Vadakunthara Thirupuraickal Bhagavathy Temple in Palakkad .
It was destiny that took us to this famous temple yesterday on 27 jan 2022 ,
We had gone for a wedding in nearby marriage hall and as we were early we went to temple nearby .
Only on learning its history did I know it was something which should have been never missed .
We thank Bhagavathy for giving us this oppurtunity to pray here .
History ..
The temple was built by kesari verma Chera king in honour of Godess Kannaki who on her way from Madurai to Kodungalur was supposed to have rested here for a moment .
( kannagi as detailed in famous Tamil epic Silapadikaaram was wife of a rich merchant Kovalan living in Madurai .
Kovalan falls for Madhavi a dancer and goes astray .
He loses all his wealth and tries to sell one of Kannakis anklet with her permission ,as she remained faithful to her husband still .
But Kovalan is suspected by the pandya king Neduncheziyans soldiers as having stolen the queens anklet as it looks same .
So hes sentenced to death and beheaded by the king .
Kannagi is furious and confronts the king with her other anklet .
She accuses the king of murdering her husband falsely implicating him as a robber .
He had only sold his wifes anklet .
To prove this she breaks her other anklet to show it contained Rubies while all knew Queens anklets contained pearls inside it !!
The king is aghast at his mistake and commits suicide .
Kannagis anger curses the capital city Madurai and it burns to ashes .
She then crosses the border and comes to Kerala .The famous Kodungallur temple is associated with Godess Kannagi .)
Thirupuraickal Bhagavathy temple was later attacked by Tipu Sultan when he invaded Palakkad and devotees safegaurded the idol in Moothanthara .
That was done by Moothans the clan of people who lived in a mix of Tamil and Malayalam cultures and had migrated from Tamilnadu .
There is also a legend on Pirayari temple too associated with this legend .
Moothans were also supposed to have bought Kannagis temple to Kerala and were her custodians .
The temple we saw was side by side to a Vishnu temple .
The wick lamps in front of Bhagavathy idol never gets blown off even during heavy rains and winds its said .
Every three years a famous festival the velliya vela takes place here .
The exact details of Moothanthara and Vadakanthara temples of Kannaki could not be obtained by me from different online sources .
If any reader knows I request them to comment on same .
As I did not know all these details and had no time to talk to any local the information is to be confirmed
But it was a memorable visit indeed .
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