Thiruvizha Mahadeva (Siva) temple, Cherthala for Inasanity and skin problems cure
This is an article on the Thiruvizha Mahadeva kshetram (Siva temple) at Thiruvizha near Cherthala and Alapuzha on the Ernakulam – Cherthala Road. This is an ancient temple believed to possess special powers to cure the ill effects of black magic or evil spirits. The Prasadam of the temple is having curable properties on some skin diseases.
Mahadeva temple, Thiruvizha
This is a Sivan (Mahadevan) temple. In the sanctum there is a small pit with water in it and a Lingam, symbol of Lord Siva is partially seen in the pit. The Lingam will be completely under water during rainy season and may not be visible. On those occasions the Poojas and worships are done to the Utsava Moorthy (idol used for worship during festivals) of the temple. This temple is very famous one as the devotees believe that the worship and taking prasadam in this temple will give relief to some mental sickness (madness - insanity), to people under influence of bad spirits or evil effects, mantravadam and black magic/alchemy effects etc. The prasadam of this temple is also believed to cure skin diseases like leprosy, edema etc. Daily pooja rituals of Thiruvizha Mahadeva temple
The temple opens at 5 am. On opening the temple the abhisheka (anointing - sacred bathing) of the deity represented by the Linga is done. Abhisheka is done with water, tender coconut water, milk, curd etc. The milk abhisheka is done for 1001 times which is a specialty of this temple. After the abhisheka the idol is adorned with the sacred ash and sandalwood paste. Thereafter Pori (puffed rice) is offered to the Lord. Around 8.15 am the pantheeradi pooja is done. On completion of the pantheeradi pooja the priest reads the names of the devotees who have registered for the medicated prasadam to be consumed. About 100 ml of the prasadam milk is given to the devotees whose names were read and those devotees take the prasadam in presence of the deity. The belief of the local people here is that the Lord Siva takes the poison as he did during the churning of the milky ocean when the Serpent king Vasuki vomited the halahala visha (kaalakoota visha - a highly strong poison). This prasadam is the Neivedyam to the lord and this is distributed as the prasadam to the registered devotees.
In the temple there is an idol of Lord Vishnu in his separate shrine. Payasam Neivedyam is offered to this deity of Lord Vishnu at 11 am. This Neivedyam of Lord Vishnu is offered to the patients who after taking the medicated milk of morning (pantheeradi pooja) as prasadam to them. Cure for Insane (mad persons) at Thiruvizha Siva temple
When the temple was built in the present place, a mad man (insane) used to be around this temple. The devotees were terribly frightened because of the presence of the mad person in the temple area and they started praying to the deity of this temple to cure the mad man of his insanity. One day one of the devotees belonging to a Nair family had a dream to tie up the mad man overnight and as per the dream a new plant will sprout near the temple. The person was to pluck a hand full of the leaves of the plant to be given to the priest of the temple. The priest will take out the juice of the leaves and mix the same with cow milk. The mixture of the milk and juice will change color from blue to dark red to black to yellow and lastly to white. He performed the pantheeradi pooja to the Lord Siva of the temple keeping three coins before the deity. After this ritual of the pantheeradi pooja the milk with the plant juice used for the pooja was given to the mad person. After about an hour luke warm water was given to the mad man and after that he vomited the contents of his stomach.
In the temple premises there are other deities. One of the deities is of a Yakshi. For the Yakshi milk gheer (paal payasam – a kind of milk pudding made of milk, rice sugar etc.) is offered as neivedya (food offering to deities). A portion of this neivedya was given to the madman at noon after which he was cured of the mental problems.
Pantheeradi pooja is a regular pooja of most of the temples in Kerala. The meaning of the word pantheeradi is 12 feet. The pantheeradi pooja is the pooja done when the shadow becomes 12 feet in length which will be between 8 am to 9 am depending on the seasons. Since the madman regained sanity people felt it is due to the power of the deity, prasadam and the pooja. Therefore, many people with insanity are brought here for cure with positive results after the Poojas. The same procedure adopted to the first patient explained above is the regular procedure. The attending persons attend the evening worship with kuruthi (a sacrificial ritual of offering red colored water made of mixing kumkum with water. This is done to the Yakshi installations outside the temple. Next day the procedure explained above is followed. Because of the successful cures large number of people comes here with their kins who are affected by insanity or skin diseases for cure. The right of plucking the leaves goes to the family members of the first mad man who was treated here. He was from a Nair family by the name Thalakkat family. Special prasadam of Thiruvizha Mahadeva (Siva) temple
The main prasadam of the temple is the milk which is having the poisonous extract of a plant in the temple complex. This extract is having medicinal properties. Proper intake of this prasadam is believed to cure many types of mental problems (insanity or madness), leprosy, serous swellings of limbs (dropsy) and invigorate/energize of the body and soul. People suffering under the influence of Kai visham (taking food prepared to harm by evil spirited persons), alchemy/black magic, witchcraft (mantravada) or evil spirits get relieved of these effects after taking the prasadam of Thiruvizha Mahadevan (Sivan) temple. The prasadam is a purgative drink which brings out the poisonous contents of the stomach by vomiting/puking.
The devotees who are taking the prasadam are to abstain from base sensual pleasures like the avoidance of alcohol, non vegetarian food and sex for a week. They should keep their mind and body in pure condition.
Festivals at Thiruvizha and Kanichukulangara temples
At Thiruvizha the main annual festival is Aarattu festival. This is in the Malayalam month of Meenam (March - April months of the English calendar). There is another festival in the Malayalam month of Dhanu (Marghazhi – Saggitarius zodiac). Kanichukulangara Devi temple is having an annual festival of 21 days. This festival is known as the Kumbham thiruvathira Aarattu. Thousands of people attend this festival from local and far away areas. The famous Nadaswaram vidwan Thiruvizha Jaya Shankar is from the Thiruvizha village. Specialties of Thiruvizha Mahadeva temple
Everyday noon the idol of the deity Goddess Kanichukulangara temple is brought to this temple to offer her the payasam with the Lord Sivan (Mahadevan). The belief is that the Kanichukulangara Devi is the daughter of the Lord Siva. So she is brought here so that she can take the payasam along with her father (Lord Siva). Kanichukulangara is a small village near to Thiruvizha village.
Everyday many persons come to Thiruvizha Mahadeva kshetram for cure of the ills mentioned elsewhere and the cure is through the puking. In spite of the large number of people vomiting every day the temple premises and the place around are clean and neat. Accommodation at Thiruvizha Mahadeva temple
As the devotees with insane or mentally affected relatives have to come on the previous day of the prasadam to be taken. The temple authorities also make staying facilities and to worship at the Deepaaraadhana and kuruthi pooja of previous evening. After this worship the devotees can have their prasadam dinner and go to bed. They have to be at the temple at 5 am for darsanam of the Lord Sivan and have to stay with empty stomach without water or even the temple theertham (holy water) till about 8.30 – 9 am. At this time the prasadam of the medicated milk is taken and then the devotees do the circumbulation of the temple campus which is about 700 meters of sand. By the time 5 rounds are being done the devotees who are affected by the black magic (Alchemy) is expected to start vomiting and bring out the effect of the black magic. Whatever dirty items or impure or undigested items present in the stomach is brought out by the vomit. After the vomiting the priest gives hot water to the devotees to drink. Around 200 ml of warm water is to be consumed at every round.
Within five rounds devotees who had been given black magic potion or evil-spirited food or drink will start to vomit it out. Some see even meat pieces or vegetable pieces in the dirt. Then the temple priests give hot water to drink. In every round at least 200ml of hot water should be drunk and continue walking. In few rounds people who wished to detoxify their body will start to throw up in the sand pavements of the temple campus.Some beliefs about Thiruvizha Mahadeva (Siva) temple
The sage Nagarjuna a Buddhist monk is supposed to have visited and stayed in this Thiruvizha Sivan temple and wrote a book titled Rasa Vaisheshika. Sage Nagarjuna is also known as the medicine Buddha. In almost all the Buddhist temples his idols can be seen installed. When Buddhism was being divided under the branches of Mahayana and Heenayana he took the middle path and was responsible for the introduction of the Madhyayana (middle path) of Buddhism.
Another belief is that Vaaghbata an Ayurvedic scholar came t the village and wrote the Ashtaangahridayam treatise on Ayurvedic system of medicine based on the Ashtaangahridayam method of treatment. He is believed to have wrote the treatise sitting on a rock near the Thiruvizha Mahadeva temple. There are some historians who do not agree with this theory of his having come here and written the treatise. But one fact is worth noting that while the rest of the country follows the methods of Charka and Sushrutha, Kerala Ayurvedic method is based on Ashtaangahridayam method and the same is world famous. Belief about the Thiruvizha Siva temple
The area around Thiruvizha was a dense forest some time back. In the place of the temple there was a pond with lot f turtles in it. Around this area there were a tribe of hunters by name Ulladas who used to catch the turtles for their livelihood. They were using poles with sharpened ends. The sharp ends are thrust on to the turtles and are taken out of the pond. Once when a woman was doing this exercise to catch turtles, she saw blood oozing out of the pond and the pond also became red with the blood. The people around the pond emptied the pond and on the 3rd day they saw a stone at the bottom of the pond from which the blood was coming out. They went to a sage who came to the pond and applied some sacred ash on the cut in the stone and bleeding immediately stopped. The sage then told the people to build a temple in the place with the stone in the pond itself. So the people partly closed the pond by filling with sand and built a temple there. The stone in the pond is a Linga the symbol of Lord Siva. Since the pond is not fully closed water is there always and in rainy season the pond will be full of water. During those occasions the Linga stone may not be visible. The Address Thiruvizha Mahadeva (Siva) temple
Thiruvizha Mahadeva Kshetram,
Kanichchu Kulangara P O, Cherthala, Alapuzha Dst. Kerala State, India
Phone Number: 011-91-478-2864836
Thiruvizha Mahadeva Kshetram is about 40 km from Ernakulam on the Ernakulam – Cherthala High way. Thiruvizha is about 5 km from Cherthala towards the South West direction and around 6 km North of Alapuzha.
A visit to Thiruvizha Mahadeva Kshetram and worship is a must for those who want to energize/rejuvenate their mind and body.
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