A three-day long colloquium presided over by Vedic scholars, astrologers, priests and spiritual leaders held at Kadavalloor Sri Ramaswami Temple found that the presiding deity of the centuries old temple is sad and losing his power due to aberrations in traditions and customs.
“Lord Sri Rama, the deity is shocked because of the steps taken by Devaswam Board (the Government department that administers the temple) and his ire is reflected on the population that constitute the serene village. Families get disintegrated, contagious diseases are on the upswing and the village which gave birth to hundreds of scholars watch as the new generation is full of mediocre people,” observed Unnikrishna Panikkar, Cheruvalli Narayanan Namboodiri, Kerala’s lead Vedic scholars who led an Ashtamangala Prasnam spread over three days (January5,6 &7). Vedic astrologer Edamuttam Madhu Sakthidharan, helped the audience by translating and explaining the observations inferred by Panikkar and Namboodiri during the three days.
Sri Ramaswami Temple at Kadavalloor shot into global fame because of the Vedic Anyonyam (face-to-face), a competition that measures the Vedic prowess of scholar who gathers in the village every November. “The administrators amended the rules of Anyonyam to make it popular and earn fast buck. But this has not been appreciated by the presiding deity,” observed Panikkar.
Ashtamangalam is the collection of eight auspicious materials that include flowers, grains, gold coin, fruits, betel leaves, mirror, cloth, lamp and saffron. The distinct characters of these materials as well as the nature of the person who lights the lamp are elucidated by Vedic scholars to explain what is in the mind of the Lord. “It is an integration of mathematics, astronomy, astrology, nature and behavioural patterns which give out the results,” Panikkar told The Pioneer on the side lines of the Prasna Pooja.
The Vedas explain Ashtamangala Prasna exponents as “ Jyothisasthra vidagdho Ganithapatur Vritavamscha Sathyavacha, Vinayee Vedadhyayee, Grahayajanaparascha, Bhavathu Daivagna” which means only a scholar in astronomy, mathematics and Vedas and who is honest, humility and expert in worshipping Sun, Moon etc could be an astrologer
It was found during the Ashtamangala Prasna that the feet of the deity has been tampered with by people who were not qualified to perform the divine job. “It is like cutting the feet to suit the footwear. The babus of the Devaswam department are government offcials and they do not know the complexities associated with aagamasasthra,” said Cheruvalli Namboodiri. The scholars found out from planetary positions that a snake has been shot dead in the temple premises which has upset the Lord.
“There were instances of the Thanthri (chief priest) being over ruled by the Devaswam Board officials. Priests are being transferred and posted without taking into consideration the fact that there are differences in the traditions associated with each temple. The job of a temple priest is not that of a lower or upper division clerk in Government office.” Said Panikkar. More than a dozen astrologers and hundreds of devotees including rationalists had assembled to participate in the colloquium. “We have genuine issues like troubled family ties, unusual marital discords and children born with defects. This has been troubling us for long and the Ashtamangala Prasna offered as solutions,” said Aravindan Panikkar, lead astrologer at Kadavallur.
He said that the village owes its existence to Ghatolkacha, son of Bheem. “The idol at this temple was the one brought here by Ghatolkacha and the village has been known as Ghatolkachapuram, which later became Kadavalloor,” he said.
Many devotees including women had doubts about the rituals in the temple dating back to centuries. Kadavalloor Sri Ramaswami temple is one of the few temples in South India which is under the possession of Archaeological Survey of India because of the antiquity associated with it.