M. D. Hegde
MANGALORE
Think Good Do Good
www.snegidhi.com
MANGALORE
Think Good Do Good
www.snegidhi.com
Faith
Where the little devil mints money: Kerala village which thrives on Kuttichaathan worship
The velichapad is believed to be endowed with godly powers when the chaathan enters his body
during which time he comes up with answers to a devotee's problems.
source;news minute
Known as the cultural capital of Kerala, the Thrissur district embodies the state's varied traditional art forms and beliefs
–a city of temples, elephants, velichapads (oracles) and festivals. It even boasts of a small rural village of Peringottukara
where Kuttichaathan (little demon or imp) is worshipped as god.
Anyone passing through the village is sure to come across several luxury cars like the Audi, BMW, Mercedes racing
through the small by-lanes, making one wonder why they were there.
Enquire at a nearby shop and prompt comes the reply: "They come to meet Kuttichaathan. He has devotees from all
across the state as well as from across the state-border."
Peringottukara has a number of kuttichaathan temples most of them attached to a tharavadu (ancestral home),
all boasting of a heritage not less than a couple of decades at least.
These are not your regular Hindu temples. These are 'special' places where peculiar poojas and guruthi
(hen sacrifice) are performed. The godmen here claim to be able to look into your past as well as the future
and also help you overcome all the hurdles in your life.
So how does kuttichaathan actually execute his powers?
Anyone who approaches any Kuttichaathan Mutt for a solution to all the problems in their lives have to first pay
some money and then launch into an explanation of their woes.
They are then taken inside a shrine where the deity is installed. Wait for a while and a man clad in a white dhoti
with some accoutrements around his waist makes his grand entrance. He is shaking violently as if in a trance
and makes sounds with some sort of an instrument in his hands almost in the manner of a velichapad
(temple oracle) who comes out of the sreekovil (inner sanctum), pouting words in a language unknown to the
devotees.
Another pujari (temple priest) standing near him will translate the same into Malayalam which apparently is the
solution to all the problems that the devotee placed at the deity's feet.
The velichapad is believed to be endowed with godly powers when the chaathan enters his body during which
time he comes up with answers to a devotee's problems.
Most of the times, the chaathan suggests conduct of poojas costing thousands of rupees.
"We went there, as we were childless. He suggested two or three poojas which cost us around Rs.7500.
Somehow it did not work out," says Swathi Ratan, a Kochi housewife.
A swami from the Kannadi Mutt -one of the biggest kuttichaathan temples in the area- says the expense
depends on the magnitude of a devotee's problems.
"It depends on your problems. Sometimes you will have to do three to four poojas to get away from all the
negativity energy around you, most probably the result of black magic. Only chaathan swami (kuttichaathan)
can tell you the root cause," the swami elaborated.
Many kuttichaathan mutts in a single village
Probably no other village in Kerala has so many Chaathan temples and mutts.
Apparently the 'Avanangattil Kalari' mutt and temple which worship kuttichaathan was the first one to operate
in the village.
Avanangattil Kalari
They also claim to be the first chaathan swami temple in India. Centuries ago, a Panicker family (traditional astrologers)
started it as an institution attached to their tharavadu to impart kalari (Kerala martial art) lessons.
As per the legend, the twin brothers born in the family were endowed with magical powers by a brahmin guru.
They subsequently brought home the chaathan deity.
"In Kottarathil Shankunni's Aithihyamala (a book compiling different legends of Kerala) our tharavadu history
is mentioned. We have centuries of tradition and are known for the divine powers acquired from chaathan swami,"
says Avanangattil Kalari's present head Advocate AU Raghuraman Panicker.
Another magnificent chaathan swami temple and mutt run by the Kanadi Matam tharavadu also claim a centuries'
old tradition.
Panicker however was quick to point out that all other chaathan temples in Peringattukara were started by people
earlier employed by the Avanangattil Kalari.
The Kannadi Mutt has three branches in the village and they have a huge devasthaanam (main temple). It is owned
by a trust which belongs to the same family.
Kannadi Samadhi
"Ours is the most renowned and prominent mutt with a tradition of many centuries. Thousands come here,
get cured and go back with solutions to their problems," avers a swami of the Kanadi mutt.
Other than these two biggies, there are numerous small kuttichaathan temples in the village.
The Peringottukara Communist Party of India (CPI) local committee secretary C Raghavan brands all of them
as purely money-making ventures.
"The Avanangattil Kalari was the first one. Later when the numbers of devotees increased, some others ventured
into the arena smelling huge profits. Now it is the main source of income for Peringottukara. Avanangattil may be
around 500 years old, the Kanadi main mutt around 100 and all others came up just 30 to 40 years ago," he said.
Another social activist from Thrissur VK Venkitachalam says that the business runs into crores of rupees with
hundreds of people flowing to the village on a daily basis in search of a solution to life's woes.
"Even the by-lanes of Peringottukara are rubberized because of the sheer traffic of luxury cars here. These were
financed by the temple authorities to literally ensure a smooth ride for their customers," he points out.
Venkitachlam continues: "People here were quick to grasp the huge business potential in setting up chaathan
temples on the lines of the Avanangattil. Since Avanangattil was always flooded with devotees, many people
started visiting nearby temples to avoid the rush. None of the temples here lack devotees."
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