Vaniyanur Subrahmanya temple

The temple ruins are located at Vaniyannur in Cheriyamundam Panchayat in Tirur, Malappuram district of Kerala.

As per the villagers the temple is believed to be atleast 1000 years old and was ransacked during the Mysorean invasion of Kerala. It was destroyed completely during the riots of 1921 and has been lying in disuse, ruins and abandoned since then.

The temple revival started on 11 Jan 2018 with Swamy Bharati Maharaj of Bhuvaneswari Ashram lighting the lamp and restarting the Poojas.

The temple was vandalised the same night by unknown persons, but devotees of the locality made sure that worship was not affected at temple site.

The reconstruction of the temple started with site clearance work. The foundation stones, the sanctum sanctoriums of the temple were found during the excavation.

First a temporary office cum store room was constructed in the temple site. This enables the safe keep of Pooja items as well as construction tools.

The ritual marking the reconstruction, the DevaPrashnam and Ganapati Homam was conducted on 5 Feb 2018.

Keshavan Acharyan, a renowned temple architect has been entrusted the task of designing the new temple imbibing the old. The Sthapathi, temple architect predicted that idols could be recovered from well. Also it was advised to start the clearing works of the well as water was needed for construction work and for further use during temple rituals.

The excavation of the well was a hard task as the person had to make sure that they don’t damage any idols which was to be recovered from the well. Also huge stones and temple pillars were being found in the well. Some of them weighing few tons were difficult to be taken out using manual labour. And at many such instances the excavation process slowed as devotees found difficult to remove the stones from well. Ultimately crane had to be brought to take out the huge stones.

And as the temple architect had predicted, an idol of Goddess was recovered from the well. The idol from its characters belonged to the Chola era and the character was that of a benevolent Goddess. The recovery of the Goddess idol has necessitated a change in the temple architecture, as now the architect has to design a sanctum for the Goddess as well in addition to Lord Shiva, as per Tantrashastra.

It was also decided to complete excavation till bedrock of the well, in hope that more such idols will be discovered. The excavation of the well is almost complete and next stage is the construction of the temporary abodes (called Balalayams) for Lord Shiva and the Goddess.

UPDATES:

Excavation of temple well complete, broken idols recovered. Sidewalls being strengthened now

During excavation of the temple well, we could discover the stones weighing tonnes, various temple stones, pillars and also the broken idol of Goddess. We have excavated as deep as we should, in order to recover any idol which may have been dumped in well.

The excavation is now complete, and the construction of the well strengthening the sidewalls have started. The first step was installing a wooden plank called Nellipalaka at the bottom of the well as per the rituals. This was done on 17 May 2018.

The sidewalls are now being built to strengthen the well. Also we are constructing the well as per the traditional way, since this well would form the Manikkinar, from where the water will be used for Poojas as well as preparing the Prasadam. The water has to be clean and this is being ensured in the construction. Ten persons are working everyday and we expect the work to be completed in another 15 days.

The next step is the ritual called Devaprashnam where the astrologists, the temple architect, the temple priest and the devotees debate about the temple architecture and the worship of the Deities.

The ritual is necessitated as the idol of Goddess was recovered from the well and now sanctum sanctoriums for both Lord Shiva and Goddess has to be built in the temple. The temple architect would discuss the temple plans as per Tantrashastra and the design will be finalised during the said ritual. The Devaprashnam ritual is scheduled on 8 June 2018.

Temple plan, design and updates

Another Devaprashnam was conducted on 8 and 9 June 2018 on premises of Vaniyanur temple in Malappuram Kerala. The ritual was conducted again to finalise the Deities to be worshipped and the construction of temple. During the process and based on astrological findings, the broken idol excavated from the well of the temple was identified as that of Devi Parvathi. The temple was estimated as a Siva Parvathy temple, where the prominence is for Devi Parvathy.

As such Devi Parvathy will be the Presiding Deity of the temple. Lord Siva will be worshipped and consecrated besides the sanctum of Devi.

Also it was mentioned that the Siva linga found in the temple premises belongs to another temple. This Siva linga will have to be worshipped separately in the temple premises. 

The temple plan and design has been finalised as per Tantrashastra by Veliyanoor Kesavan Achari, a famous Sthapathi who has decades long experience in temple construction and is from a family who are traditionally Stapathis.

As part of the reconstruction, the sanctum sanctorum and the Namaskara Mandapam will be built. Also a temporary structure called Balalayam will be built for worship of Devi Parvathi till the temple reconstruction is completed.

Visit by Chief Priest for customary approval to build Garbagriha of temple

The Chief priest (Tantri) visited Vaniyanur temple on 24 Jul 2018. The purpose was to finalise a date to start construction of Garbagriha. During the visit the Tantri demanded that noted astrologer and expert on Tantrashastra, Shri Brahmadattan Namboodiri to be consulted before the construction of Garbagriha starts. Shri Brahmadattan has agreed to visit the temple on 14 Aug 2018. The ritual and date for construction of Garbagriha will be finalised during his visit.

There had been an unfortunate death of President of the temple committee, Rajesh A who was actively involved in the revival of the temple. He is survived by his wife and two kids. All of us share the grief with his family. We pray for the departed soul and will take forward the mission of rebuilding the temple in Vaniyanur which was close to his heart.

Visit by Tantrashastra experts to determine Presiding Deity and mode of worship

We had updated earlier that during the visit of Chief Priest on 24 July 2018 for customary approval for building Garbagriha, he had expressed certain doubts about the temple construction plan and also the presiding Deity to be worshipped.

The temple site had a Shiva linga in upturned manner and it was widely believed that it was a Siva temple. Later a broken idol was found from the temple well during excavation and in the opinion of the astrologers consulted, it was idol of Goddess Parvati. The Stapathi who was entrusted for the construction of temple also said that the idol was of Goddess and drew a plan accordingly for the temple.

The construction of Garbagriha was however delayed due to unfortunate death of the President of the temple committee. The Chief Priest after visiting temple demanded the consultation of Vezhapparambu Brahmadattan Namboothirippadu who is an expert in temple construction, Tantrashastra.

Sri Brahmadattan Namboodirippad visited the temple on 14 Aug 2018, along with his entourage. He examined in detail the idol recovered from the temple well as well as further asked the devotees to dig up certain places around the demolished sanctum.

After careful examination and calculation of the measurements it was finalised that the idol is that Subrahmanya, and that the presiding deity of the temple is Lord Subrahmanya. This was found mainly by examining the Murthy. The Murthy even though broken had a sacred thread/janeu etched which shows that it is not a Goddess. Also many features of the idol which was mistaken to be a Goddess was explained as that of the Subrahmanya, and he also explained the details to all devotees.

Also when devotees dug up places around sanctum as pointed out by Sri Brahmadattan Namboodiri, the remnants of earlier temple was found. The pillars found was not used for temple of Goddess and was used for Subrahmanya temples.

The other doubt was that of Sivalinga found at the temple site. The measurement of the Sivlinga was taken and it was found that it belongs to some other temple and not to the temple site where it was found. The plausible explanation was that someone shifted the Shivlinga to the present site due to some reason.

This would mean that a new plan has to be drawn since the Presiding Deity has been found to be different from what was supposed by other astrologers and the Stapathi. We have entrusted Sri Brahmadattan Namboodirippad to draw the construction plan for the Subrahmanya temple. Also a new Stapathi will now take over the construction of the temple as soon as the temple plan is finalised.

In the words of Sri Brahmadattan, all the land belonging to the temple will in due time return back to the temple and the Presiding Deity and temple will attains its pre eminence.

Our efforts now is to start construction of Garbagriha at earliest and finish it as soon as possible. We will be updating very soon.

Rebuilding of temple started with construction of Garbhagriha

Earlier we had mentioned of how the Tantrashastra experts, astrologists and Chief Priest of Vaniyanur temple had reached a consensus that the Presiding Deity of the temple is Lord Subrahmanya.

The work of rebuilding Garbhagriha started on 2 Sep 2018 with lighting lamp and the Sthapathi removing a stone from the destroyed temple foundation.

Constructing a temporary building to house Deities Lord Subrahmanya and Lord Siva the first step in the process. Accordingly a temporary building called Balalayam was built near to Garbhagriha with separate spaces for Lord Subrahmanya and Lord Siva.

The next step is the shifting of Deities to the Balalayam. This will be done by Chief Priest of the temple on 10 Sep 2018. After that present Garbhagriha will be dismantled and all foundation stones removed for reconstruction.

Construction of temporary Garbagriha over, daily worship is happening for Deities

We are very happy to inform that the construction of temporary Garbagriha is over and the Deities were shifted on 10 Sep 2018. The ritual was attended by all devotees from the village.

We have also undertook further excavation of the temple site to find out the earlier foundation of the temple. The foundation of Garbagriha was found to be weak and needs to be reworked completely.

 The revised plan of the temple is finalised as advised by Sri Brahmadattan Namboothiri.

We are bound by the advice of the Chief Priest of the temple on the construction of temple. Chief Priest has demanded rituals to be conducted for the soul of Shri Rajesh A, who was President of the temple committee and who had an unexpected demise during the initial phase of temple revival. Devotees also want to avoid any further unfortunate events and wants to do all the rituals and prayers so that the revival happens without any difficulties.

We have entrusted the Sthapathi and the construction materials has also been procured at temple site. Daily worship of Lord Subrahmanya and Lord Siva is now happening at the temple.

Foundation work of Garbagriha over

The Shilanyas function was held on 23.1.2019 and was attended by a large number of people from the village. The Chief Priest and the Sthapathi were also part of the Poojas and rituals.

After the Shilanyas ceremony the work of foundation (portion below ground) was started. 

Stage 1 of the restoration is now complete with the foundation work over. 

Next stage is the construction of the base of the Garbagriha which will begin very soon.

Stage 2 , construction of the base of Garbagriha over

We are very happy to share that the 2nd stage of the restoration of Vaniyanur Subrahmanya temple is over. This involved construction of the base of the Garbagriha. The next stage is the reconstruction of the walls of the Garbagriha for which the estimated cost is Rs 1 lakh.

Extremist violence and order for status quo by district administration

We have run into serious opposition and extremist violence from fundamentalist organisations during the revival of this ancient Hindu temple. 

1. On May 2019, the way to the temple was blocked by religious fundamentalists with large stones.

2. The temple committee President Adhikarathil Appukuttan was attacked by religious extremists and was hospitalised.

3. Members of religious extremist organisations were mobilised in the village and in houses near temple threatening to disrupt temple work.

4. District administration issued status quo orders stopping the construction citing law and order issues.

Below are the actions taken

1. Demanded police protection and worship at temple is now happening with police security

2. FIRs were registered for assault and the accused has been arrested.

3. Writ petitions have been filed in Kerala High Court demanding permission and police protection to restart the restoration work as well as reclaiming the nearly 2 acre land that is now under encroachment. The reference numbers of the cases are WPC 10161/2019, WPC 18715/2019, WPC 33732/2019

The oppositions and hinderance are normal in such projects which is happening in an entirely hostile area. We are trying our best to restart the restoration work at the earliest. We also have to ensure the safety of every volunteer and devotee in the village working and praying for the revival of our ancient temples.