Pilgrimage to Temple Heritage

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renowned mana

in a bad way to defame Namboothiri. The descendants of the first brother who agreed to return the money on the first ritual day of his father was called as Oru Pulassery Kulukkamillavoor Namboothiri, and those who were the descendants of the brother who agreed to repay the money after the rituals were later known as Pelapaya (Polpaya) Kulukkamillavoor Namboothiri. The stance to repay the money after 10 days rituals was felt as a mistake by second son, and hence he went to his Village temple of deity Shukapuram Dakshinamoorthy to perform the penance. Since he had done the penance became a respectable person among the Namboothiries. Because of his nobility and status he was given the name Thamprakkal. The descendants of him became the famous Polpaya Family and were branched as Polppaya Illam and Pandamparambath Polpaya illam. The position of Thamprakkal was in Polpaya Illam. One of the branches of this Polpaya (Azhvanchery) accomplished the position of Thamprakkal for a long time. After that they shifted its base to Athavanad according to the request of Zamorin Raja and renowned under the name of Azhvanchery Polpaaya Thamprakkal. The present Azhvanchery Mana situated in Malappuram District and is one among Ashtgrihas. The members of Polpaaya, Polppaya Paanparambathu and Polppaya Thekkedath of Malapuram District accepted the title Bhattathiripaad and members of Azhvanchery Illam accepted the title Thamprakkal while the remaining group retained the title Namboothiripad. After getting the title Thamprakkal of the reign Sukapuram, People of Azhvanchery Mana accepted the title Thamprakkal instead of the traditional title Namboothiripad. The house of Azhvanchery Mana was called as ARAMANA. The women of Azhvanchery Mana are restricted to go out after they are brought in through marriage even to their own House. They had been following strict regulations and lifestyle at Azhvanchery. The eldest Thamprakkal of Azhvanchery will be the only Married Person. Being an ascetic and monogamist the eldest Thamprakkal had the superior position in Azhvanchery. So the deterioration of the family gradually happens. The Adoption of a child for the Thamprakkal family is not permitted. The eldest person of a Namboothiri family was allowed to marry to maintain the tradition and Younger person called APHAN could have alliances with Kshathriya and Shoodra women. But Aphan of Azhvanchery Mana was not like Namboothiries; he was destined to follow brahmacharya and do Poojas (Penances) and remain at home itself. While Azhvanchery Thamprakkal dies there are certain formalities as rituals before taking the corpse to the Burial. The servants of Thamprakkal accompany the corpse holding the sword and Paricha. The Marar bangs the ValamThala with one hand and Sounds the Conch with the other hand. The daily routine starts by getting up at Brahma Muhoortham and conducts the Thevaram, Prarthana etc. and after that only they have even water. There was the practice of Sandhyavandanam (Evening Prayer) and Homam was conducted twice a day. Azhvanchery Thamprakkal will not tell lie or harmful thoughts or bad deeds. His mind, word and deeds will be pure and sanctified. They follow simplicity throughout their life. Thamprakkal usually does not visit even the Rajas. A king never sits in front of the Azhvanchery Thamprakkal. When Azhvanchery Thamprakkal visits the Travancore Kingdom the Emperor of Travancore comes to the boundary and receives with Honor and brings to

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