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Restarting centuries old Hindu festival of Kerala

Kerala, the place between the Western Ghats and Arabian sea has a long history. The place now called Malappuram district in Kerala was once the centre of Vedic learning and practices. The land was home to many Gods and their temples. Many festivals were celebrated on this sacred land, many of which were lost during periods of upheavals.

One such festival is Thirunavaya Maagamaka Mahotsava which is celebrated on the auspicious month of Makam. The festival was last held in 1776, and due to the rampant riots and invasions, the festival ceased to be conducted. But a few of people from across South India continue to visit the place even after, the information mostly transferred through generations.

Maghamakam rituals held in 2018

We are now making an effort to revive the festival and restart the ritualistic prayers on the banks of Bharatapuzha river on the auspicious day. The festival will be held at Navamukunda temple premises in Tirunavaya, Malappuram ,Kerala.

Navamukunda temple Tirunavaya Malappuram Kerala

We believe the yearly festival where saints from all over Bharat assemble at Malappuram Kerala and hold ritualistic prayers at Bharatapuzha river bank will  cause a revival of Dharma in the district.

Below are some of the highlights of the festival. For detailed schedule and events, please refer to the invitation brochure attached.

Invitation Brochure Page 1

2019, Jan 21: The festival will be inaugurated by representatives of the royal families of Kerala. On the day is 108 Agnihotra homams by Kashyapa Research Foundation

2019, Jan 22: Seminar on culture and history under lead of Shri KK Muhammad who is famous for the ASI report on RamMandir.

2019, Jan 23: On this day, Sanyasis from across Bharat will be welcomed and ritualistic worship will happen on banks of Bharatapuzha river. This event will be graced by Chidanandapuri Swamiji of Advaithashram and other Sanyasis from across Bharat.

On 23 Jan 2019, Swamy Chidanandapuri ji will also be releasing the book Destroyed temples of Kerala Vol 1, which comprises of the history and details of 25 Hindu temples that were destroyed during invasion of Tipu Sultan and later Moplah riots. The book may be ordered online via http://imojo.in/td002

Destroyed temples of Kerala Vol 1 (Malayalam)

The press conference explaining the significance of the festival, the details of the seminars and the programme schedule was held at Malappuram Kerala. Shri Tirur Dinesh and Swamy Paramananda Puri explained to the press. Below is the news report on the press conference.

Press conference held at Malappuram Kerala explaining the festival

The event is being conducted by Oral History Research Foundation and UgraNarasimha Charitable Trust. The organising committee consists of representatives of various Mathas and Ashrams in Kerala. Matha Amritanandamayi Devi is the Mukhya Rakshadhikari of the organising committee. HH Swami Chidanandapuri of Advaitashram, Kerala , Acharya M R Rajesh of Kashyapa Veda Research Foundation are amongst other dignitaries supporting the organising of the festival.

A major expense incurred for festival is that of taking care of saints and sadhus who represent various Mathas and Sampradayas and who come from places across Bharat. We intend to treat them well with customary welcome and gifts like clothes.

Any contribution can be made via our fundraiser page ket.to/rt001 or directly to our below bank account or via online gateway instamojo.com/@ReclaimTemples

Name: UgraNarasimha Charitable Trust

Bank A/c: 6300101000705

IFSC: CNRB0006300

Donations can also be made to our UPI/BHIM id donate@hsbc

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Sword of Tipu Sultan

Strange times we live in. We see Tipu Sultan immortalized and festivals arranged by the elected governments in his name. Many historians however claim that Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan was a communal fanatic who conducted a jihad in Karnataka and Kerala by destroying several temples, forceful conversion of Hindus and butchered those who refused to convert to Islam.

The letters from Tipu to his Generals illustrate religious fanaticism of the Sultan. Renowned historian and statesman Sardar K M Panicker had translated these letters and were published in Bhashaposhini 1099 Chingam vol. I

Letter – 6 : Sent to Ziyad Abdullah on 1790 January 18th:

“With the help of Muhammad and blessings of God, we have inducted nearly all non-believers into Islam. Few people are left unconverted at the border of the Kochi Kingdom. I have decided to convert them also as Mohammedans soon. I consider this as a religious War.”

There is an argument that Tipu Sultan was a secular who funded the renovation of some temples. Showing the temple in the fort, they ask, had Tipu been an iconoclast wouldn’t he be demolishing the temple in his headquarters first? Tipu kept Brahmins as advisers. They ask why he did not convert these Brahmins if he was an Anti-Hindu?

What is the truth in this? Tipu blindly believed in astrology. The palace Astrologists were Brahmins. Since the temple in Srirangapatnam Fort belonged to them, Tipu did not demolish at the temple. Astrologers attributed the continuous defeats met by Tipu to the demolition of temples and suggested the renovation of temples as the only remedial measure. His donations to the temples were a result of this advice.

There is also a reason for him not changing the religion of the palace astrologists. The astrologists of Srirangapatnam fort were traditional brahmins. Tipu’s father Hyderali was a faujdar in Dindigul when he treacherously captured the throne of Mysore. In June 1759 Hyder could install his aide Kunde Rao by replacing Nanje Rao, the only remaining minister of the puppet King of Mysore. In 1761 June, Hyder captured power by ousting Kunde Rao. So technically he was not the King. Since the customs and ways of the palace have been formally recognised to keep the power intact, the palace Astrologers were spared from being subjected to religious conversion.

Mohemmadan army under Hyder first entered Malabar to collect the 12 lakhs rupees they had to obtain as per the war treaty signed with the Samoothiri of Calicut. In those days, Kannur was known as the land of Moplahs. The Moplah soldiers of Ali Raja, of Kannur, had already joined the Mysore Army. Like Tipu, Hyder’s raids also were also driven by the religious hatred to annihilate Hindus. Hyder Ali and the Moplah’s killed numerous Hindus. He organised his jihad in Malabar by plundering and torching the temples. His son Tipu continued this Jihad of his father and the atrocities and destruction rivaled that of Hyder Ali.

Tipu was in Ponnani, while Hyder Ali died on December 7th, 1782. Being a hardcore Islamist, he decided to convert Kerala into an Islamic country and annex it to Mysore. Brutally, he started over his jihad from where Hyder Ali stopped.

The story of Tipu Sultan is one of genocide, destruction of Hindu temples and pure evil . Recounting just one incident is enough to reflect his cruelty and barbarism. Around 2000 Hindus had sought refuge in the Kuttipuram fort of the Kadathanattu Raja inorder to save themselves from the Muslim invaders. Tipu Sultan threatened them to be killed unless they converted to Islam. Many converted out of fear and they were forcefully fed cow meat.

More than 3000 Hindu temples were destroyed during the invasion of Tipu Sultan and subsequent Moplah riots. Hundreds of such ruins exists even today, where the Vigrahas can be seen with their hands, legs and head cutoff. These temples are mute witnesses to the genocide and terror that Hindu society had to suffer from religious extremists and marauders. In 2018 was started the efforts to document such ruins and revive such temples. Any support towards the efforts can be made via https://reclaimtemples.com//fundraisers/

Courtesy: Destroyed temples of Kerala Volume 1, Introduction. Author: Tirur Dinesh

The book can be ordered online or read on kindle via https://www.amazon.in/Destroyed-temples-Kerala-Vol-1/dp/8193929926

 

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Cheriyamundam Vaniyanur Siva temple Malappuram

Cheriyamundam is a village in Malappuram district of Kerala where the Hindus are only 11.83% of the population as per the 2011 Census of Bharat. The economically backward situation of Hindus is compounded by pervasive and aggressive display of Islamic extremism in the locality by organisations and individuals who follow the doctrine propagated by ISIS. The result being that the Hindu community is forced to restrict their religious rights and freedom of worship.

Cheriyamundam Vaniyanur Siva temple was destroyed by Muslim rioters in 1921 Moplah riots. The land belonging to the temple was taken over and the whole temple was demolished in due course by Jihadis.

However no amount of desecration could affect the divinity of the Presiding Deity of the temple. The Jihadis of the locality were terrified when calamities started happening in their lifes, on their families and loved ones. An instance very vivid in the minds of the locals is when Jihadis slaughtered a cow in Vaniyanur temple site and served the beef during the marriage . The bride turned mad the next day and started crawling on ground like snakes. Terrified Jihadis it is said did a small Puja as a penance, and has abandoned the site and took care not to defile it again.

As part of the #ReclaimTemples project, the temple is now being reconstructed. The project is embraced by the people of the locality who have come together to resurrect their temple and restart worship of Lord Siva. A new vigour and confidence has descended on HinduSamaj of the region, as the very thought of reviving a destroyed Hindu temple after close to one century inspires them.

The revival was started on first week of January 2018. Swamy Bharati Maharaj, Managing Trustee of Bharat KshethraBhumi SamrakshanaVedhi lighted a lamp and marked restart of the Pujas at the Siva temple on 11 Jan 2018.

However the temple was ransacked again on 11 Jan night and the lamps, Pooja items were dumped in nearby well. The temple was also desecrated. However contrary to what the attackers must have imagined, the Hindu community of the region showed remarkable courage and thousands visited the site next day 12 Jan and took pledge to rebuild temple at any cost.

A committee was formed to oversee construction of temple and also a MathruSamithi was formed to oversee administration of temple. DevaPrashnam a ritual marking the rebuilding the temple was conducted on 5 Feb 2018. The Temple architect and Chief Priest visited temple and have designed plans for reconstruction of temple.

First a temporary office cum store room was constructed in the temple site. This enables the safe keep of Pooja items as well as construction tools.

As advised by the Thanthri and the temple architect the first step was cleaning the well of the temple. It was also foretold that the temple idols were broken down and dumped into the well long ago.

Parts of temple which was destroyed and dumped into well

 

Piles of stones near the well are recovered from inside the well. Reveals the mindset of those who destroyed the temple

The excavation of the well was a hard task as the person had to make sure that they dont damage any idols which was to be recovered from the well. Also huge stones and temple pillars were being found in the well. Some of them weighing few tones were difficult to be taken out using manual labour. And at many such instances the excavation process slowed as devotees found difficult to remove the stones from well. Ultimately crane had to be brought to take out the huge stones.

And as the temple architect had predicted, an idol of Goddess was recovered from the well. The idol from its characters belonged to the Chola era and the character was that of a benevolent Goddess. The recovery of the Goddess idol caused a rethink over the temple architecture as now, the architect has to design a sanctum for the Goddess aswell in addition to Lord Shiva.

Broken idol of Goddess which was recovered from temple well

It was also decided to complete excavation till bedrock of the well, in hope that more such idols will be discovered. The excavation of the well is almost complete and next stage is the construction of the temporary abodes for Lord Shiva and the Goddess.

The updates on revival of Cheriyamundam Vaniyanur Siva temple can be tracked via

The reconstruction of the temple is made possible only due to support given by Hindus from across the world.

You can join the reconstruction of the temple by supporting the fundraiser via ket.to/kl001

Ultimate objective of the #ReclaimTemples project is to ensure the survival of HinduDharma  and rebuild 300 Hindu temples in Malappuram by year 2021. These temples were destroyed during Tipu invasion and various Moplah riots ever since.

We have to act before its too late. The Hindus in Malappuram are courageous and will fight till their last breath. What they lack in is only resources to fight an enemy equipped with slush funds from Middle East and other Jihadi havens.

Lets join hands to protect HinduDharma and strengthen it, thereby prevent Kerala from becoming another Kashmir.

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