Karimpuzha Ramaswamy Temple

Kerala, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram

The history of the Karimpuzha Sree Ramaswamy Temple dates back to the times of the Calicut Zamorin. The period from AD 700 to 1500 saw the grandeur and glory of the Zamorin's ruling period. It is during the start of the period the Zamorin's family shifted their royal residence from Kondotty to Kozhikode / Calicut. And thereby Calicut became the Economic Capital and political Hub of the dynasty. Soon after this the Zamorin was busy in expansion of his territory and many political invasions were declared. Valluvand and nearby territories came under his rule.

The Zamorin felt that Karimpuzha was a prominent location if it came under his empire. He invaded the area and declared his brother Earalppad as the ruler of the province. The zamorin continued his military invasions, maintaining Karimpuzha as the focal point. The Earalppad assisted his brother in these endeavors .Most of the areas coming under Palakkad belt was invaded on time to time basis and thereby their ruling territory expanded. In all these efforts Karimpuzha provided them a fertile soil. And so Karimpuzha, a small village occupied prime importance in the political map of Zamorin's kingdom.

During the period of AD 1000, the Zamorin now shifted his attention to revive and develop Karimpuzha. Earalppad constructed a royal palatial palace, Ettukettu, flanked by 8 built up sides, on the banks of the river. He then started the reconstruction of the temple. The temple is presumed to have been there long long back even before the times of Zamorin's invasion.

During the time of the renovation of the temple, the shift in the placement of the deity's face is now observed as a holy festival. This is celebrated on the day of the 3rd Thursday between the mid Nov - mid December every year. Near the Earalppad's palace the family deity Sree Bhagavathy is sacredly placed and is now known as Bhagavathy Kottil. The army chieftain's home Cherulli Achan Madam is also seen near the Earalppad's palace, on to the South of the temple.

Legend

The fable goes that on the day fixed for the installation of the diety, the old diety was broken while moving it. Time was so short that another diety was not available. Everybody felt that the ceremony will be withheld. The Earalppad was forced to look for another diety. It came to be known that there was a Sri Rama idol in the Kaypedath Nair family. But Nair was not willing to part with the idol since he was doing his daily poojas and offerings at the idol. But the Earalppad did not bother and forcefully took the idol and installed it in the temple. The heavy hearted and insulted Nair went to the diety and prayed with tears saying that if the diety was his , then tomorrow with the rising sun, the diety should face west as against now where the diety was placed by the Earalppad facing east . Lo behold, next morning people saw the diety facing west, as desired by the Nair. Astonished the Earalppad then decided to do many penance as repentation.

Architecture

Karimpuzha Sree Ramaswamy Temple complex includes sreekovil, namaskara mandapam, chuttambalam with agra mandapam, sub shrines, pradakshina vazhi, agrasala and gopuram. There are niches on walls and the wooden carvings depicting navagrahas on the top of ceiling.

Darsan Info

Karimpuzha Sree Ramaswamy Temple is open from 5:30 AM to 9:30 AM and from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.Thunjathu Ramanujam Ezuthachan, known as the Father of Malayalam literature stayed in the palace of Earalppad to complete the works of Ramayanam. This is mentioned in the 'Malabar Manual' by William Logan. Renowned singer Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar also had visited the temple in 1960s.

Darsan Dresscode

At Karimpuzha Sree Ramaswamy Temple , Kerala traditional attire is preferred

Famous Festival

February - Punartham Nakshatram

March - Punartham Nakshatram

Culture

The Palakkad district where the temple is situated, has mainly paddy cultivation as the main occupation of the people. The district is called the 'Rice Bowl' of Kerala. The social and cultural customs of the people are, therefore, one way or other, connected with paddy cultivation.

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Temple Rituals

The main diety of the temple, Sri Ramaswamy is sitting facing west. While the other deities are Ganapathy, Shivan, Bhagavathy and Chamravattath Ayyappan & Shasthavu. Hanuman's presence was felt near the northern side of the Thidappalli. Since 2 years Hanumans diety has been placed in the temple and it has been known as Dakshina Ayodhya or Southern Ayodhya. The old story goes that a Rishi was worshipping a Sree Rama diety nearby with his severe penance and so this place was later known as Arattukadavu Para. It is in memory of this ancient Rishi that even now a lamp is being lit on the eastern end for a banyan tree standing on the northern side of the river.

Special Rituals

Karimpuzha Sree Ramaswamy Temple is one of the rarest and biggest temples in India. This is the reason why the temple has been ordained the title of Mahakshetra. Eventhough the 1970s, Land Tribunal act adversely effected the progress of the temple. The pilgrims coming to the temple are given sumptuous food from the 2 agrashalas, or kitchen. Of these only 1 has stood the test of time. Every noon there is a namaskara Sadhya for feeding the Brahmins. This has now become one of the main offerings in the temple.