Source: m.facebook.com
Poruvazhi Peruviruthy Malanada Temple

Many of us remember Duryodhana is one of the most noteworthy characters, a great warrior, and an influential villain from the epic of Mahabharata. He was also one of the most hated people due to the grey shades of his character in the story. The eldest of the 100 Kaurava brothers, Duryodhana played the prime villain in the epic. With his greater skills in wielding the mace to his brothers, Pandavas, he tried to defeat them due to internal conflicts. He was a tremendously gutsy, strong, and skilled warrior. However, Duryodhana’s greed, arrogance, wrong influence, and immoral behavior were some of the bad makings that led to his downfall in the great Mahabharata. Numerous people consider him as a wicked man, who hated his brothers, was greedy for the crown, mistreated his sister-in-law Draupadi, and supported the wrong people, yet he is grandly adorned in a temple in the south Indian region of Kerala. Though there are a few temples dedicated to Duryodhana in North India, there is merely one Duryodhana temple in South India. The temple named “Poruvazhi Peruviruthy Malanada” is in Kunnathoor district of Kerala, which is the only temple dedicated to Duryodhana in south India.

This unique temple is locally known as the “Malanada” temple, in Malayalam, ‘Mala’ means temple and ‘Nada’ means temple. Apart from it being a temple dedicated to Duryodhana, this temple is also unique because there is no presiding deity or any temple tower in the shrine. In the Mahabharata, Duryodhana was a unique character, his spirited personality, stubbornness and extreme hatred towards Pandavas weave the story interestingly till the end of the war. And thus, it is his “Thamo Guna” which is celebrated in the temple. Philosophically, Thamo Guna is just a state of mind where all the bad thoughts, desires, lust, anger, laziness, arrogance engulf a person. In such a bad state, the mind itself is seen as the internal enemy of a person which doesn’t care about the self but forces to destroy someone else. True to this aspect, Duryodhana tries to destroy Pandavas till his last breath. In different versions of literature about the Mahabharata, Duryodhana is similarly seen as a hero who tries to win in a logical perspective of life. At the Poruvazhi Peruviruthy Malanada temple, devotees pray to any God they believe, but by respecting Duryodhana as the “Sankalpa Moorthy”, as the main deity.

Source: m.facebook.com
Mandapam of Poruvazhi Peruviruthy Malanada Temple

As per the local legend, once Duryodhana came in the Kunnathoor region in search of the Pandavas who were in exile. Being the firstborn son of the blind king Dhritrashtra, he was the crown prince of Kuru Kingdom and its capital Hastinapura along with his Pandava cousin Yudhishtra who was older than him. Duryodhana with the significant assistance of his friend Karna, performed Vaishnava Yagna when the Panadavas were in exile, as a result of a game between the Kaurava and Pandava brothers. And as per the bet, if Pandavas are found again in the ending period of exile, they will have to continue with it. When Duryodhana was searching Pandavas in the Kunnathoor region, he became exhausted and visited a priest’s house to quench his thirst. As per the local custom, the priest’s wife offers Duryodhana a glass of local ‘toddy’ instead of water. Impressed by their hospitality, Duryodhana sat on a small hill to pray for the well-being of the villagers. And he moreover donated several acres of land to the residents. The Poruvazhi Peruviruthy Malanada temple is built in the same place where Duryodhana is believed to have meditated for the wellbeing of the locals of Kunnathoor, Kerala. Hence, all the villagers have great respect and love for Duryodhana.

Source: m.facebook.com

The Poruvazhi Peruviruthy Malanada temple does not have any idols and there is just a raised platform that is called ‘Mandapam’ or ‘Althara’, where devotees pray and sit nearby to meditate. Another most unique thing about this Duryodhana temple is that even the temple property tax is also paid in the name of Duryodhana, and it is the belief that the locals have on this legendary character. Set inside the Poruvazhy village in Kunnathoor, Kollam district, Kerala, and the temple symbols the goodness of a negatively portrayed character. Kunnathoor is about 40km from Kollam and many private vehicles can be appointed for the visit. This region is also famous for the annual Malakkudu Festival, which is celebrated during March and April. Despite being an individual who has done many wrongs in life, Duryodhana is celebrated for some of his qualities, and this temple is the living example of how different and contrary people’s beliefs can be.
___________________________________

Reference:

  • www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com
  • www.en.m.wikipedia.org




Discus