Chowalloor Shiva Temple,
Guruvayur – Legends
108
Shiva Temples of Kerala:
According to Hindu mythology, Lord Parasurama created
the land between Gokarna and Kanyakumari. Parasurama the sixth avatar
of Maha Vishnu, he was youngest son of sage Jamadagni and Renuka.
It is said that Kerala was reclaimed from the ocean using his axe for
donating to Brahmins after killing of King Kartavirya Arjuna and
other Kshatriyas. He split this land in to 64 villages (64 gramas). Out of
these 64 villages, 32 villages are in between Perumpuzha and Gokarnam and
the spoken language was Tulu.
The remaining 32 villages were in Malayalam speaking
area between Perumpuzha and Kanyakumari. According legends, after
donating the land to Brahmins108 Maha Shiva Lingam and Durga Idols were
installed in these 64 villages. These 108 Shiva Temples are mentioned in the
Shivala Stotram and song is written in Malayalam language. Of the 108
Siva Temples, 105 temples are situated in Kerala state, 2 temples in Karnataka and
1 in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu.
Among these temples, the Lord Shiva of Gokarnam
Mahabaleswara Temple in the north and Goddess Kumari of Kanyakumari temple in the
south were considered as the protectors of Kerala. The first temple created by
Parasurama was the Thrissur Vadakkunnathan Temple and the last one was the
Thrikkariyoor Mahadeva Temple. This Temple is considered as one of the 108
Shiva Temples created by Lord Parasurama.
Equivalent
to Vadakkunnathan:
Lord Siva, the deity of Thrissur Sree Vadakkunnathan
Temple is said to have manifested himself on an umbrella carried by one of his ardent
devotees, a pious old Namboothiri from Chowalloor Mazhavannoor Mana (lllam of
Namboothiri), who used to walk all the way to Thrissur to have daily darshan of
the Lord. When his devotee became too old to walk and worship him regularly,
the Lord is said to have accompanied him to his native home in Chowalloor.
Later a temple was constructed at the very place where the Lord appeared to his
devotee and started regular pooja (Nithya Pooja).
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