Parassinikadavu Muthappan temple is one of the important sacred pilgrims centers in north Kerala. It stands on the banks of Valapattanam river which originates in western ghats and empties itself in Arabian sea. We can call it a holy river as it is an ornament for various shrines including Kottiyoor hills. It is the tributary of the sacred Bavali river .We have not exact date of inception of this temple but it has 450 years history.
This temple gives spiritual comfort and relief to all irrespective of their caste creed or religion of the people belonging from Chandragiri puzha to Korapuzha and from Valapattanam to Hunzoor (Karnataka) .There are Muslims ,Christians and many foreigners who visit the temple every day.The temple provides free meals and free accommodation to every one who comes there There is also the supply of tea and boiled green grams as prasadam.
The deity worshipped in this temple is Sree Muthappan .All the main poojas are performed by the Thiyyas of Parassini Muthappan family. In special cases Brahmins and Madayans together perform poojas in Sreekovil .It is the god of the poor and down trodden..It is a rebel god and he drinks toddy and eats roasted fish and wild meat .He always carries with him a bow and arrow. The places of his worship are called Madappura.
Legend od Sree Muthappan
There are various superstitious stories regarding the origin of SREE MUTHAPPAN. The goddess PADIKKUTTY is supposed to be the foster mother of this god. This PADIKKUTTY BHAGAVATHY is a goddess of a temple at ERUVASSY. She was married to AYYAMKARA VAZHUNNAVAR, a Brahmin land lord of the village. They were not blessed with a child. They prayed and prayed, but there was no effect.
This PADIKKUTTY was a strong believer of lord Shiva, deity of PAYYAVOOR temple. She used to go there and pray every day. One night she saw the lord in a dream who blessed and consoled her. The next morning she went for her usual bath in PAYYAVOOR river at THERUNETTIKKAL. The next moment she saw a basket made of green coconut leaf floating in the water. It came and struck to a flat rock near the bank. She saw a small male child lying in it.
PADIKKUTTY was very much surprised. She picked the basket and placed it on the flat stone .Her motherly instincts aroused; she took the child and kissed him. She took him home and showed him to her husband. He gladly accepted the child and adopted him as their son. They considered him as a gift of god.
As they were Brahmins, the boy had to be trained in rituals characteristic of that caste. But as this boy grew up he could not practice the disciplines of Brahmins. He played with the low caste boys of village with a bow and arrow. He went to shoot the birds and fishing. Like the other boys he ate meat and drunk toddy. The conservative high caste villagers could not tolerate this. They complained to his father. His attempt to dissuade the boy was fruitless.
As it was unbearable for the father, he expressed his desire to commit suicide. On hearing this, the boy entered his room and bolted the door .As he was not coming out after along time, the mother knocked the door and called him. There was no response. She cried aloud and called her husband who also knocked the door. The door was opened to their surprise; they saw a divine figure in a hunter’s attire with hanging heard and dazzling red eyes. He revealed the purpose of his birth. It was to protect poor who wanted his help. He blessed his foster parents and went in to the forest. He spent long days in KUNNATHUR and PURALIMALA finally he reached at PARASSINIKADAVU.
In Parassinikadavu we can see the two idols together, the senior Muthappan or Thiruvappana or Vellattam; the first wears fish shaped crown representing lord Vishnu and the later wears a green crown with a crescent moon representing lord Shiva.
Among the rituals the most important is the theyyam dance. It gives blessing to the devotees in divine language it is performed by the members of the vannan family. Every morning there are two theyyams Thiruvappana and Vellattam. In the month of THULAM there is PUTHARIVELLATTAM and in the month of KARKADAM there is ANDUPOOJA. The early festival of the temple begins on 16th VRICHIGAM and ends on the 20th of the same month .The main offerings in the temple are Thiruvappana, Karimkalasam, Oottum Vellattam,Payamkutti Vellattam, Payamkutti, Vilakkum Mala, Choroonu and Thulabharam.The rate of the offerings remain unchanged from the time the prices were fixed.
This temple has played great role in the social development of the area. The temple has paid attention to promote charitable activities and other welfare programmes. The temple authority established a school years ago to give free education, free meals to the poor .It was in the forefront to reach medical service to the public.
