Kodungallur : The Ancient Gateway of India

The very name of 'Kodungallur' brings some general questions successfully to our mind, like: 'Where is this town? ', 'How to reach there?', 'What are its specialties?', 'Are some famous temples there?', 'Is it a district head quarters?' and so on. In the past, it had been far-famed on many counts, especially in social revolution. It can justifiably be said that no other town was as glorious as Kodungallur, right from the age of Puranas. It was where, Lord Parasurama, an incarnation of Mahavishnu, took his birth. Also it was the birth place of many legendary sages and exponents of Sastras. Thus, it became the befitting hallowed realm for the avatar of a 'Yathi' (a great savant). Further, it was here many religions first took roots and tremendous export/import activities took place and hence it shown as the Gateway to India for the whole world. The purpose of this write up is to highlight certain gorgeous features for the popularity of Kodungallur.

This city is situated at about 25 kilometers from Trichur, near renowned Guruvayur Temple, in the state of Kerala, with the Arabian sea on one side and Periyar river on the other.

Reason for its name

Its ancient name was 'Kudakallur': that is kuda + kal + lur. 'Kuda' means 'the place where the sun sets', 'kal' means 'sea' and 'lur' means 'town'. Thus, its full name signifies, 'The sea town where the sun sets'. In due course of time, it came to be known as 'Kodungallur'.


Epics and Literatures

• The first literary work namely, 'Mukundamalai' was written here.
• The ancient Rishi Valmiki, in his celebrated epic, 'The Ramayana', refers to the city as 'Muparee-siddham' in Kishkintha canto.
• The renowned Sanskrit poet Kalidasa also thus refers it in his epic 'Raghuvamsa'.
• The uncle of Ravana, Maresan did remarkable penance in Kodungallur.
• War weapons and armies were sent only from the great town to Kurushetra, as recorded in the epic 'The Mahabharata'.
• Elango Adigal, the celebrated author of the Tamil epic 'Silapathikaram' was born in this great town.
• 'Manimekalai', an offshoot of the above epic vividly describes the magnificence of the town.
• 'Purananuru' - a prodigious work of the Tamil 'Sangam literature, portrays its opulence and affluence and hails its gorgeous business transactions.
• Many more great works and literatures proclaim the multi-faceted adoration of Kodungallur.

Trade

The harbor of Kodungallur is very ancient. Even a hundred years before the birth of Lord Jesus, the city had established trade links with Asia minor and Syria , which were under the Roman Empire and also Egypt . Even in those good old days, on an average, at least one shipload of cargo left daily from Egypt for Kodungallur. It is said that the major chunk of our country's export business took place through the harbor, because of which very many ships always berthed in this harbor. There were also copious numbers of go-downs, spacious through fares, which facilitated healthy and brisk trade. Historical accounts of renowned foreign scholars and our own 'Purananuru' bear testimony to these facts.

Many records further declare that merchandise like pepper, cardamom, spices, sandal, ivory, muslin, silk, pearl and the like were exported. Liquors, porcelain, glassware, chandeliers, tin, lead and such commodities were imported. Because of such massive and brisk trade activities, a sizable portion of the Roman wealth was brought over to India through Kodungallur. They further promulgate that by exporting pepper, otherwise known as 'Black Gold', pure gold was imported into India .

Science

In 860AD, the court of the Chera King Sthanuravi was decorated by a distinguished astronomer by name Sankaranarayana, who has recorded in his book on astronomy entitled, 'Laku Bhaskaraya', known by its other title 'Sankara Narayanam', that in Kodungallur - then its name was 'Kothra Malleswaram' - under his direct supervision there exists a fully equipped observatory cum research center. Also in every 'Kadigai' duration of 34 minutes, bells were sounded at different important centers of the town to announce correct time and it was done with his knowledge.

The origin of many main religions

• In AD 52, the very first Christian church in India was constructed by Saint Thomas at a place called Maliyenkara in Kodungallur. It was followed by the construction of 'seven and a half churches' along the Malabar coastal line. Soon some Christian colonies sprang up. Dalrymple, while recounting some legends in a BBC film, records thus: "Two millennia later St. Thomas traveled the trade route and landed in Kodungallur on the Kerala coast in AD 52. He did, in the legends of the Syrian Christians whom writer Arundhati Roy dissected in 'The God of small things'. The legends talk of St. Thomas building, 'seven and half churches' in Kerala and converting many Namboodiri Brahmins to the new faith.
• The Romans who settled down in Kodungallur built a church there in honor of one Augustus.
• Jews settled down there with their families in A.D. 69. The historically well-known Jew and Syrian copperplates were published only from there.
• Mohammedans established their very first mosque in India only on the soil of Kodungallur. This mosque has a unique specialty. Mosques built all over the world face the direction of Mecca , but this particular one faces along the east.
• Arabs too established their colonies in a part of Kondungallur, in the 8th century. One can vouchsafe that it was time when Islam began to spread in India .
• Mathilagam in Kodungalur was the strong hold of the Jains. The Jain and Buddhist scholars and monks, who lived in this town, not only transformed it into a great educational and cultural center but also began to preach their religious tenets and popularize their way of life.
• From a reading of Tamil Epic 'Manimekalai' it is learnt that Kodungallur shone as a great Buddhist centre.

The Chera Dynasty

Coronations of the Chera Kings were performed by Balarama, another personification of Lord Mahavishnu. Their reigns were impeccable and immaculate and divinity permeated through their kingdoms and had plenteous traditional riches for many centuries (that is, till the 10th century). Kodungallur was their distinguished state-capital. Emperor Ashoka has recorded that the Chera kings, known as 'The Sons of Kerala', had made Muziris (the other name of Kodungallur) their capital of their state. 'Pathitruppattu', a reputed Tamil work of the Sangam age, proclaims the popularity of the faultless rules of the Chera kings.

The Temple of Sri Bhagavathi Amman

The most ancient and powerful temple, Sri Bhagavathi Amman Temple of world fame is in Kodungallur. Undoubtedly, it is the first and the foremost temple that from time immemorial, forbade restrictions of caste and religion and people from all occupations were admitted into it to perform poojas. Lord Parasurama established the Mahameru and Adi Shankara, the Sri Chakra in the secret chamber on the eastern side of the sanctum sanctorum of Sri Goddess Bhaghavathi. Until date, this secret chamber has not been opened by anybody. In addition to these, Adi Shankara has consecrated separate shrines for Loard Ganapathy, Loard Veerabhadra and the Seven Divine Mothers here.

A separate shrine is there for the heroine of 'Silappathrkaram', the chaste Kannagi, an avatar of Goddess Durga and her fame matches that of Goddess Bhaghavathi.

There is no Nandhi in front of the icon of Lord Shiva, which faces the east. This is a unique and special feature of this temple and such an establishment is not seen in any Hindu temple in any part of the world.

There are two very important festivals in the temple. One is celebrated in February-March (in the Kerala month of Kumbha) known as 'Bharani Festival' and the other in December-January, which corresponds to the Kerala month of Makara, known as 'Talappoli Festival'.

Once a Portuguese army-chief received Goddess Baghavathi's benign blessings when he was in great peril and as an expression of his gratitude he denoted a gong to the temple.

Different Names of the town

Muziris, Vangi, Musirippattinam, Musirippththanam, Mahodayapuram, Kotilingapuram, Kudalingapuram, Makodai, Kodunkaliyur, Thiruvallur, RaviVisvapuram and Balakreetapuram are the different names of Kodungallur at various points of time. In the Tamil and Greek literatures, it is called Muziris.

In these multi-various ways, Kodungallur, famous for its elaborate trade activities, advancement in the field of astronomy, development of many religions, has the distinction of being referred to in epics, literatures as the first and fore-most town of repute in India .

It is a matter of great pride that in this town of glorious popularity the first ancient Akavoor Manai of our protector, Brahmanandhasri Sivaprabhakara Siddhayogi Paramahamsar existed. It is said that the Parasurama avatar of Lord Mahavishnu took place in Kodungallur. At a later age, this mansion in Akavoor was established with 16 angles (sides) by Akavoor Chathan, otherwise called Unikkonar, the brother of the illustrious Thiruvalluvar, the author of the world-renowned 'Thirukkulal', in Kaladi. Moreover, he established the popular temple dedicated to Lord Siva in Thiruvairanikkulam which consequently led to the creation of Kaladi, from where sprang the Vedic Hindu religion.

Courtesy: Sri Pambatti Siddhar Samadhi Peedam - www.sripambattisiddhar.com