A Glimpse Of Royalty Through

Ampotithamburan Of Shankarodath Palace

His Highness His Holiness Manavendra Varma Yogathiripad

An interview with His Highness His Holiness Manavendra Varma Yogathiripad, the celibate youngest king of Olavakot Kavilpad Thekumpuram Pulikal Shankarodath palace in Palakkad district.

Can you explain the history of Shankarodath palace?

If you walk through the pathway of the Shankarodath palace, the palace stands as a symbol of survival and renewal. It was only very late that we came to know about the ancestor of the palace. Today, when the palace and the temple are receiving honors and respect from all over, all the sorrows and miseries experienced by our previous generations till very recently reveal the history of Shankarodath palace. The progenitor of Shankarodath palace is Thriprangot palace, a branch of the Vettath dynasty of the Tanur kingdom. The available information is that during the Vettath dynasty, the royal administration was held at Vettath palace. A branch of this was in Thriprangot palace. The Shankarodath palace is the lineage of the lady there. With the disappearance of the Maharaja of the Vettath dynasty due to war, the mistress of Thriprangot palace and her daughter were fleeing. The descendants of Narayani Ambikathamburathi, daughter of Devaprabha Tamburathi of Thriprangot palace, are here. Generally, the mistresses of our clan have the surname Ambika and Ambalika and are known as Nambrashtathiri. It has been understood through history that the fugitive mistress and her daughter reached Olavakot Pulikal in 1793. Here, a Nair family named Veluthedath Thodi used to give shelter to the mistress and her daughter. The Karanavattis of this family built a small hut and took care of the wife and daughter in it as if they were their own relatives. The queens used to do daily work by cleaning the house in the Shiva temple here. All these areas were under the rule of Samuthiri during the war period. They were in hiding for fear of losing their lives if they were revealed to be members of the royal family. Only the title of Vellathiri was revealed. They were also known as Varathas meaning those who came from Valluvanad. Since we did not know about our ancestors at that time, we lived together with the Nair Samiti. However, while continuing a different way of life, we also practiced Shodashakriya rituals. Kalpathi Sivacharyas used to perform shodashakriyas for us as we could not understand that our Othikan was Kotamangalatmana. During that period, along with doing Thriprangottappan’s Thevaram in our Thevarapura, the Pujas of the Paradevatas were also being performed. Vettathamma, Chamravatat Ayyappan, Thriprangottappan, Thirunnavayathevar, and Thirumandhamkunnilamma are our deities. Panavur Mana performs the Paradevtapujas conducted once in a while. Still Kovalam tantris are Panavoor manakars. When the grandmothers used to come here, they used to carry the idols of Thevaramurthys and perform the daily

Thevaram. Our Thevara Murthys are Mullapally Ganapathi, Mullapally Narasimham, Tirur Narasimham, Goshalakrishnan, Alathiyur Srihanuman, Alathiyur Sriraman, Thrikandyurappan, Vettath Mangalat Mahavishnu, Vettathamma, Navamukundan and Keraladhiswarathappan. The headquarter of the Vettath clan was at Keraladhishwaram. When the ancestor was searched and found, it was learned that the images brought as Thevar images were used as Aratubimbams for the famous Mamangam. Now when Mamangam was re-invented, it was these images that were enshrined there. There is so much joy in that. The palace has a very sacrificial and miserable tradition of having to hide one's identity. It is only because of Upasana that the Shankarodath palace exists today and all kinds of prosperity are there. What we want to convey to all the people is that everyone should follow their Upasana. The Shankarodath palace is proof that it will bring glory. You are the current virtuous celibate. If so, who will be the heir after your reign?

Mistresses will have importance and authority in temples and palaces. Mistresses have absolute powers, except that lords have positions. Ampotithamburan position is not something that happens in every generation. Palace’s Valiyathamburan position is passed down from generation to generation. At Shankarodath, the eldest male subject of the palace will be elevated to the position of Valiyathamburan. Being an Ampotithamburan is a divine appointment. Any child born in this lineage is blessed for observing the rituals with devotion and completing all the fasts and upacharas from Upanayanam. Who will be appointed in the next generation to take the throne as Ampotithamburan is God’s decision. It is our firm belief that Vettekaran, Bhadrakali and Naga Gods, our Vamsopasanamurthys, will determine it.

Pulikal Sri Vishwanagayakshitram has a close relationship with Mannarassala temple. It cannot be said that only the temple. If the sanctum sanctorum exists today at Shankaraodath, the blessing of the entire glory of this sanctum sanctorum is entirely from Mannarashala. Mannarashala is worshiped by the whole Gurusthaniya of this temple.

What is meant by Ampotithamburan?

The position Ampotithamburan means the one who nurtures the ego and the one who nurtures (the maintainer of) all. Ampotithamburan is a place where one surrenders oneself to God in order to feed everyone. The main teacher of the rituals that the palace is still following today is Thangamani Tamburati’s grandmother Vellathiri Lakshmikutty Nambrashtathiri who was a great builder. Although it is not clear in the topics that the grandmother imparted, it is revealed that it is the place where our ancestors are enshrined and that we have a place called Yogathiripad in that meeting and Yogathiripad must be a true celibate. What grandmothers inherited from their forefathers is passed down to us by understanding what was written down and the next generation continues to follow it. The knowledge imparted by the grandmother is to follow the path taken by Vishvamitra to the position of Brahmarshi by taking care of the subjects standing by his dharma and not failing in the affairs of God. Apart from this knowledge, for more clarity about the position of Ampotithamburan, it was understood from the conversation with the historians of Kerala that Ampotithamburan was a title that existed in Kerala in the past and it had stopped in the interim. Can you explain the main idols and worship methods in Shankarodath palace?

This temple and place are not known by the name of the palace but by the name of Nagayakshi Kavu. This palace itself was known as Pulikal Nagayakshikav Vishwanagayakshi Kshetra. The palace's name has been known for a while now. Because this place has the importance of Nagayakshiamma and the importance of serpents. That’s because the Kavus were here in the first place. Worship of snakes is performed here. The temple came later and, in our childhood, there were only kavus. This is the history of these Kavus. My grandmother’s mother, Ambikathamburati (Kochampu), who was the grand mistress of the palace, died of gum disease when my grandmother was four years old. Granddaughter was raised by grandmother's grandmother from the age of four. In the practice of those days, the grandmother married off when she was four and a half years old. The reason for this is that the position of Kunchikav and the position of Tamburati will be obtained before Kettukalyanam. After that only, you will get permission to do the tevaram. The work that started at the age of four and a half, continued unceasingly until her death at the age of 104. According to our knowledge, within ten years of Grandma’s life, she saw a golden snake crawling in Thekini and Grandma beat it to death. As a result of the curse of killing the golden snake, the grandmother contracted a disease called Vellapand or Chitradharan, which spread throughout her body. Because of this, the girls who had been thinking about it were moving away. Later, Pallath Kesavan Nair, a man from the Nair community, gives the pudda to the grandmother. He was a World War II veteran. It was he who built and maintained the Shankarodath Kovilakam. Realizing that the grandmother became ill because of killing the golden snake, he performed penance and decided to re-consecrate it and worship it. The legend of this place is understood when the problem is thought of during that period. In the past, this was the ashram of Maharishi Kashyapa and therefore there would be a sufficient presence of serpents, and only if they were worshiped properly, thevaram was performed in the limited sense. I am the son of a daughter of that grandmother. In my youth, I used to worship the big mud mound under a tamarind tree in the southern courtyard of the family home. In 2007, the mud mound collapsed during heavy rains and Srilakam was built there after finding that there was Swayambhu inside the mud mound. The temple came into existence during that period. Until then, only Kavus existed here. The spirit of Kashyapa Maharshi resides in the vault here. Vishwanagayakshiamma (Maninagayakshiamma) is the main murti here. Nagaraja, Nagayakshiamma and Sarpayakshiamma are worshiped together in the shrine. It is considered as Mahavishesa worship. Another is the subordinate Shankarodath Kavu. Here Balabhadra Devi, the Swarupadeva of Shankaradoth resides in Porkali Bhava. This goddess is our clan deity. Apart from the clan deity, there are seven goddesses, Kiratashivan, who is a traditional worshiper, and Vettekarappan are also worshipped. These are the main deities.

Difference between Nagas (snakes) and Sarpa (serpents)?

The difference between nagas and serpents is that nagas are aphrodisiacs. That is, the Nagas are Vishwakundalini, the spirit that can assume the form it wants when it wants. The serpent is the power that is the kundalini of the universe itself. Snakes can be seen clearly. Usually, all we see are snakes.

Can you explain the rituals of Naga worship and Sarpa worship?

Of course. Naga worship and serpent worship are different. Both have two routines. However, the two are mutually exclusive and are performed together. Naga worship alone and serpent worships alone are not to be done. Nagasarpa worships have many rituals. Sarpa worship comes in complete nature worship. Nagaradhana comes in complete tanuyantrasadhana. Hence, Naga worship includes rituals and rituals besides being associated with Tantra. Rituals are most important in serpent worship. What is the relationship between Mannarassala temple and Pulikal Sri Vishwanagayakshitram?

Pulikal Sri Vishwanagayakshitram has a close relationship with Mannarassala temple. It cannot be said that only the temple. If the sanctum sanctorum exists today at Shankaraodath, the blessing of the entire glory of this sanctum sanctorum is entirely from Mannarashala. Mannarashala is worshiped by the whole Gurusthaniya of this temple. These are the reasons. We are Kshatriyas. We are not allowed puja vidhis. But in our tradition, there is Tevaram and worship of Paradevata. It is also fortunate that our Vettath clan is generally the best for women. Being blessed by Garuda, the ladies of Vettath have not only been able to perform thevaram but also have been blessed to treat poisons. The consumption still continues. No tantra or pooja is allowed. After coming to this earth, the serpent became our Upasanamurti. This shrine stands in the middle of the Kavus. Therefore, it was Valiamma Savitri Antharjana of Mannarassala who came to the point of compulsion to worship serpents and completely turned the way to worship our great-grandmother as a guru. That blessing remains today. That's why the system of giving the right to landfill once a year is going on from here. From here, he reaches Mannarassala and visits his mother, and takes the blessings of that place. Moreover, Mannarassalayappan resides in Machil above the vault. Many years ago, one of the people here had a vision of a golden snake coming out of a cave. He called the people together. As everyone watched, the golden serpent climbed into the mold and the tortoise turned into stone. Kallama is still worshiped as the vehicle of the Naga king. It was understood that the Naga king had come here to reveal Nagayakshiamma. A reception is always held here for the Naga king. Tirukallan festival is also held for Naga Raja and Nagayakshiamma. We are also blessed by Valiyathirumeni of Mannarassala. Therefore, it can be said without a doubt that the palace is still standing due to the blessings of Mannarashala. Along with the main deities, many deities are also worshiped here. Can you clarify about sub-deity concepts?

Of course. As sub-deities in the Nagayakshikaka, Maninagam, Karinagam, Balaganapati, Baladandayudhapani, Balamanikandan, Keraladhiswarathappan, Alathiyurappan, Vettathamma, Nagadevata, Salagrams, Nagakanyaka, Banalingams and Nagachamundi are the deities within the enclosure. There are deities of Keezhakala and Kshetrapalan in Keezkhava. There are five Kavus based on Chaturvarna. Brahmanasarpakavu (for Brahmin snakes), Vishasarpakavu (for Vaishya snakes), Agamasarpakavu or Kshatriyasarpakavu (for Kshatriya snakes), Ayilyamkavu (for Shudra snakes) and Yakshika. There is also a deity of Gandharvaswamy in Yakshikavu. These are the sub-deity concepts

Dr Arun Oommen MBBS, MS (Gen Surg), MCh (Neurosurgery), MRCSEd,MBA Senior Consultant Neurosurgeon VPS Lakeshore Hospital NH-47, Bypass, Maradu, Nettoor PO, Kochi 682040, India.

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