Puthankulangara Temple

The renovation of Siva temple, as engraved in the basement of old Sreekovil of the Siva temple, was carried out during AD 1492. The renovation of Vishnu temple was also carried out during this period. The administration of the temple was carried out by the family of Mambattu Bhattathiri, who was also one of the trustees of Sree Poornathrayeesa temple, Tripunithura. Bhadrakali, an upadevatha of the temple, was installed by a member of the Mambattu Bhattathiri family, who was a loyal worshipper of Kodungalloor Bhagavathy. He used to visit Kodungalloor temple regularly. When aged, he was physically unable to visit the temple. On his last visit to the temple, he prayed to Bhagavathy that he was extremely sad that he may not be able for further visit to the temple. On that night, he dreamt Bhagavathy herself telling him that she has also accompanied him to his house and he may arrange to install Bhagavathy in the nearby temple as per rituals. Accordingly, Mambattu Bhattathiri installed Bhagavathy in the Puthankulangara temple during the 17 th century. Dharma Sastha, another upadevatha of the temple, was also believed to be of historical importance. It was believed that during the late second half of 18 th century, one of the temples of North Malabar was attacked by the soldiers of Tipu Sulthan. A devotee of that temple fled with the idol of Dharma Sastha which was partly destroyed during the attack, for protecting the same from further damage. When he reached Kochi, he handed over the idol to Mambattu Bhattathiri for installing the same in Puthankulangara temple and Mambattu Bhattathiri installed the idol of Dharma Sastha near the Siva temple. Later, during the era of Sakthan Thampuran, the King of Kochi State, the Siva temple was reconstructed. It was also told that the skin disease appeared on the shoulder of the King was completely cured after praying to Lord Siva of this temple. An oottupura was also constructed by the King for serving meals to devotees. During the 19 th century, the administration of the temple was handed over to Muriyamangalath Mana, Kalady, by the King of Kochi State due to extinction of members in Mambattu Bhattathiri’s family.

The pooja and related activities of the temple was carried out by the members of Thoppil Madhom, a Thulu Brahmin family, from the beginning of the 20 th century. Kalamezhuthu Pattu performed during the Mandalam period every year is a traditional offering to please Bhagavathy. Makaravilakku was celebrated in the Dharma Sastha temple every year. Thalappoli procession for Bhagavathy is being carried out from the Arukola prathishta to the temple on Meenabharani day every year. As per the directions of Ashtamangala Prasnam of 1990 carried out by Sri. Kaimukku Parameswaran Namboothiripad, the renovation of the Siva and Vishnu temples were carried out during the period from 1992 to 2004 by Sri. Muriyamangalath Neelakandhan Namboothiripad, the then Managing Trustee of the temple, with the guidance of Sthapathy Sri. Vezhaparambu Parameswaran Namboothiripad and Sri. Kanippayyoor Krishnan Namboothiripad and Thanthry Sri. Puliyannoor Sasi Namboothiripad. The prathishta of Arukola, a devotee of Bhadrakali, situated near to the temple, was renovated during 2001. The punaprathishta of Siva and Vishnu temples were carried out on 04.02.2004 (Makaram, Punartham). The idol of Dharma Sastha was renewed as per the astrological verdict of 1990 and the installation of new idol was also carried out on 04.02.2004. Other places of deities such as Ganapathy, Namaskaramandapa Yakshi, Nagarajavu, Nagayakshi and Vethalam were also renovated and the punaprathishta was carried out during 2004. The pooja and other related activities of the temple were rescheduled after the renovation of 2004 by Thanthry.

The Ulsavam of the temple has been scheduled for six days in the month of Makaram every year with Aarattu day as Punartham, which eventually coincides with the Punaprathishta Dinam. Based on the directions of Devaprasnam of April 2006, Dhwaja prathishta of Siva temple was carried out on 10.04.2008 (Meenam, Rohini). The teakwood procured from Thodupuzha Forest Range for the Dhwajam was transported from the forest to the temple premises and this procession was considered to be one of the first historic events of its kind among the temples of this region. Sri. Rajappan Achari was entrusted to supervise the renovation of the temple and construction of the Dhwajam. His dedication and experience in this field was highly appreciable which in turn resulted for timely completion of the projects. The Theerthakkulam in front of Siva temple was renovated during 2011-2012 for the use of Melsanthi and Thanthry. The renovation of Bhagavathy temple commenced during 2011 and the Punaprathishta was carried out on 14.07.2013 (Midhunam, Uthram). During 2014-2016, beautification of the temple premises was done by providing gardens and walkways which included Nakshathravanam around Bhadrakali temple. The Kshethrodyanam project originated, planned and materialised by Dr. Padmakumar, Advisory Committee Member of the temple, created a historic new concept of temple beautification in Kerala and now a days many temples have adopted the same. New Nadappuragopuram of Siva temple was constructed during 2017-18 and the Samarpanam of the same was done on 10.06.2018. The renovation of the large pond in front of the Vishnu temple commenced during 2019 and expected to be completed by 2023.