Rajarajeswara(Lord of Lords) Temple is situated at Taliparamba town, 25 km away from Kannur city, is considered as the most celebrated place of Shiva worship in the erstwhile Malabar. Taliparamba aka Perinchalloor was one among the 64 brahminical settlements of Kerala. Hence Rajarajeswara is dearly called as Chelloornathan or Perinchelloorappan. The old name of Taliparamba was Lakshmipuram(Place where Goddess Lakshmi lives). All the fame and prosperity of Perinchelloor Gramam(village) is owing to the presence of Sree Raja Rajeswara temple and the blessings of Perum Thrikkovilappan(since the temple is also called as Perumthrikkovil).
The temple is situated about 1 Km north of Taliparamba town. As the proverb “all is big in Taliparamba”, the temple, boundary wall of the temple, entrance etc. are magnificient. No devotee will be noticed by Perum Thrikkovilappan unless prostrated in front of him before entering. The temple is regarded as one of the 108 ancient Shiva temples of Kerala. Taliparamba is also regarded as one of the ancient Shakti Peethams. Legend has it that the head of Sati devi fell here after it was slayed by Lord Vishnu with his chakra during Shiva’s tandava with the corpus following Sati’s self-immolation. The Shiva linga here is believed to be thousands of years old.
The most distinguished of the royal poets of the Zamorin of Calicut, Uddanda Sastri(who was later defeated by Kakkasseri Bhattathiri), being a Nirgunopasaka, was never given to worshipping of deities. Whenever he visited a temple he simply stood before the deity without folding his hands. But when he stood before Rajarajeswara, the King of Kings at Taliparamba, he was so overwhelmed by the magnificence of the moon embellished atop Shiva Linga that he unconsciously uttered the words, ‘Hara Hara Mahadeva’ and prostrated himself before the Lord. Then and there he composed a verse to the effect that when he saw the splender of the crescent adorning the idol, his hands automatically joined together in prayer – “Moon on your head is like an actual moon which makes the devotees fold their hands as if a water-lilly does in the moonlight”.
According to the myths, Shiva gave a Linga to his ardent devotee, Sage Mandhatha, for worship and told him to consecrate it in a place, faraway from a cremation ground. Mandhata found Taliparamba as the suitable place and did as Shiva ordered but after the period of Mandhata, Linga went beneath the ground. Later on Muchukunda, son of Mandhata, also prayed Lord Shiva for a Shivalinga. Shiva gave him another Linga which also was installed at the previous place in Taliparamba. This Shiva Linga also got disappeared under the soil. Then after a period of time, on the advice of Sage Agasthya, King Sathasoma made a penance and Shiva blessed him too with a Shiva Linga. Shiva told him that it won’t get vanished. The deifying was done by Parasurama and he also built a temple in that holy spot upon Sathasoma’s request.
Sree Rama, on his victorious return to Ayodhya from Lanka, after defeating Ravana, prostrated before Raja Rajeswara. He offered prayers to Shiva from the Mughamandapa in front of the Sanctum Sanctorum. In respect to Sree Rama, nobody is allowed to enter into this Namaskara mandapa and offer prayers, which is permitted in other temples to Brahmins.
Ghee(Neyyamrithu) in small pots are offered before Perinchalloorappan by devotees and are placed on sopanam(steps leading to the sanctum) with utmost devotion. The custom is that, as Kings and Emperors are to be seen only after offering some gifts(Thirumulkazhcha), the Lord of Taliparamba, who is the King of Kings, can be seen only after placing ghee on the sopanam. The ghee offered is used for abhisheka and for lighting the lamps in the primary shrine. On auspicious days(like Monday and pradosham), hundreds of such small ghee pots can be seen placed before the deity. Mahashivratri and Vishu are the two main annual festivals celebrated in this temple.
Like that of Sabarimala, here also there are some restrictions for women to worship at Raja Rajeswara Temple. While men are allowed to enter the Nalambalam always, woman are allowed only after the Athazha pooja in the night. At this time the Lord is supposed to be at Cherukunnu to see Annapoorna devi(Mythically, Raja Rajeswaran is Viswanathan of Varanasi and Cherukunnu devi is Annapoorna of Banares).
Though it is not practised as widely as it was in the earlier days, it is still a religious custom among many local hindu women to visit three prominent temples in Taliparamba when they are pregnant. Apart from Rajarajeshwara temple, the other two temples are Sri Krishna at Trichambaram and Vaidyanatha(Shiva) at Kanjirangad. It is believed that Shiva at Rajarajeshwara temple assures the child a high status, Sri Krishna of Trichambaram bestows it with good nature and mental qualities and the Shiva at Kanjirangad temple with long life.
One of the Zamorins was an ardent devotee of the Lord of Taliparamba. After years of intense worship he is said to have entered the sanctum sanctorum and merged with the God. Even today when the elder Zamorin dies the information should be passed over to the temple authorities and the Lord is supposed to observe mourning. Even the distant Travancore kings paid obeisance to the deity by offering an elephant whenever a ruler is crowned or visited the temple.
The Taliparamba temple also was subjected to attack by Tipu Sultan. One finds relics of the old gigantic gopuram at the entrance, which was demolished by Tipu’s army. The story goes that when the temple was under siege, the head priest get inside the sanctum sanctorum and prayed the Lord continously for days. A black snake bit the commander of the army and a hooded serpent appeared before every soldier thus immobilizing the army and saving the temple from total destruction.
Usually, vilwa leaves are not used here for worshipping Shiva, which is a rarity, as it is said that Shiva Linga also holds Vaishnava energy. Sub-deities of the temple are Ganapathy, Subrahmanya, Parvathi, Mahakalan, Yakshi, Vrikshabha, Aravathappan and Sri Krishnan.
The quadrangular sanctum has a two-tiered pyramidal roof. The temple faces east and the idol is having approximately three feet height. The temple has no flagstaff as opposed to other temples in Kerala. In front of the balikkal(a typical stone) is a small rectangular building with a pyramidal roof, which is not usually found anywhere else. An inscription on the structure of the temple tank (which is a little away from the temple on the north side) indicates that the temple andthe tank were renovated in 1524 A.D.
The place is considered as most sacred for performing Koodiyattam and Chakyar Koothu. Whenever a new Koodiyattam is being directed, first it is usually performed at this temple. However only the ‘Mani’ family of Chakyars solely posses the right of performing Koodiyattam here. Legendary Koodiyattam and Chakyar koothu maestro, Natyaachaarya Vidushakaratnam Padma Shri Mani Madhava Chakyaar had performed here for many decades. The title ‘Vidushakaratnam’ was awarded to him from this temple. One of the greatest appreciation or award that an artist/scholar can get, is the ‘Veerashringhala’- Golden Bracelet, from the temple, given by the unanimous approval of the committee of the temple. Guru Mani Madhava Chakyaar is the youngest and last person to get the Veerashringhala from here.
It was a custom practiced by the Travancore Emperors to offer an elephant to Perumthrikkovilappan before being enthroned.
Bhaskar Ranganathan 