THIRUVULLAKKAVU

The place is located on the route towards Irinjalakuda/Kodungallur, 10 kms from Trichur. Thrissur Railway Station and Cochin International Airport are the nearest major access points.

Dharma Shasta Temple

This temple is situated in the midst of a dense forest here.
Story 1 - The resident Wariar of this place used to go to the temple at Peruvanam daily. One day when he was returning back after his daily darshan through the forest, he saw a bright light at a distance. Being well versed in Astrology, the Wariar realised this to be a divine light and went near it. There he saw a beautiful idol of Dharma Shasta. All the people of the place joined together to build a beautiful temple after installing the idol.
Temple - This temple enshrines Lord Ayyappa, also called as Dharmasastha, as the presiding deity, in standing posture with arch, bow. The temple is unique as Dharma Shasta is seen here with his wives and son. Inside the sanctom there are 3 Swayambhoo idols. The figureless stone in the centre is that of Dharma Shasta. To the left is seated Devi Vidyaprabha and to the right is the idol of child Satyangan. These become visible only during the daily Abhishekam. The sanctum is square shaped with roof made of tiles. On all four sides we can see Manmadaps or Nalambalam where Lord Ganapathi has been consecrated.
Prayers & Festivals - The main offerings are kadali pazham, trimadhuram, appam and payasam. Navarathri is celebrated here and during that period Saraswathi Pooja is performed in a grand manner. The moola mantram is written on the tongue of the children with a Gold pen before they go for Aksharabhyasam on rice spread in plate. Before this, vedic pandits chant the 96 Saraswathi mantras in the Rig veda with offering of ghee. This ghee is later given to the children as prasadam. The story of how Aksharabhyasam has come to be performed in this Dharma Shasta temple is interesting.
Story 2 - Once a pandit with very little literacy used to perform the poojas in this temple. He was always ridiculed by friends and others for his lack of intelligence. One day after the evening Deeparandhana, he closed the sanctum to go home. However, a sudden storm with heavy rain and wind started. As he had no umbarella or lamp, he could not leave for his house located at a distance and so had to stay back inside the temple during the night. He went to the kitchen and saw the wood brought by Varasyar, a maid for the next day's cooking, lying there. He made fire out of the wood and went to sleep after becoming warm. Lord Shasta appeared in his dream and told him not to remain hungry. The Lord asked the priest to drink the milk and eat the banana lying in a corner of the kitchen. The priest woke and did as he was told and went back to sleep again. Next morning he went about doing his daily pooja in the temple as usual after bath. When Varasyar the maid came to work, she saw that the wood kept in the kitchen for preparing the Naivedyam was missing. When she asked the priest about it, he replied her in fine poetry. This set the maid thinking about what happened during the night that an idiot had started composing fine poetry. On enquiring the priest further, she came to know that the Lord had asked the priest to eat the banana and drink the milk. To get the benefit of the Lord's grace herself also, she ate the banana peel lying on the ground. The priest later became famous as Yamaka Mahakavi while the maid who also developed poetic ability, is credited as the authour of the book Pandava Charitam.