THIRUVULLAKKAVU

THE SEAT OF WISDOM

NIMAL C NAMBOODIRIPAD
Copyright: Nimal.C.Namboodiripad
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First Edition: January 2002

About the author

Nimal C Namboodiripad was born into a family that had hereditary rights as
administrators of Thiruvullakkavu Temple. Hence it was only natural that he
write about the great temple. Mr Namboodiripad is a prolific writer contributing
articles regularly to the supplements of The Hindu and Times of India. He has
also published a booklet ‘The Preceptor’ on Adi Sankara Bhagavatpada. An MBA
from Cochin University of Science and Technology he has worked in various
fields including Market Research and Advertising. He is currently a faculty at
the Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering & Technology, Kalady

This book is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not by way of trade, be
lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed off without the publisher’s consent
in any form of binding or cover other than in which it is published
Dedicated to my parents, wife, daughter
and above all Lord Sastha
with out whom this book would not
have been possible
CHAPTER 1
THE LORD OF WISDOM
Thrissur, world famous for its summer festivals, is called the cultural capital
of Kerala. To be the cultural capital of a state which has the highest percentage
of literacy in the whole country is no mean achievement. But, no wonder! For
just twelve kilometers from the booming city, along the Thrissur-Irinjalakuda
route lies the Sastha temple of Thiruvullakkavu - the Abode of the Lord of
Wisdom.
Sastha, according to Hindu belief is a fiery deity. He is the Divine Protector, the
Lord Hunter. Astride His white charger, the microcosmic soul, He destroys the
vicious and protects the virtuous from their evil grip. His dark dress is symbolic
of justice and He is bedecked with glittering red jewels. But at Thiruvullakkavu
He manifests Himself as the God of Wisdom also, showering benediction upon
His devotees.People have always revelled in His ineffable tenderness as He
blessed them with enough wits to attain prosperity. Maybe, as in many cases,
only to make them in the end, understand the true, illusory nature of the material
world and renounce it.
There are two versions as to the manifestation of Lord Sastha, but both agree
upon the salient points. Lord Siva was enraptured by Mohini, Lord Vishnu in the
guise of an enchantress. Born of the sublime union was Sastha. The attributes
of the Lord of Sustenance and the Lord of Dissolution joined together in a
single form? An overwhelming combination indeed! But Thiruvullakkavu Sastha
had for the benefit of His devotees assumed the qualities of the third form,
that of Lord Brahma, the Creator too. Brahma’s Consort or Power is Saraswathy,
the Goddess of Learning and so Brahma is deified wisdom. Hence Thiruvullakkavu
Sastha is the Lord of Wisdom, a unique concept.

CHAPTER 2
THE TRANSFORMATION OF VATHU, THE IMBECILE

Kerala in ancient times was divided into 64 settlements or Gramas and the
greatest of them all was the Peruvanam Grama. The settlement centred around
Lord Erattayappan - Siva, the presiding deity of the Peruvanam temple. He was
the tutelary deity of the whole region, with a huge tract of land under the
direct control of the temple. Lord Sastha of Thiruvullakkavu was worshipped as
the Grama Paradevatha or the personal deity of the people of the settlement.
About one kilometre to the north of the Siva temple and to the right sat the Son
taking an active part in the protection of the people riding among them and
guiding them through the maze of ignorance that is life.
Lord Sastha is deified Veda. Hence one of the most important Sevas of the
temple is its recital. Peruvanam always has been a great centre of learning and
every day the Namboodiris, the Brahmin community of the land used to come to
Kavu to practice and recite the Vedas.
In the old days there were periodic month long Vedic conferences called Othuttu
in most of the temples of the area. These intellectual revels were great occasions
for the experts to show off their mettle. In these one scholar led with a section
of the scriptures and the chorus repeated after him. Usually a temple had many
families attached to it and those people would suffice for the ritual.But as a
guest of honour some renowned scholar would be invited to do the lead singing.As
it entailed the question of their reputation these scholars wanted to excel in it
and they visited Thiruvullakkavu to rehearse their parts before attending the
conferences. By the grace of Lord Sastha they were able to complete their
singing without even a single blemish. Very few dared to break this routine.
Once a great scholar tried it and had to pay the penalty for his vanity. He made
a blatant mistake in his recital after daring to challenge the God of Wisdom in
front of a lot of scholars.The subsequent ridicule so eroded his self confidence
that he was never his old self again. But all these matters were far from the
mind of Pattathu Vasudevan Bhattathiri, when the Othuttu at
Mithranandapuram,a nearby temple came; for he was an imbecile of the first
order. The elaborate rituals practised by the Namboodiris were quite beyond
his modest brain. Only an intelligent man could learn them and Vasudevan could
not even pronounce his own name properly. The best that he could achieve, even
of the abbreviated form, Vasu, was the lispy Vathu and the name stuck. To
ridicule him the people called him thus.
The members of the family, traditionally were intelligent. They had to be as
hereditary priests of Thiruvullakavu. He invriably blessed his devotees with
sharp wits and his favoured servants could’nt be idiots. Unfortunately Vathu
was. His heart broken mother, aware that no physician could help him visit the
temple everyday. Pray to Lord Sastha before food-that was immutable law.
This, the hazy mind could comprehend for he simply loved food
It was the same reason that took him to Mithrananadapuram Temple. All were
welcome to the feasts, even Vathu.And sure enough he did full justice to it.
Onday a group of teenagers got hold of paddling boat. They decided to have an
outing in the naerby lake hwich was full as it was the rainy season
Rain was imminent, but the dark clouds held no threat to the adventurous spirit.
Only unluckily for Vathu, they got a mischevous idea takeVathu with them.
Vathu was a self confessed cowad besides being unable to swim.
It would be fun to have the ignoramus with them. His feeble protests went
unheeded as the youngsters pushed him into the boat.A heavy drizzle soon
started and as it increased in intensity the wind turned hard and huge waves
began to rock the flimsy boat. Vathu begged them to take him back to the
safety of the comforting land. But they only laughed, though they mercifully
desisted from ducking him.
Hours passed. As thunder and lightning punctuated the utter darkness visions
of imminent death began to dance before Vathu. When at last he was brought
back to solid ground he had another problem. It was time for him to visit
Thiruvullakavu Temple. He had to reach there before the Tri ppuka
rites.Otherwise he would have to go hungry. None of the teenagers faced this
problem. They set off towards Mithranandapuram. A sumptuous feast could be
had at the temple even three or four hours after the sunset.
Vathu, hungry and tired after the harrowing experience could not follow his
friends. He must go to Thiruvullakavu. The rain came down in torrents and he
had to pass a dense patch of forest in the pitch darkness. Without a lamp, he
had to depend upon the frightening flashes of lightning to show the way. But he
started upon the intimidating task. The growls of nocturnal life and the stones
and thorns in the path would have made anyone cringe. But years of intense
self-discipline ensured that he didn’t retreat. His dim mind concentrated on the
image of the icon as he had never before. Fear forced him to do it. There was
no other way out.
He wandered through the forest for an interminable period of time. At long last
there it was. Alas! The door of the sanctum was closed and the priest had long
past departed. The place was deserted and in complete darkness. The primitive
structure did not afford much shelter. To go back to Mithranandapuram was
impossible and it was too late for him to pay homage to Lord Sastha.The small
piece of cotton cloth he had gave little comfort. It was soaked through. Hunger
gnawed at his stomach. He looked appealingly at the door of the sanctum. To
Vathu Lord Sastha was a Provider of food. Didn’t he get food everyday after
prayers?
He wanted just a glimpse of the idol. He stared mutely at the door. Finally worn
out by the exertions of the day he sank into a fitful slumber.
“Hey Patteri, wake up” someone called.
He slowly opened his eyes. The rain had ceased but he shivered miserably.
“Why do you lie here?” the soft voice was insistent.
Vathu saw an old Namboodiri before him, a lamp in his hand. He had a large
mane of silvery hair tied in the traditional fashion at the top of his head. The
broad forehead, large eyes, aquiline nose and firm, square jaws gave him a
commanding presence. In spite of his old age he had clear eyes and strong
sinewy hands. His presence and the benevolence of that tender, understanding
eyes was a comfort.
Soon the old man had Vathu gibbering out his tale of woes. The old man listened
sympathetically.
“Poor boy” the old man said, “how you must have suffered. Brave of you to come
here, I must say.”
Vathu replied that he could not break the routine. He was chilled, he said; but
not now. He couldn’t understand it. The old man smiled.
“Ah, my boy,” he said “You have done something great. You have exceeded
everyone in the worship of Lord Sastha and deserve the Lord’s blessings.”
Vathu could not understand him properly. But the next words were very near to
his heart.
“Are you hungry?”
Vathu nodded
“Let me see if there is anything in the kitchen”
Presently he returned with a bunch of Kadali-banana fruits. Apparently this
was for the next day’s offering. Even Vathu knew Kadali was Sastha’s favourite.
He offered it to Vathu.
“These are delicious. I like them. Don’t you?”
Yes, Vathu liked it. But the problem was not yet over. How could he eat without
a glimpse of Lord Sastha?
“The door is open. So why don’t you go and pray and then eat these fruits?”
Yes, it was true. Numerous lamps were burning within the sanctum and a strange
glow was filling the whole place.
Vathu said his customary prayers and started eating the fruits with great relish
keeping the skin besides him in a heap. The old man watched with an indulgent
smile. The meal over, he tried to thank the old man but his powers of expression
was not upto it. The old man nodded understandingly. Now that his stomach was
full his eyes began to close and he sank into a deep sleep.
A young Varasiar came to the temple the next day hours before dawn. Her
hereditary duties as temple employee included stringing garlands, preparing
flowers for the rites, sweeping the premises and cleaning the vessels used in
the sanctum. Usually she was the first to arrive. Today someone was ahead of
her. The door of the sanctum was open and the mellifluous notes of a Sloka was
coming from the kitchen. She peeped through the door. It was Vathu the fool
who chanted it. He had a fire going and was trying to warm his hands by the
small fireplace. He finished his Sloka and started to extemporise.
“Virekeduppan virakeduthu,
Virekeduthu, virakeduthi”
“To stop shivering, took firewood
took firewood, stopped shivering”
That was Yamaka poem-difficult even for great poets. The girl was astounded.
Yesterday’s fool, today’s scholar? She looked around for possible reasons for
the miraculous transformation. Then her eyes fell on the Kadali skins. There
was a light burning brightly in the sanctum too. She was an intelligent girl and
she pieced it all together. There must be some connection between the Kadali
fruits and the transformation of Vathu. If the fruits could do that the skins
could too. She squatted on the floor and gobbled them up. Quickly, she felt her
psychic strength increase. Divine blessings changed Vasu and she too now was
the receipient of Sastha’s grace.
Vasudevan Bhattathiri wrote several Kavyas and four of them were full of the
Yamaka technique. His greatest work, the Yudhishtira Vijayam is an epic. The
Varasiar girl perceptive enough to guess the significance of the Kadali peelings
too became a genius. Sastha’s devotees had to be.

CHAPTER III
INITIATION INTO THE WORLD OF LETTERS

The story of Bhattathiri had a sequel. The people of Peruvanam had always
known about the extraordinary effulgence of Thiruvullakavu, but the Kavu was
not a great pilgrim centre in those days. With his transformation and the popularity
of his books people began to flock to the place from far and wide, especially
for the initiation rites.
Devotees were convinced that children having their initiation rites here would
grow into learned men and they were invariably right.
The Varasiar who received Sastha’s blessings and her heirs were given the
additional honour of acting as the gurus during initiation.For this the Variar
recites all the letters of the alphabet and the child repeats it after him. Then
the Variar writes them on the tongue of the child with a ring. The child is also
made to write them down in some rice spread out in a shallow bronze vessel.
The child writes with its ring finger with Variar’s guidance. Usually parents take
a portion of the holy rice and gives it to the child to eat for the next three days.
The Navarathri is celebrated with pomp and splendour at Thiruvullakavu. On
the Vijayadasami day thousands of devotees come here to invoke the blessings
of Lord Sastha. It is a highly auspicious day at Kavu, especially for the initiation
rites. It starts at 4 AM in the morning and ends only at about 1PM at noon.
Other auspicious days here are Wednesdays and Saturdays. Kadali fruits and
Appam, the sweet-bread fried in clarified butter together with clarified butter
for lights are the most important offerings at Kavu.
CHAPTER IV
KARINGAMPILLY VIDDI

Karingampilly Swaroopam is situated in the area of Kundoor in the Thrissur

district of Kerala. A boy was born into that excellent household, but fate is no
respecter of heritage. He was a fool and people called him so. As a sort of
village idiot he was the butt of constant ridicule from the young and the old
alike. Hounded and desperate, he left home one day. The hazy mind was clearly
uncertain about his destination. It was steaming hot. Thirst and hunger soon
overtook him. The patches of forest, abundant in those days afforded some
relief from the sun, but his stomach remained insistent. Tired and miserable he
had almost given up hope of reaching a settlement when he suddenly came upon
one. In ancient times most temples acted as a sort of refuge to travellers
providing them with food and shelter. Some villagers directed Namboodiripad
to a nearby one. Thus he came upon the magnificient structure of granite and
wood that was the Peruvanam temple.
As a settlement temple Peruvanam was massive and well constructed like a
fort. The resonant rendering of the Vedas reverberated through the whole
compound. The notes struck the huge granite stones and produced an ethereal
effect. The Vedic chants made the atmosphere clean, a place fit for the Gods.
The temple which has the tallest sanctum in India was holding a Thevar Seva.
Thevar Seva is conducted every year in the month of Thulam of the Malayalam
calendar. The chanting of the Vedas go on for thirty odd days. Towards the end
they have three days of rituals at Thiruvullakavu too.
The feast of Peruvanam was sumptuous and Karingampilly Namboodiripad partook
of it heartily. He was resting under a huge Banyan tree when an old man came
up to him. The white face was framed with silvery hair tied into a knot on top of
the head. A special radiance seemed to emanate from his face. Ash marks were
smeared across a wide forehead. A pair of compelling eyes looked down at the
ignoramus.
“Who are you, young man?” he asked in a soft voice “I haven’t seen you here
before”
The half-wit told him who he was.
“What troubles you, Namboori?”
He was not sure he wanted to tell the old man his woes. Even if he did it was
highly unlikely that the old man would understand him. But slowly and patiently
the old man drew them out.
“Is that all?” he asked making light of the half-wit’s predicament ”Do you know
that there is a Sastha temple nearby? Lord Sastha of Thiruvullakavu is the God
of Wisdom. He can help you and He will”
The old man explained what he must do. He did not know why but the words of
the old man made a deep impression in his mind. As directed, he reached
Thiruvullakavu. The primitive settings suffered in comparison with the grandeur
of the bigger temple. But he felt a strange affinity to the place.
He began his austerities as instructed. He would get up early in the morning and
do his ablutions. Then he prostrated again and again in front of the sanctum.
This would go on until the priest finished the pooja and came out with the
clarified butter. In the evenings he did not take any meal-Appam or Kadali was
permissible. A year went by. But the ardent worship brought no improvement.
Thevar Seva came again and he went to Peruvanam to attend it. There he met
the old man again.
“Is there any improvement Namboori?”
No ,there was none.
“Don’t be disheartened.Continue to do your penance. Lord Sastha is sure to help
you. It maybe that your prayers haven’t been sufficient”
He went back and with renewed vigour started upon his quest. This time the
regimen was even more demanding. The intake of food was reduced further
and length of meditation increased. A year
went by. He was back at Peruvanam for the Thevar Seva.
“ How are things?” the old man enquired
“There is no improvement” he mournfully answered.
“Keep up your good work, Namboori. Lord Sastha will surely help you. It is just
that the time has not come yet.”
An ordinary mortal would have got dejected and renounced the whole effort
by now. Not he. He believed the old man implicitly. It was a case of clutching at
straws. At least the people here did not make fun of him so much as at home.
Even the small amount of solid food that he used to have he reduced further.
Peaked and drawn he went about his task with a fine fervour, almost a frenzy.
Time and world stopped for him. He thought of only one thing, Sastha. His time
table was more than most could bear. But he had a goal and was out to achieve
it. He would continue his daily rites as long as Lord Sastha failed to acknowledge
and bless him with knowledge and intelligence. A fool he was, but he had a fool’s
courage of his convictions. A thing that entered into that thick skull could never
be prised out.
It was a beautiful evening and he was out for his bath when he met a young man.
The young man was full of vitality. An arresting personality was accentuated by
the enchanting smile on his lips and in the eyes. The beautiful eyes radiated a
strange light. Infact his whole body seened to glow with a suppressed energy.
“Hey, do you want some gooseberries, Namboori?” the young man asked”these
are really good.”
It was then that he noticed a basket full of gooseberries in the young man’s
hand. A very tempting sight indeed. It had been some time since he had something
of substance let alone a delicious thing like a gooseberry to eat. How he liked
gooseberry! And the question of the young man! It proved too much for the oaf.
He couldn’t find words to say nay for an answer. He took some gooseberries
eagerly and ate them in a rush. Indeed it was marvellous. It never had tasted
so good. He felt as though a warmth was spreading through his veins.
But, alas! The joy was short lived. What had he done? He had resolved not to
eat any solid food for a year and he had broken the rule. From dizzy heights his
heart plummetted to gloomy depths. His clouded mind was confused. He didn’t
know what had happened to him. Or, why Sastha could allow such a thing to
happen. Maybe, he was doomed ever to be an imbecile. Sad and forlorn he
walked to the pond.
As usual he reached Peruvanam on the occasion of Thevar Seva. And, the old
man was there. As soon as he encountered the old man he had a strange feeling.
It was as though a curtain had been raised from his brain. It was with new eyes
that he looked at the world.
“How are you?” the old man asked.
The answer came pouring out from him in the most beautiful verse imaginable.
That too in Sanskrit, a language very difficult to comprehend let alone use. The
old man smiled beatifically, congratulated him on his transformation, asked him
to continue his prayers, praised the Lord of Wisdom, blessed him and took
himself off.
Lord Erattayappan had to help the pilgrim who had unwittingly come to Him for
help. In the guise of the old gentleman He had instructed him to go to Lord
Sastha who had manifested Himself as the young man and gave the half-wit
gooseberries to break his fast.
People of the region believe that to get the full benefit of worshipping Lord
Sastha one has to visit Peruvanam too. This story sort of verifies the importance
of the practice. After all, it was when the half-wit met Lord Siva for the fourth
time that he got clear from the mental mesh that had encompassed his whole
brain. The half-wit from Karingampilly Swaroopam later wrote the great Sanskrit
poem Sukasandesam that became famous throughout India for its clarity of
thought and expression.
Once as Namboodiripad walked along a road in Tamil Nadu he heard the notes
of someone reciting a Sloka from Sukasandesam. He was on a pilgrimage and
had the time at his command to stop there for sometime to listen. A Shastri was
teaching his students
“What a beautiful verse!”Shastri exclaimed for the umpteenth time at the end
of an explanation of one of the Slokas, “this dear boys, is the most popular
meaning. But there is one more in vogue” He interpreted in in another way.
“Usually most poems have only one or two meanings, but it seems to me this has
many more. But it is impossible to explain it all. It would take the author to do
it.”
The disciples sat respectfully before him entranced by his words. Shastri himself
was famous and his disciples very knowledgeable.
“If you want, I can give you one more meaning. I am not sure about it myself,
but I will try my best”
He explained the third meaning in a round about, elaborate way. The efoort was
obviously too much even for his mental prowess. He was exhausted by the end.
“It was a great man who wrote this. It is simply divine. Maybe if he was here he
would give us a better meaning for this Sloka”
Karingampilly Namboodiripad who was listening to the whole passage of words
now stepped forward.
“Shastri, which is the verse that you are teaching?”
“It is Sukasandesam.”
“May I hear the Sloka please-let me see if I can find another meaning”
Usually if someone interrupted his class in this way the teacher would not be
well pleased. But Shastri was a scholar in his own right and scholars can be
notoriously humble at times.Or maybe he was just impressed by Namboodiri’s
personality. He read it out.
Namboodiripad thought for a moment and then began to explain it in the clearest
way imaginable. It was far better than the previous three efforts of Shastri.
When he finished Shastri prostrated before him
“You must be Karingampilly Namboodiripad himself. Only he could explain the
verse so well - aren’t you the great scholar?”
From a half-wit who was ridiculed by the whole village he had become by
intense Tapasya one of the greatest scholar-poets of the whole of India. A man
other scholars respected and admired. A model for the aspiring. The devotees
of Sastha couldn’t be otherwise.

CHAPTER V
SOME HISTORY

Years ago, the idol at the Thiruvullakavu temple was at the mercy of the sun
and the rain. It was a Swayambhoo, just a hole in a rock in the forest. When a
temple was built around it they omitted to build a roof over it. Drenching monsoon,
howling winds and the harsh summer sun beat down on the idol. The uninitiated
might have considered it a sacrilege. It was just the opposite. Deities subject to
the elemental forces were more powerful than those gracing the well built
temples. Certainly they were fiercer.
One day Mazhamangalam, the great poet had to cross the forest near the
temple. So he decided to visit the temple. When he reached the clearing he
beheld an ugly sight. The carcass of a cow was
spreadout on the steps of the sanctum. The gory sight filled him with revulsion.
It was heartrending for a Brahmin who worshipped the cow.
Mazhamangalam grimaced in disgust and wailed to Sastha
“Why this in front of your temple? Surely you don’t approve. Isn’t it a sin to kill
a cow, and especially leave it in front of the temple?”
Unhappily he walked off towards his destination. Some days later he came back
the same way. Then he saw a strange sight. In the same position that the cow
had lain earlier lay the body of a tiger. Its mouth was full of arrows and was
obviously dead. He looked at Lord Sastha. Was this divine retribution? No mortal
could shoot so accurately. Maybe he could place with some luck an arrow or two
into the open mouth. Not a quiver full of them. Surely, the divine Hunter had
killed it.
Tears coursed through the face of Mazhamangalam. He marvelled at the justice
and remembered his words of the day before. This must have been the killer
that had slain the cow. Sastha, ever ready to oblige his devotees, had heeded
Mazhamangalam’s words.
Then a disturbing thought came to his mind. Epics prophesied the age of Kali as
a time when people would forsake their Dharma, ordained way of life. Then, he
was certain, meticulousn rites would be impossible. A deity as fierce as Sastha
of Kavu was sure to punish them for their misdeeds. How could he save them
from such a fate; how to make Sastha less fearsome? He found a way out. He
decided to construct an ordinary roof on the top. For the sin of trying to
reduce the effulgence of the deity, nay, trying to bridle that explosive energy,
he knew his family would suffer. But he did it and the house of Mazhamangalam
became mere memory. By adoption, it revived under a different family name,
Tharannalloor.
Perhaps the cover overhead has mellowed Sastha and made Him less awesome.
But His beneficient effulgence has not waned, though instead of an easily
provoked, unbending disciplinarian fighting to protect His devotees, He has
perhaps changed to a gentler Father. Maybe, Sastha’s ferocity towards evil
decreased but not His benevolence. Miracles are still common place here.
In ancient times, Chittoor, Avanavu and Kuruvattavanavu Namboodiripads ruled
over the Peruvanam temple as Uralans, hereditary administrators. The village
was democratic in set up and all the villagers had some power over it. As a
subsidiary deity Thiruvullakavu was also ruled by the same Uralans.But the
Maharaja of Cochin and Zamorin of Calicut wanted power over Peruvanam
temple as it administration meant the complete control over the whole region.
Ultimately it came under the control of the Maharaja. Now the Uralans and the
other Namboodiris of the region were without a temple to perform their rituals.
As Kavu owned no property they begged for it and got it back from the Maharaja.
As the representative of the settlement, Chittoor Namboodiripad became the
hereditary administrator.
Times changed and in the seventies a committee was set up under the efficient
leadership of Shri Meppully Sreedharan Ezhuthassan. Under the management
of this committee the rather plain temple has increased in grandeur with two
magnificient Nadappuras, built to cover the western and eastern courtyards.
Also, a fine Gopuram has been erected at the front (the cover of this book gives
an artists impression of the same).
Vilwamangalam Swamiyar, the great scholar once saw Erattayappan carrying
his son Sastha in the palm of his right hand. Hence the temple was also called
by the name of ‘Thiruvalakkayyoor’, which is no more used. But anyone coming
here can hope to have knowledge playing in the palm of his hand. After all this
is a place for miracles and houses the Lord of Wisdom.

CHAPTER VI
MORE INFO ON LORD SASTHA

How to get to the Lord

You can either a Thrissur - Irinjalakuda/Kodungalloor bus and get down at
Thiruvullakkavu or take the Thrissur - Thriprayar bus and get down at
Perumpillissery from where Thiruvullakkavu is only a short walk.
What are the main offerings
The main offerings are Appam and Kadali. But he likes people chanting the
Vedas even more.
Which are the auspicious days
Like any Sastha temple Saturday is an auspicious day at Thiruvullakkavu. The
Navaratri days, Mahanavami and Vijayadasami especially are very auspicious.
It is on the Vijayadasami day that thousands of children are initiated into the
world of letters here.