru son of Hasthinapuram king Yayathy, is believed to have created thetemple in a later period. It is also thought that while a Shivalinga was transportedafter receiving it from a lake nearBadrinath, it got stuck on the branch of a tree after which the Madathilappan Temple,which stands today, was built at that spot. The name of the place derived from the word “POORU VANAM”. The twin Siva lingams, consecrated in the round sanctumthat has been covered with copper plates, (Irattayappan) are believed to be self-originated atthe place where the Lord appeared before the sage. The sage kept thedivine idols that he had with him on the branch of the Bilva tree when he wentfor a bath. As he found it impossible to take them from there upon coming back,he built a sanctum at thatheight and consecrated the idols there. The sage is also consecratedat the western side of the temple. Temple The temple is on a small hill top of six and a half acres with many banyans, and Ilanji trees aswell as one that has not been identified. The temple is surrounded by a compound wall. The Irattayappanshrine has been built on a circular base. Also, the Matatthilappan Temple issituated on the south and consists of three stories. Deities Shiva in dual linga form is the main feature of the templeand Lord is called “IRATTAYAPPAN” which denote the duality. The Sricovil of Madathilappan about120 feet is considered to be the tallestSricovil in South India. Goddess Parvati is worshipped behind Irattayappan in the sameSanctum sanctorum. Architecture and typeof worship There are two approaches to the inner courtyard(Chuttampalam) of the Peruvanam temple, from the West and east sides. The mainentrance is from the East. As you enter from the East you are facing Sreeparvathy, theGoddess who is the consort of Irattayappan. Then you may go to a large circular sanctum sanctorum (Sreekovil)of Irattayappan facing west. There is a taboo all over Kerala in crossing the imaginary ray(Soma Rekha) emanating from Siva and going north. Hence, one doesnot make a complete perambulation in the inner courtyard of Siva temples. Most devotees at the Peruvanam temple go round the Bilva treeto the north and return clockwise to the south side where there is a shrine ofGanapathy and Dakshinamoorthy. You, then, go back to the west and worshipIrattayappan once again. There is an independent,large, Sreekovil of another Siva, the Matatthilappan, on the south. It is a three storeyed structureand you reach the shrine of Matatthilappan after ascending a flight of over twenty steps.You will find a huge Sivalinga at the back of a large Mukhamandapam (hall). It is believed that the Sivalingamworshipped by sage Puru for long years is beneath that. The sage, himself, has been enshrined to the south westcorner of the inner courtyard (Chuttampalam). After getting down the stairs ofMatatthilappan you pay obeisance to the sage. If you keep to the western border of the courtyard and walkto the north you reach the shrine of Ganapathy, with his trunktwisted right. You pray to him for the ultimate goal in human life, forsalvation and turn to the north side. There you get to the front of the last ofthe shrines inside the inner courtyard. Two deities are housed there, Raktheswary and Manikantha. The former is aform of Bhadrakali and the latter a form of Lord Sastha. You must worship Irattayappan once again before coming out ofthe inner courtyard, through the same entrance you got in. There is a shrine,of Gosalakrishna,outside the main structure (Chuttampalam) of Irattayappan on the north side.This is Lord Krishna in the company of his dear cattle. You go in a clockwisefashion to worship Him. That ends the Darshana at the Peruvanam temple. Poojas The temple opens at 5:00am 5:00 AM: Nada Thurakkal 5:30 AM: Nirmalyam 7:15 AM: Usha Pooja 8:50 AM: Pantheeradi Pooja 9:30 AM: Madath Pooja 10:15 AM: Ucha Pooja Temple closes at10:30 am Temple opens at 5:00 pm 6:15 PM: Deeparadhana 7:15 PM: Athazha Pooja Temple closes at7:30 pm Chief deities Now there are two Sanctums with Irattayappan and Matathilappan as deities.Irattayappan is worshipped as Ardhanareeswara. Other deities Deities Dakshinamurthy, Ganapathy, Rakheswari, andManikandan also consecrated here. My note- Though repeat,added for the normal way of presenting in my postings. There is a huge Namaskara Mandapam which is beautified withsculptures before the main deity. Annual festival There is no annual festivalhere. But the deities ofthe other temples come and pay respects to the twin idol here. It is the idolof Dakshinamurthy that is taken out on ceremonial occasions. Peruvanam pooram, Pradhosham, Sivarathri, 41 Days in makaram-Mandalam Administration Now the temple is under the joint administration of Cochin Devaswom Board and TravancoreDevaswom Board. Itis important and rare that the Maharaja of Travancore had interest in thistemple and therefore, the expenses for ‘Utcha Pooja’, ‘Prodhosha Nivedhyam’,‘Nira Puthiri’, ‘Koothu’ are borne by him. It still continues. Legend-Peruvanam It is said that a sage named Puru did penance here, as theregion was a forest (vanam) it got the name Puruvanam and later got changed to 'peruvanam'. Peruvanam pooram. The temple is site for the famous and ancient PeruvanamPooram where 19 deities from other temples come to pay tributes to Irattayappan. Temple Timings : 5:00 AM - 10:30 AM, 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM Location The Peruvanam Mahadeva Temple is situated at a distance of 10 kilometres from the Thrissurrailway station which takes about 12-15 minutes to cover by car. Youcan hire a taxi to reach the temple. Address of temple Peruvanam Temple, Cherpu-680561 Phone- 91- 98478 49283. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/980197393.667673.1752927724704%40mail.yahoo.com.
