MARUTHANKUZHY

The place is about 8 Kms from the Thirvananthapuram Railway Station.

Sree Udiyanoor Devi Temple

Story – About 1400 years back, an ardent devotee of Sree Devi, Shri Neelankantha Paramahamsar as a small boy saw the vigraham of the Devi being swept away in the flood waters of the Killiyar river here in Maruthankuzhy. Showing great courage, he jumped into the fast flowing river and was able to get the idol in his grasp. He was swept away in the river water and thereafter nothing was heard about him for 6 days. To everyone’s amazement, he returned with the idol on the 7th day. The Goddess directed him to perform pooja for the vigraham on daily basis in his dream. Accordingly, he kept the idol over a wooden table under a jackfruit tree after covering the table with the white mundu and started worshipping it while offering the Ada to the Lord. The practice of Ada Vazhipadu that started that day is still being continued. Neelakantha Paramahamsar who later came to be known as Yogishwarar attained mahasamadhi at the age of 82 here.
The idol was later installed under a thatched roof and worshipped. The present temple building was completed in 1958. At that time an Astrological enquiry was held to know the desire of the Goddess. In this it was revealed that a pearl would be obtained while digging the ground and the construction of the temple should start from that spot. Accordingly, the present temple was constructed from the spot where the pearl was recovered.

Temple - The temple has a small gopuram and in the centre sits the Devi with four hands, holding the Shankhu (Conch shell), Chakram, Nandakam, Sword and Shoolam (Trident). At the entrance we can see vessals with water containing a mixture of Chandanam, Kumkum and Turmeric. The traditional mandapam is seen before the Devi sannidhi. The Devi is considered to be alternately as Durga and Bhadrakali. In front of the Devi, we can see the lit Neeranjana lamps, i.e. lamps lit on half coconut shells with seasame oil.
Idols of the Navagrahas are seen in the roof of the mandapam near by.
Lord Mahaganapathy sits near by while the nagas are enshrined on the outside.
Shrines of Madan thampuran, Lord Ayyappan, Ulagudaya Perumal thampuran and Yogishwarar are seen in the different mandapams inside the temple.
In the chuttambalam outside, the shrines of Shri Durga devi seen facing east, Shri Bhadrakali seen facing north and Kanni moola Ganapathy are there.

Prayers - Chandana kappu, Ada Vazhipadu and Guruthy Tharpanam are the main prayers held here.
Guruthy tharpanam is held in the evening and lasts for more than 2 hours. The basic concept is that blood of Asuras are offered to the Devi and her retinue. The Devi sannidhi is kept closed when the ritual is being performed. During this, a freshly cut banana tree is taken, 3 kuttu lamps are lit near it, cut banana stems are stacked over one another and placed before the banana tree, over it the Kuruthus are kept. Red coloured water is kept in 3 Urulis (vessals) near by and the pooja is performed. The Melshanthi takes out the blood coloured red water in his hands each time and throws it out. Then the empty vessels are inverted. Thereafter, the Melshanthi takes the sword kept near the banana tree in his hand, cuts the tree down and goes inside the closed sanctum, keeps the sword near the Devi and comes back after again closing the sannidhi.
Ada is offered as naivedhyam to the Devi every day in the evening. This Ada is prepared from the dough containing the mixture of Rice flour, Coconut and Banana. The dough is made into flat Adas and steamed before being offered to Devi.
Every year Prathishtha day is celebrated in the Malayalam month of Medom and star Punartham. The annual Utsavam is also held during this period beginning four days before the Prathistha day and continues for 10 days.
Music concerts are held every Tuesday and Fridays during the month of Adi.
Every month on the day of the star Punartham, poor feeding is held.
Once every 3 years, Shree Ulagudaya Perumal Uruttu Utsavam is held for 8 days. This festival is associated with a folk tradition concerning a king of Vaikai kingdom. The only survivor of the Vaikai family, Ulakudaya perumal did long penance and got the blessings of Devi. He defeated the Madurai king and ruled the country for twelve years. The Madurai king spent his time doing Shiva pooja in the forest. Getting the blessings of Lord Shiva he returned to Madurai and attacked Ulakudaya perumal. In the battle Ulakudaya perumal and his brothers commit suicide before the Shiva temple. This story is presented in the form of folk songs (Oottupaattu and Thampuran paattu) and some parts of the story are enacted during this festival. During the festival, in a tent set up before the temple, Godess Devi, Ulagudaya Perumal Thampuran and Yogishwarar are settled as Peedams and worshipped.

Timings – Morning 5 AM to 12 noon; Evening 5 PM to 8.15 PM.