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.

 

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.

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.

#ReclaimTemples