Keralites
give great importance to these initiation rites.
A child is expected to start its studies in earnest only after
these rites and naturally it begins with the alphabets. The devotees were
convinced that the children who had their initiation at kavu would grow
up into learned men, they were right. The legend of Bhattathiri was a beacon of light beckoning them.
Of course, Vasudevan Bhattathiri and his descendants continued
to act as the priests in the temple.
The
Varasiar who received Sastha's blessings and her heirs were given the
added honour of acting as the guides empowered to give the initiation. With Sastha's special benediction, it became a popular practice.
The rites at Thiruvullakkavu are simple.
The Varier recites all the letters of the alphabets and the child
repeats them one by one, after him.
Then the Varier writes them on the tongue of the child with a gold
ring. Symbolically, sweet
words have to dance on the tongue of a person.
Then the child is made to write them down in some rice spread out
in a b bronze plate. Raw
rice, of course, is very auspicious. The child writes with its ring finger while the Varier. Then
it is given a small amount of this holy rice which should be cooked and
given to it for three days. Usually,
the parents make special offerings t Sastha, particularly Kaladi fruits
and Appam, the sweet bread friend in clarified Butter.
The divining rites in the temple have shown that these, together
with clarified butter for lights are the most important offerings in the
kavu. But, certainly, devotion
is the sweetest of all, Sastha likes it best.
A true devotee of kavu is sure to have academic excellence.
The
Namboodiris, the Brahmins, have always known the banging greatness of
their personal deity. Whenever
they had insoluble problems, especially academic, they used to make offering
in the temple, they used to make offering in the temple, especially Appam.
More important, every Namboodiri, who studied Yajurveda, was expected
to perform a year-long penance in the temple.
He had to stay in the temple and chant the Veda in the morning
while prostrating at the Lord's feet countless times.
He had to do it for hours, till the priest completed his morning
rites. He could break his fast only after consuming the clarified
butter brought from the sanctum.
He had to chant the Manthra " Agne Naya…” in the evening also.
Every day , he had
to visit the nearby Peruvanam temple also to chant the Veda.
The devotees believe that they have to pay obeisance at both places
to get full benefits.
The
year- long penance at Kavu gives the devotee the psychic powers to withstand
the pressures of life. But
if he is careless and insincere he goes mad, the fiery God of Kava is
a disciplinarian. But those
who complete it successfully become supermen.
They made this Veda offering, entertaining Sastha with the dulcet
humans of Vedas, periodically, even later.
It was obligatory when they took part in Othuttu, the Vedic conference.
The month-long Vedic conference was every frequent in Central Karla. One scholar led with a section of the scriptures and the chorus repeated after him. Usually, a temple had several families connected with it and they had enough exponents to make the Othuttu successful even without outside help. But often they invited experts from elsewhere for lead singing, as the guests of honour. These special invitees wanted to excel, without a single blemish, and so they visited Thiruvullakkavu. Hours or even days before the even the organisers assigned the particular section that singer had to leap at kavu and but the grace of Sastha the Scholars had an enviable reputation even among the greatest scholars.
Very
few dared to break this routine and those who did suffered for their vanity.
Usually they did not risk the ignominy of faulty lead signing but
there is the legend of a person who tried it.
The offender was a great scholar and unfortunately knew it too.
He practiced it diligently every day and became supremely confident;
overconfident, in fact. Once,
this Namboodiri was assigned a section of Yajurveda as the lead singer
in a temple nearby. As he
was to be a guest of honour, he dutifully went to kavu with a group of
Namboodiri. While others rehearsed their pieces, the vain one idled about.
His friends asked him why he did not practice it.
It
was such a wonderful way to demonstrate certain fundamental aspects of
true devotion. Chanting the
Veda in Kavu is the best way to propitiate God; very appropriate because
Sastha is deified Veda. The
Thantric texts assert that there are five ways to increase the beneficent
spirit of a temple and one of them is Veda, God manifesting Himself as
sound. All the scholars o
Peruvanam sing it at kavu so than it fans the divine blaze of the sanctum
and also removes than supernatural stands of the abode of God.
In turn, that mystic warmth blesses them and makes them happy.
That is the fundamental principle of worship; when the temple is
free of all physical and spiritual pollutions; pure, beneficent effulgence
spreading Love, the whole region prospers.
Hence the greatness of Thiruvullakkavu.
The Veda singers who came there earned fame through their matchless
recitals.
Discipline is important . A devotee must perform his obligatory routine sincerely and the Peruvanam scholars were wise to make the Veda rehearsal in kavu compulsory. But the routine can sometimes become mere mechanical rites. Discipline devoid of devotion is a false note only. The Bhakthi Yoga which is an integral part of idol worship gives the greatest importance to the heart. The Veda exponents practiced daily, diligently. They knew that this was not enough and divine intervention alone would make them supreme, beyond failure. But they often faltered in spite of rehearsing it at Kavu. My be, Sastha wanted to teach them the supreme importance of dedication, through Elangllur. Not that the routine is unnecessary but it is only an aid to intense devotion that transcends all failure, Great men often scorn petty restrictions of routine and become targets of ignorant critics. Kakkasseri Bhattathiri, one of the greatest scholars kerala has produced had that problem because the ordinary mortals could not understand his refusal to adhere to customs. They make his an outcast even though he was a God man. Elangalllut did not suffer like that mainly because his friends soon learned the truth.
People
discussed the spiritual path when they saw Elangallur's offerings in the
temple. A large number of
Namboodiris have observed penance there and seen it.
They passed the story on.
The legend lives.
Vidhya saraswathy Archana
In
the month of January , Vidhya
saraswathy kfor gathering knowledge and wisdom is conducted for the students.
The cultural father (Guru) spell the Mantharm, the students repeat
the spells three times and worsher with follows. This is
7 days along celebration and every day the duties are given with
holy ghee . Thousands of
students participate in the ‘pooja’.
Para
Nirakkal
It
is a process filling the ‘Para’. In the month of meenam, Attam is the
day of procession, lord sastav of chatakudam, arrive thence to take Thiruvullakkavu
sasta for ‘Gramabali’,(Viisit of god the village for the welfare of the
villagers). Thus under devices
participation in the procession.
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