Father, temples and Chakranysharadi

Father

There was a request from a friend to write more about my father"s association with the Cochin royal family. My father was a munsiff and the king (Madiraasiyil theeppetta thampuran) Rama Varma selected my father, noting his honesty, straight-forwardness, integrity and other good qualities. The King wanted him for all purposes and made him Sarvaadhi kaari. He held that post for 14 long years. Mother used to tell the stories of life inside the Kottaram (palace) to us later. Our whole family had a cushy life then. Food and accommodation were free and whatever food was made for the King had to be tasted by Sarvaadhi. Father could have saved a lot, but he felt he had to repay all the loans his uncle had brought upon himself for looking after them in childhood. Even the Pisharoty Munsiff's house had to be pawned for repaying the loans. So finally my father didn't have much savings, which caused him to have depressive illness. 

I remember him feeling sorry for that state of affairs and not going anywhere except upstairs. Mother used to comfort him. The only income was his pension of about Rs 350 plus some paddy income which was dwindling. His good name withstood all the storms. Finally in 1950, he silently expired. He was a great Devi bhakthan. Mother had to take over the entire household. Father's elder brother was the Accountant General. He had Parkinson's disease. I remember his death also, which was a big blow for Father. We used to have a Swami at home in my childhood, mainly to do the poojas properly, and he used to conduct Navarathri on a grand scale, with he himself doing Niraahaara vrutham. At that time pooja room was in our old Madhom near the pond. That pond had water all through the year, because Achan deepened it by a deep-well technique available then. It is still maintained well. There was a PAMPINKAAVU near it. This also is being maintained.

After father expired, Amma wanted to do BHAJANAM at Guruvayur. Machettan took me and Amma there. We were provided accommodation by a Sharam on the northern side of the large bathing tank. Food was mostly prasadam. The Anjam Bhagavatha temple dedicated to Aanjam Madhavan? Namboodiri - a great Bhagavatha and Guruvayurappa bhakthan - was close by. At that time, it had just come into being. Later, I have been there with family and got prasadam along with a shawl with narayana-narayana written on it. Nowadays, there is big crowd there. 

Guruvayur and other temples

During Bhajanam with Amma, we used to circumambulate Bhagawan, going behind the elephant singing bhajans loudly - a large crowd. It used to be a small single elephant - kaazhcha siveli. It has to be experienced to appreciate the pleasure. After the Bhajanam we came back refreshed - especially Amma, who got great peace of mind. Later, when Rema became pregnant with Anju, we did Bhajanam again - did darsanam 34 four times a day, attended Bhagavathaparayanam in the morning at the large northern hall in front of Devi temple. Just near the Devi temple is the place for doing THULAABHAARAM. The entire temple is immersed in Bhakthi and many Bhakthas get ATHEENDRIYA experience. One km away is Mammiyoor Shiva temple. Every bhaktha has darsan there too. It is a must.

Regarding my friend Chowwallur (ref in my story elsewhere) - he is now in his own house at Chowwallur. There is a Shiva temple there too.

In and near Thrissur there are these temples - Thriprayar Sri Rama, Kodungallur Bhadra Kaali, Irijalakuda - Bharathan. Rema's cousin Bhavani is married to Vijayan of Kizhakke Pisharam and residing at Irinjalakkuda. Irinjalakkuda ulsavam is as grand as or grander than Thrissur pooram - one full week of celebration. Thriprayar Sri Rama's ulsavam is in a large paddy field in Aarattupuzha. I have gone for Aarattupuzha pooram once in childhood with our cook Kuttykrishnan. Never after that. There used to be melam and panjavadyam at night with so many caparisoned elephants, all with deity 'thadambu' or 'kolam' from many nearby temples. All people from in and around Thrissur come for this. Kodungallur bharani is famous for KOZHIYE VETTAL, a big barbaric uncultured custom still prevalent but in a subdued level. That was the day the lower class people enter the KAALI temple called KAAVU THEENDAL. In and around Thrissur, there are many other temples too - the main ones are Thiruvambady - Sri Krishnan and Paramekav - Kaali. These two temples are the main ones for Thrissur pooram.

Chakranysharadi

My eldest brother married our maternal uncle Krishnamman's daughter Karthyayani chedathiamma. She was a gem of a lady, practically ruling the family. They had one son and 3 daughters. They were in Velappaya near Thrissur medical college. I used to go there sometimes for ulsavam with Chakkrapani sharadi - the same Chakranysharadi was sometimes in Mulakunnathkavu temple also. He used to work in various temples and I liked to go with him. He helped me touch an elephant. In childhood I sometimes wanted to sleep next to him because of some fear. With him nearby, I would feel safe and slept well. When I had fever, he used to chant something, would apply vibhuthi on me, and I used to become quiet and sleep. He was staying in our house occasionally, helping Kuttykrishnan our cook. Achan gave him a job in Cochin devaswom as a karyasthan which he kept till he retired. He got married pretty late and had a very loving son and daughter. His house was near Kunnamkulam somewhere. When he was in in hospital in Kunnamkulam, I went from Calicut just see him and be with him (I cried there seeing him miserably ill). His wife came for Anju's wedding at Guruvayur as she had KAZHAZKAM there, making garlands for Guruvayurappan. Everyone loved Chakraany, who was often part of Thrissur pooram on duty with some temple. I have not heard about him later.

Similarly, we had Kuttykrishnan as our cook for many years. He was an excellent cook. He was from near Kunnamkulam. During his last days I went to see him. He was very weak and malnourished (I think he had Ca oesophagus). One of his grand-daughters is my cousin Baleshettan's daughter-in-law. We had one Narayanan Nair staying with us for many years, doing odd jobs. Achan gave him also a job in Vadakkunnathan temple. He was from Pattambi and was a very lovable person. He or Chakraany used to rub my father's legs at night before going to sleep. This loving person was ill in his last days with ?Ca? liver. On his recommendation, his nephew Krishnan was made a watchman in our temple. He knew Chenda drumming and took part in Chenda Melam.