There are so many lovely spots in our country .
Many arent known or easy to reach .
We came to know of a hidden treasure of three temples close to Perumbavoor a town enroute to Munnar from Alwaye .
For us living in Thripunithura the route through Ambalamugal and Kizakambalam was much shorter .
The route was more scenic too a bit hilly with curves and nearing perumbavoor plenty of rubber estates pineapple farms cute villas and all these seen in monsoon was bewitching .
There were mosques churches small towns .
Driving in South and central kerala is always a delight but for pot holes and narrow roads with no edges .
The drizzly weather and overcast skies made me click pictures all along as premila drove till we reached first temple .
Iringole kaavu temple is one of the 108 Durga temples and is 3km from Perumbavoor town .
Its surrounded by a grove of 50 acres a mini forest though its heard parts of it were encroached by many .
It was once owned by 32 illams or brahmin houses out of which only 3 remain 29 became extinct .
The idol itself was discovered by a farm girl who found blood coming from a stone she used to sharpen her sickle .
Women from nearby families rushed there with offering of rice and jaggery .
Even today jaggery is an important offering in Irinjole kaavu .
Sages like Shankaracharya ,Vilwamangalam,
Chattambi swami ,and Sree Narayana Guru had prayed in this temple .
Thousands of years back
sage Thrinabandhu had started a vedic school here its said .
It seems once a group of robbers came in day tying a red ribbon around every sandalwood tree for identity and to take them away in night but found red ribbons on all trees !
Theres no sub deity in this temple
The forest luckily is undisturbed pristine and quite with mushy ground full of fallen leaves broken branches roots and entwining vines .
The place is filled with chirping insects tweeting birds hardly seen in the thick forest .
There are lonely narrow paths leading into the forest sodden with puddles and mudfy slippery floor full of dead leaves .
The walk to the temple was just about 150 meters with a green pond on the side .
The temple itself was beautiful and the sound of drums welcomed us as the siveli or ritual circumambulation of the deity was on ,there was no elephant seen in most temples but the priest had the idol accompanied by two drummers and one carrying a lamp .
We went around later inside me removing my shirt as per custom prayed and came out .
One of the rules of the temple is woman should not wear flowers with smell like jasmine and these flowers are not used in puja too .
Only thulasi lotus and thechi flowers are used in puja
Perfumes are also not allowed to be used by devotees .
They arent aware of the reason for these rules .
The temple itself was said to be granted by Parasurama to a namboothiri family whose descendants are still the priests
This 1500 years back
Kaimukku parameswaran Namboothiri local astrologer claims temple to be 2746 years old but rituals started 1200 years back .
The temple is built in a spot where Godess Durga born to Devaki and Vasudeva the many children born to them in jail imprisoned by Kamsa Devakis evil brother and king then .
Kamsa knows Devakis child Krishna will be born to kill him so he imprisons his sister and her husband and kills every child born to them one after another by banging thier tiny heads on stone .
The eighth child is lord Krishna and in the middle of night when a terrible storm is brewing Vasudeva takes his child through the flooding waters to house of Nandanan and Yasodha who are cowherds and keeps Krishna there bringing the girl child with him .
No ones aware as the place is dead asleep as if by divine command .
Kamsa comes to know of an eight child born to his sister and comes to kill her
His sister pleads with him that it is a female child and not Krishna so why should he kill her .
Kamsa refuses to listen and plucks the infant by its leg as he swings to kill the child it slips off laughingly loudly saying from.the skies Kamsa your Krishna has already born and will kill you when time comes and you can never find him .
Its this Maya they say who is the Durga in Irinjole Kaavu .
She is said to have sat here or irunnol in malayalam meaning sat .
But present senior head of family has had most property taken over by state or encroachers he needs to stay in a rented house .
The Travancore Dewaswom is administering the temple now amongst many .
One more sad truth of exploitation of Hindu temples by politicians with most Hindus not even aware of it !
After leaving Irinjole kaavu we were off to vaikarakavu
Thats next in line
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