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Historical Events

Substantive events

The Gandhi Hill

It is a known fact that several years ago , Mahathma Gandhi, on one of his visits to kerala , he came to Thiruvalla and addressed the people of Thiruvalla standing on a high rise (hill) and this place later came to be known as the Gandhi Hill .This hill is situated on the east side of the church ward mission hospital (saivinte ashpathri) and can be seen above and adjacent to the Thiruvalla railway station. Some families living on this hill has abandoned their own family names and replaced it with "The Gandhi Hill House" in remembrance and reverence to the Father of our nation.

St.Thomas did not shake the dust off his foot here

St. Thomas is believed to have visited Niranam in 53 A.D. He erected a crucifix and founded and built a church here.The present edifice is a renovation of the old. The tall, granite cross in front of the church is a relic of the past.The paintings and sculptures bear elequent testimony to high architectural standards. A statue of "MARY,the mother of JESUS",carved in marble and another in pure gold are the proud attractions of the church. A holy cross made in gold studded with gems, is unrivalled in craftmanship and cost. The feast of St. Thomas is celebrated on 3rd July.

Pension kunnu or The Golden Hill

This is a place in Thiruvalla where Post - Men found it to be a hectic uphill ride,due to a high concentration of pensioneers residing here, and heavy bundles of pension had to be dropped off.Thus the place was named Pension kunnu(Hill) which was later known as the Golden Hill.The outstanding pensioneers of that time were DIVAN BAHADOOR Dr.V.Vargese, DIVAN PESHWAR Mr.C.M. Kuruvilla, Chief Engineer,Illampallil A.C.Chacko, Dr.Tharian Vargese who served as the ordained eye specialist of Kochi Raja (King),all rooted on this hill.

Legends, Myths, Folklores and Mysteries
Folklores relating to Mannar

The Pynanarkavu Yakshi :

Yakshis were supposedly vampirish beings who possesses satanic powers and were known to prowl and stalk human beings. They are known to be extremely hideous , vile and loathsome creatures . They have a penchant for human blood and flesh .They trap their victims , usually men in the guise of women who are voluptuous and radiates an aura of maddening lust . Any one born male would gape at her lascivious and lustfull apparition. The tender - hearted and indulgent lot would fall for her amoural advances . The victim, usually alone, falls in to a trance and finds himself following her as she beckons him to a near by cottage deep in the woods . Once he is inside the cottage , the Yakshi unveils her true self , which is actually a horrifying sight with fiery red eyes , long spear like dentures , blood dripping tongue and unkempt hair which stands out . Such an appalling figure and wild high-pitched animal screech like laughter would have already scared the living lights out of the victim throwing him in to a corpse like state . The Yakshi then quenches her thirst by sucking the life blood of the victim and the remains are left under the tree on which she dwells.

There was once such a famous , rather infamous Yakshi known as The Pynanarkavu Yakshi (Parumala yakshi) who was bound by the legendary hero Kadamuttathu achen(a friar). The story goes......

In olden days, the route from Thiruvananthapuram to Padmanabhapuram served as a route to traverse from Thiruvananthapuram to the west and Padmanabhapuram to the east. It was a lonely winding path coursing through an uninhibited and desolate area covered by dense thickets and woods.On the whole it gave a creepy and formidable aura.During that time ,a Yakshi arrived from somewhere , found this stretch of the road habitable but forsaking for human life .

Quiet a number of people were reported missing , especially those who chose to travel by this particular route and people started avoiding this route as much as possible.Sensing a steady decline in the availability of her preys , the Yakshi encroached in to civilization and started preying on men in there own living quarters .Terror stricken and weary due to such enchanting bewitchments , the villagers took a defensive stance by conferring with well known witch-doctors and exorcists but was all in vain . The Yakshi continued her bestial sanguinary despite of the villager's futile attempts to drive her away . The news of this Yakshi spread far and wide across the land .

Her news, also reached the ears of the legendary hero and priest Kadamuttathu achen ( an expert conjurer) and he set out to nail down this blood sucking creature . After a few days of search , he met her in her usual guise of a sensually appealing woman in need for lime- slick . The achen was astounded by her surpassing beauty but with out wasting much time he offered her the lime on an iron nail ,which the Yekshi refused to accept and retreated but the achen insisted on accepting the lime on the nail which actually had magical formula to deplete the Yekshi's power. Continuous persuation and persistence of the achen , led to a forcible acceptance of the lime by the Yekshi . She lost all her dark powers and became a slave to Kadamuttathu achen , who had actually driven the magic nail in to her head .

Kadamuttathu achen had a very aged and old woman as a relative from his maternal side . This woman lived alone and the achen paid a visit to her along with the slave girl (Yekshi) and presented the slave girl as a help and companion to the old woman . The old woman was delighted and offered to prepare lunch for them . After lunch ,the achen laid down for an after noon nap while the old woman and the slave girl got to know each other, on which the old woman started to like the girl very much and after some time she offered to comb the girl's thick lush hair and while running the comb through the girl's hair, the comb snagged on the nail which the priest had secured . Alarmed at such an injury , the woman pulled out the nail upon which the girl vanished in to thin air. .

Dumbfounded and confused the old woman woke up achen and related the incident . Upon hearing that the Yekshi had fled ,he too ran in the same direction and chased her . When she saw that the priest was following close at her heels, she increased her pace and both of them reached a placed called "Mannar" where she took the only boat and rowed across the pamba river and achen was left behind without a conveyance across the river . So he used his conjuring skills to bind the Yekshi at the opposite bank so that she was unable to move and was trapped . Again with his skills, he used a banana leaf as a conveyance and crossed the river.The Yekshi begged him ,not to destroy nor cast her in to the abyss . Kadamuttathu achen felt for her and made her to vow that she would never again be a threat to mankind ,but lead a peaceful life in the surrounding forest which is known as Pynanarkavu .

It is believed that she still haunts and dwells in this kavu (forest), invisible to the human eye ,but at times she has been cited by many people on several occasions, especially " Karuthavavu" and on Fridays .These sightings are described by the local people as an extremely beautiful woman or as a flying pillar of fire .

To this day the Yekshi is known to have kept her promise to the legendary hero Kadamuttathu achen .

Folklores relating to Meenthalakara Legends of the Sree dharmasastha temple
The power of the sojourn of a deity : Folklores relating to this temple is many and varied, of which is related as under, - about Sree Ayappa (Deity) who on his daring journey to acquire the breast milk of a lactating tigress, paid homage at Sree Vallabha temple where his mother lived and then enroute Kavyoor Sree Mahadeva temple to see his father, it is believed that he sat down and rested for a while in the Meenthalakara Sree dharmasastha temple. Thus it is believed that the temple still abounds with the divine presence of this deity.

Conversion of the ancient Shiv temple to SreeAyappa temple : Another story with a difference relates that this was actually a Shiv(Deity) temple ,which belonged to a major clan of bhramins known as the Kulangara Madom bhramins. They were situated on a higher plateau amongst the ten other bhramin clans. It is believed that the temple fell in to ruins leaving only its foundation stones exposed to the elements of nature, due to a curse cast upon it by a "thapobhramin".

Later on , a thampuran (Noble) of the Ezhumatoor Koyikal family who was inflicted by an incurable disease, under the influence a dream like vision erected an Ayappa Vigraha (Deity idol) and built a hut beside it and went on to meditate for the healing of his debilitated physical condition. After his time, the temple was forgotten and left to shambles and dereliction. During this period a mentally deranged person named Kunjaana Massapedy destroyed the idol, which followed a dry period of famine and scarcity throughout the land, leaving the people in a wretched and dreadful state of paucity. The people believed that their present situation was due to the insanity wrecked upon the idol of the God. As a resolution, a new Ayappa idol was erected in its place and the temple rebuilt, which was in 1942 Magara masam, Revathy nal.

The Gluttonous Ogre -"Bhaken "

Meenthalakara was also known as Ekachakra gramam (village).Bhaken a gluttonous ogre lived in Kakkathurithu near Amaloor.

The abominable Bhaken reputed for his contemptible gluttonous behavior posed a major threat to the harmony and the life of the villagers. Unable to endure the ravenous and nefarious disposition of the ogre, the villagers entered in to a pact with Bhaken, and it was agreed that a buffalo driven cart loaded with food would be brought out daily to Bhaken by a selected member of the village. It usually turned out that Bhaken consumed the whole of the food cart, the draught animals and even the man who was assigned to reach the food to him.

And so, one particular day, it was the turn of a bhramin family to let go of their only son as an usher to reach Bhaken his food and ultimately the boy too would fall victim to the insatiable appetite of the ogre. It also happened this particular bhramin family sheltered the Pandavas who escaped from the Mahabharata war of Arakillam, and sorted refuge with this bhramin family. As a token of gratitude, Kunti devi the mother of the Pandavas sent her own son Bhima, instead of the bhramin boy.

Bhima , who set out with a cart load of food to meet Bhaken, had polished of the whole of the food enroute Bhaken's dwelling place and on reaching the bank of the river which surrounded Kakkathurithu there was not even a single morsel of food left for Bhaken.

Bhaken enraged by this refractory action of Bhima entered in to a duel with Bhima. The end result of this duel was the victorious emergence of Bhima. The duel itself has made historical changes in the geography of Thiruvalla. The events that took place during combat were responsible for the changes. Bhima flung the copper food container at Bhaken, and the place where it fell is known as "Chembukandam". In the midst of the duel, the buffaloes sank down in to the earth, and this place is known as "Erumathadam". The place where the ogre was decapitated is known as "Thalapala". The place where the legs of the ogre was torn apart and thrown is known as "Kalumoola". And the place where the gouged out eyes of the ogre were thrown is known as "Kannadichal". And the place where the testicles were thrown was known as "Urulakunnu" later changed to "Umikunnu".

The place Meenthalakara was long before known as "Bhakenthalakara".

Folklores relating to Thukalassery
The Thukalassery Rakshasa(Ogre):

Many years ago,when Thiruvalla was known by another name -"Mallikavanam". In an ancient village which was inhabited mostly by bhramins, there existed a loathsome giant rakshasa (ogre) known as 'Thukalan'. He was a total manifestation of evil and menace. This vile and insane ogre annoyed the villagers with his ruckus antics. He went on plundering, ravaging and wrecking throughout the village and the villagers lay awake many a sleepless nights.

An old bhramin women who lead a solitary life, lost hold of her threshold of tolerance for this ogre. Her fervent prayers for the good riddance of this ogre reached the ears of Lord Mahavishnu .Her plight was heeded and Lord Mahavishnu himself came down to earth in the guise of a bhramin boy and slew the ogre with his Charayudh (a circular disk shaped weapon with spikes )

The Sudharshanchakra stained with the ogre's blood was washed at the riverside which was named "Chakrashalana kadavu" which is today's "Chakrashala kadavu". The place where the ogre dwelled is known as "Thukalassery".