Chapter 1 - Sthala-mahatmyas of South India

As a land of mythology India has created so many legends relating to holy shrines and other holy places. This pilgrims' literature is mainly for the purpose of the devotees who visit the holy shrines regularly. The sources of them is our epics and puranas. 'In the tirthayatraparva of Mahabharata the importance of worshipping various holy places is described. Skandapurana, Padmapurana, Garudapurana, Matsyapurana etc. has such narrations. Even though there are mahatmyas like kasimahatmya, Gayamahatmya Badarimahatmya and are written glorifying various shrines of North India, most of the Sthala-mahatmyas are originated in south India, especially a region called Centamiznadu, which included Tamilnadu, Kerala and certain parts of Karnataka and Andhrapradesh where the Karnatic music flourishes. From the early times a body of copious legends had gathered around the famous shrines of South India. With the physical development of the temples the legends developed still further. These legends are collected together in the middle ages and these works are now popularly known as Stalamahatmyas or Sthala-puranas. In these works a famous temple is considered as the nucleus and the subsidiary shrines are associated with it by the legends. For example in Sucindrastalamahatmya the temple of Parakkai is legendarily connected to the Sucindram temple. These kinds of works provide the pilgrims traditional history of the shrine including it's (usually miraculous) discovery and stories of the adventures of those important exemplars (such 10

as gods, demons, serpents and men) who were freed from sorrow of one kind or another by worshipping there'. Story of Indra who got purified from his son of seducing Ahalya described in Sucindrastalamahatmya is the best example for this. The mahatmya's offers a list of ritual benefits that can be gained by worshipping in the shrine. The site trees worshipper from ignorance, disease, the consequences of one s misdeeds, and so on. Each and every shrine claims to be a site of creation, the center of universe and a place free from the natural calamities like floods. 2 For example, according to Sucindrastalamahatmya, Sucindram is the place of non-deluge. Even all destroying flood at the end of an age can not touch Sucindram due to the power of the shrine there. Origin and development of Sthalamahatmyas Religious, Political, economical, and socio-cultural developments have played important roles in the development of sthalamahatmyas.³ Bhakti movement which had appeared in the 7 th Century A.D is the main reason for the origin and development of Sthalamahatmyas. Cholas, Pandyas, Cheras and Vijayanagar have constructed huge temple buildings and renewed ancient religious centers of pilgrimage. They had donated lands to Bramins and temple ie, Bramadeyas, Devadanas etc. for performing religious duties related to the temples. And the brahmins gathered in a village inserted various puranic stories connected to the near by temples. The bhakti movement which had started in the 7 th century A.D at Kanchi had reached all over South India within two centuries. Bhakti of that age was a particular one. The local deities of each temples had acquired prominence and various puranic stories were 11

connected with them. Alvars and Nayanars who are vaisnava and Saiva saints respectively sung so many songs praising the god who was intimate to devotees, as a child to the mother and is a treasure of love. In the Tamil Bhakti literature of that age lord siva and Visnu appears more human and local, as a friend, child or a husband and dear to all. New stories of incarnations had originated. The local deities became independent and omnipotent. All the temples became either the scenes of Puranic stories or the places relating puranic characters, or holy places relating other siddhas. Thus the places got fame among the public. Naturally, this led to the origin of Sthalamahatmyas. The political situation of South India was in a turmoil after the imperial and prosperous rule of cholas. There was disintegration of law and order. In the absence of a national hero and goal to bind them, the people and local leaders could not have wider political outlook except at their village level. This kind of political situation naturally started a patriotism, which could only be local and sectarian. Economic condition was worse all over South India. Famines and pestilence were persistent every where and the general condition was one of adversity People found solace in puranic lore, which created an utopia of past and present. These myths provided the a basis for the much needed social faith and action. For example, Sucindrasthalamahatmya describes the story of Anasuya who drives away a famine by the power of her penance. Prof. Meenakshi sundaram observed that in an age of despair and despondency hope is stirred in the hearts of men by these puranas.* The Mahatmyas integrate the social and cultural factions at least in their fictional world. They are really collections of folk tales associated 12

with puranic myths and legends. Mahatmyas contain stories about gods, semi-gods, hero kings, great sages, Brahmins, merchants, animals and birds. The authors of these works try to carry the message of god's love to all even to sinners. Sucindrastalamahatmya gives a detailed description of how Indra got relieved from his sin, and in KSM proclaims the removal of the sin of Brahma and Vishnu. Sthalamahatmyas in addition to being epic and myths are substitutes for history, geography, philosophy, ethics, fine arts, grammar etc. This is due to the erratic growth of knowledge in different disciplines in those peculiar historical circumstances. Common Characteristics of Sthala-mahatmyas Sthalamahatmyas differ from mahapuranas and upapuranas in their selection of content features and also in quantity, while puranas confirm to the pancalaksana. The Sthalamahatmyas have restricted their scope ie, they concentrate on the idol (murti), place (Sthala) [sthalam] and holy bathing ghuts (tirtha) [tirtham] of a particular place or near by locality. They focuses on the legendary accounts of a particular place, its history, geography traditions etc. However many of the Sthalamahatmyas are modelled on the materials taken from various puranas. Authorship of Sthala-mahatmyas is ascribed to Vyasa, and each one of them claims to be part of a purana. In most of the cases this claim cannot be true. It is true that some of the mahatmyas form part of some puranas ie, kasimahatmya is part of skandapurana, gayamahatmya is that of Agnipurana and so on. Mahatmyas which form parts of various 13

puranas merely describe the importance of some tirthas and places. But their South Indian counterparts describe various regional factors. Actually Sthala-mahatmyas are the imaginations of local priests or scholars to attract people to a particular village temple. The authors actually imitate the style of various puranic works and claim to be parts of various puranas in order to popularize their works. Considering novelty of the topic dealt with, and the style of poetry, one can see that mahatmyas are not parts of old puranas but they are modern works about 400 to 500 years old." Sthalamahatmyas are started in the traditional way, with the request of rsis who are residing in naimisa forest, to suta who is also known Lomaharsana. This is the imitation of the style of narration of Puranas. The author narrates the story of one of the holiest places for the benefit of rsis. Sometimes the glory of certain place to claimed as equal to that of Gayatrimantra. There will be interruptions and discussions too by the fellow sage's who are the audience to the discourse. Some times they request him to repeat the story already told by him. Narration of Suta is the general rule to the Sthala-mahatmyas although there are exceptions to this. For example, in vilvadrimahatmya the story is narrated in the form of umamahesvarasamvada. As stated earlier murthi, sthalam and tirtham formula is common in all Sthalamahatmyas. In Sucindrastalamahatmya the murthi is Sthanumalaya, stalam is Sucindram and tirtham is prajnatirtham. Different Gods, Goddesses and the significance of the presiding deity of the temple are the main theme's of Sthalamahatmyas. The presiding deity has a 14

local name and also the well known mythological name. The Siva of Sucindram is known as sthanumalaya or sthanunathasvamin. Goddess of Kanyakumari is known as puspahasa also. The The description of a holy tree ie, sthalavrksa is found in many of the Sthalamahatmyas. God appear on it. Some times he assumes the form of it. For example, Sucindrasthalamahatmya describes the Lord Siva as vrkasvaktra. In Anantasayanaksetramahatmya Lord Visnu appeared in the illupa tree. In Vilvadrimahatmya the Vilva is the holy tree and Visnu appears and it. Each Sthalamahatmya is associated with one or more saints. The places described in Sthalamahatmyas are the hermitagee of particular saints. Sucindrasthalamahatmya is related to Athrimuni. It also points out the various saints who visited sucindram such as vedavyasa, vasisista, vamadeva, Agastya and so on. Antasayanaksetramahatmya on Padmanabhaswami temple at Thiruvananthapuram is related to Divakaramuni. Vilvadrimahatmya is related to the female mendicant Sabari. Vyakralayesamahatmya on the Siva temple at Vaikkom describes the story of famous Saiva saint Tirujnanasambandhar of 7 th century A.D. The size and division of Sthalamahatmyas The chapters in Sthalamahatmyas are called Adyayas. There are the Sthalamahatmyas having 89 Adhyayas like Kalahastimahatmya which proclaims the glory of famous Kalahasti temple in Andra Pradesh. It has 8500 granthas. Tiny works like Ghomesvaramahatmya dealing with the mahatmya of Kumbakonam temple in Tamilnadu. It has only 250 grants. 15

Metre (Vrtta) Sthalamahatmyas generally used Anustup metre. Metres like Indravajra, Upendravajra, malini and so on are also seen in Mahatmyas. Stories of sthalamahatmyas and their classification The Sthalamahatmyas mainly deals with the story of a tutelary deity of a place, his divine power and grace. Also the importance of the temples of the nearly places. It also deals with the history of a place through four yuga. For example, the Sucindrasthalamahatmya pictures the legendary story of sucindram in four yugas. The Holy tree of sucindram is noted as Asvatha in krtayuga and vilva in tretayuga and Tulsi in Dvaparayuga. It later transformed into Rajavrksa in Kaliyuga. The history of a place is narrated in several stories and these stories differ themselves. Basically these mahatmyas are either aetiological or etymological. The former type of stories explain the origin of natural features, customs etc and the latter the origin of names. 6 Local legends Aetiological explains natural features, customs Etymological explains names eg. Place names like sucindram Eg: In Sucindrasthalamahatmya stories relating to Marutvamalai Pazhayar, Ardhyamapuja 16 Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram etc.

Characters in Sthalamahatmyas Sthalamahatmyas being short stories, the epic characterization is absent and whatever available is only fragmentary and only in a very few cases some examples to remember are obtained. Hero of the sthalamahatmyas The presiding deity of the temple is generally considered as the hero (Nayaka) of sthala-mahatmyas and his divinity enhance his heroship. But adventures and deeds of the presiding deity are not completely described on the other hand, the story of origin, growth, history and other manifold significance of the place are depicted in Sthalamahatmyas. In Sucindrasthalamahatmya is the hero of the work. In ASM Sripadmanabha is the hero and in KSM Devi Kanyakumari is the heroine. Imagery of the sthala-mahatmyas The imagery in Sthalamahatmyas are marked by the mythical or supernatural imagination and fantasy. Even natural descriptions are influenced by the mythical elements. The myths and reality intermingled and created a world of fantasy. When one approaches it with an open mind and heart, some of them became appealing and tend intimacy and instill an intense feeling of oneness with gods and other celestial being at least in an imaginary world. 17

Style of sthalamahatmyas The style of these works are simple and imitative to purana literature. As There are irregularities of grammar in them. Sthalamahatmyas are mainly intended for the propagation of the glory of the temples of a place, they are written in a readable style. A style of great epics is not expected from them. Bhakti in sthalamahatmyas Bhakti is the dominant characteristic of all Sthalamahatmyas . Bhakti is the focal theme, the local deity is praised as the supreme being. History and Sthala-mahatmyas The sthalamahatmyas give the legendary history of a place, according to the canons of historiography they cannot be considered as a reliable source of History. As Vadakkumkur points out "The sthala-mahatmyas are not considered as true history neither by the authors nor by the readers. They are for attracting people to particular temples by describing the glory of them.' 7 In some cases the legends may contain some underlying historical facts but the age long addition of marvelous and the obviously anarchornistic makes it almost impossible to separate the true from the traditional. 8 There are exceptions to this general rule, there are sthalamahatmyas of historical importance. For example, the Brhadisvaramahatmya which deals with the glory of Brhadisvara temple at Tanjore in Tamilnadu. It mentions gives the history of 16 Chola kings starting from Kulothumga Chola. 18

Other artistic forms and Sthalamahatmyas Sthalamahatmyas have close links with other artistic forms like architecture, sculpture, mural paintings, dance, music and other literary forms. These art forms are explained in these mahatmyas and these sthala-mahatmyas are illustrated and explained by such artistic forms. For example the stories of Sucindrasthalamahatmya are translated into beautiful mural painting on the Gopura of sucindram temple. In short, sthalamahatmyas are an experiment of the continuing kavya tradition in literature in combination with religion. It also belongs to folklore. It is a product of a peculiar and multiple historical factors. It is mythological in content and literary in other aspects. In the continuing pages the contents of four important sthalamahatmyas are given. They are Kanyakumariksetramahatmya, Vyaghralayesaksgetramahatmya, Vilvadrimahatmya, Ananthasayanaksetramahatmya. They glorify the temples Kanyakumari, Vaikkam, Thiruvananthapuram and Vilvadri respectively. The Kanyakumari temple is situated in TamilNadu. All other temples are situated in Kerala. Kanyakumariksetramahatmya Kanyakumarikshetramahatmya is written by an anonymous author. It is an unpublished work. The manuscript is available at the ORIS MSS Librry, University of Kerala, and the same is used for this study. Contents of the work The work in 22 chapters describes the legendary history of famous Kanyakumari temple situated at the land's end of India. Most of the slokas 19

in Kanyakumariksetramahatmya are written in anustup metre. The work starts with a salute to Ganapati. gajamukhamakhilam tam sampadam dantadhuryam | gunagananavihitam saukhyadam sadgunanam | | As in the case of Sucindrasthalamahatmya, the Kanyakumarikshetramahatmya also claims to be a part of Skandapurana authored by Vedavyasa. The first chapter has 34 verses. It deals with the request of suta and Skanda's narration about Kanyakumari. sages to Rsis who attended the dirghasatra in Naimisa forest complains that even though they had done penance at various holy places, they didn't gain purity of mind. They require the suta to suggest a place which gave them the divine power. Suta then narrated to them about an old story told by Skanda to Rsis like sanaka. Rest of Kanyakumarikshetramahatmya is the narration of Skanda. Kanyakumari is situated at the southern most end of Indian Penisula. This holy place imports the four aims of life to all, divine powers to ascetics and purifies to the sinners. Goddess of Kanyakumari assumed the name of puspahasa and did observed penance standing single foot to get Sucindranatha as her husband. Actually Kanyakumarikshetramahatmya is a tirthamahatmya, glorification of several holy ghuts. Second chapter of the work contains 51 verses. It describes various tirthas including sthanutirtha of Sucindram and the tapas of Banasura. 20

The Rsis request Skanda to tell about the place were goddess Kanyakumari did penance for Sucindranatha. Skanda describes so many important teerthas in Kanyakumari. Most important among them is the sthanutirtha extended from Sucindram to Kanyakumari underground. sucindranathadevasya tirtham tatraiva darsitam | surasilpikrtenaiva margenatyantapavanam | tasyamat sri sthanutirthakhyam tirthamasti nadipatau | | There are the tirthas of Gayatri, Savitri and Sarasvati. So many tirthas are there with the names of puranic characters like Balarama, Bhima, Arjuna etc. who took both in them. At the end of this chapter skanda narrates the story of Banasura. The third chapter has 35 slokas. The story of Banasura continues. Banasura requests sage Markandeya to give him the havirbhaga of a yaga conducted by the latter. The sage cursed Banasura. Then Sukracarya advised him to do penance to Brahma. He then began his severe penance. This chapter shows the importance of ardhanarisvara concept. sivasaktatmakam satyam taddhihinam nahi kvicit | sivam vinajagaddatri na tisthesi kadacana || 21

The bhootems created by Banasura, after gaining boon from Brahma that 'only women can kill him' is also narrated. Fourth chapter deals with the Gods' visit to Kailasa under the redership of Indra. They seek the help of Siva to save them from the atrocities of Banasura. Therebty Siva directs goddess Parvati to go to Kanyakumari and kill Banasura after attaining power of Penance. Similarity of myth can be seen in KSM and Sucindrasthalamahatmya daksinabdhitate pusye malayadresca daksine | mahendrasailasamipyam gatva tatra mahasuram || nihavya tasminna ksetre ksanamaha sa kanyaka | tasya ksetrasya devesi praticcam disi santatam | kincitadityakoneham vasamyakhisiddhiyam | krte yugesvattharupi tretayam tulasinagam || dvapare srivilvakarah ka laurajamahiruhah | tasmadvrksasya svarupi ca lingasvarupi ca santatam || kalamakamksamanam sad tavodvahamahotsavam | sri sthanunathanamna vai vasami jagadisvari || Fifth chapter deals with the war between the Goddess and Banasura. (brahmi, mahesi, kaumari, vaisnavi, varahi, mahendri and camunda ) 22

The etymology of the word Kanyakumari is described here. devi samgatam dhatri kanyakarupadharini * nirmala nirguna saksi kanyakavesa dharini || kumarabesasampatya sarvalaksanasamcukta | devaih kanyakumariti samstuta sakalatmika || She fought with Banasura riding on a deer in her (saramgavahana). Popular version is that the Goddess is simhavahana. Sixth chapter is the glorification of the goddess divine power of the Goddess by the Gods and Mahavisnu. Accepting their request Devi stays at Kanyakumari with all her splendour. Then comes the story of Madhukaitabha. Madhukaitabha's worse originated from the ear wax of Mahavisnu and thus became his sons. Due to their cruel activities, Visnu had to kill them. On the advice of Brahma, Visnu observes severe penance to absolve the sin of Killing his own sons. Mahavisnu came to Kanyakumari with sananda and others are at the holy ghat, recited svayamvaramantra, smeared the holy ash on his body and wore jata on his head. hrdi mahisim dhyatva yugasahasrani Here Mahavisnu is pictured as wearing jata, and bhasma both are the symbols of saivaites, It shows that the author is a saivaite. 23

gayas. tapasacakre svayam hari | | His penance propitiating the Goddess continued to a thousand Riverse like Krishna, Godavari, Kaveri etc.. approach Brahma and seek their own. The world purification from rapists, sinners, cruel, thieves and idiots who wash out their sins hits these rivers. Godddess Kanyakumari appears before them and purifies them with her holy water. Receiving the tirtha Visnu also gets absolved from his sin. On the request of the Goddess Visnu lays his divine presence there. asya sthalasya varuhma disi sivapadmasarastare | sucindraksetrayamyetu vasa mam cintayan sada || 34 This is the reference about the Thiruvenkata Vinnavam permual of Sucindram. Skanda told Devi about his desire to stay at Kanyakumari. She advised him to go to velimalai and marry valli and live happily. Devi told the nadi's to go to Kamakshi temple and pray goddess Kamakshi there. She is also kumari and kanyaka. Eight chapter has 64 verses. It is a detailed description of nadi's travel to Kancheepuram. Kamakshi devi ask them to go back kanyakumari. She says that Kanyakumari devi is no one other than she. The last part of the chapter describes the story of bhadrakalitirata. According to the story canda cursed bhadrakali on seeing her in fully blooded body. Bhadrakali approached Kanyakumari. She advised her to take bath in a tirtha and she took bath in it. Thus the tirtha got her name. 24

The author gives more importance to the kumaribhava of Devi. According to Indian tradition devi has numerous forms. Kumari and Bhadrakali are two among them. Chapter Nine has 43 slokas. It deals with the story of Suryasarma, who has some Similarities with that of the Adipose of Greek mythology, who killed his father and made his mother wife. There was a certain Brahmin by the name suryasarma. He killed his father and made his mother his wife. A child was born to him by his mother. Once he accidentally reached Kanyakumari. In the presence of devi suryasarma became aware of his sin. He then approached sukramuni who was doing penance on the nearby place. He advised him to do penance after bathing in the bhadrakalithirtha At the same time the mother of suryasarma also came to Kanyakumari. Sri Suka advised her to penance. Both of them did penance for 3 years. Devi appeared before them and gave absolution from their sin. So the bhadrakalitirtha is unique among tirthas. It gives salvation even to great sinners. Then comes the story of Narada. Once upon a time Narada go to see surya. At that time the waves of ocean climbed up to the sky level and prevented Narad's travel. He cursed them and they lost their water. The Oceans came to Kanyakumari and they got absolution from the curse. The tenth chapter has 48 verses which deals with story of Balabhadra s visit to Kanyakumari and describes the story of Arjunatirtha. Here Arjuna is supposed to be done penance on the advice of vedavyas. There is also the story of Balarama. Once Balabhadra, the elder brother of Srikrsna visited naimisa forest Suta who was narrating purana's to various 25

muni's did not pay attention to him. Angry Balarama Killed him. Then he felt ashamed of his action and sought the advice of Saunaka. Saunaka advised him to visit Kanyakumari and immerse at the holy water there. Rauhineya went for a tirthayatra and he visited many tirthas. Kalahasti, Venkitadri, Gutachalam, Vrhachalam, Rameswaram, and Velimalai, and Sucindram. At kanyakumari he did penance for three years and got rid of his sin. Chapter eleven has 58 verses that deals with how Vyasamuni became dumb due to his blasphemy of the saivism and the story of Vamanavatara. At once Vyasa advised his disciples to give up saivism. samkarastamasah satvam tamogunavibhasakah | visnurevehi sarvesam muktidata na samsayah As a result he became dumb and his left hand became stable and stood like a statue for one thousand years. The frightened disciples prayed sambhu to absolve the curse. On the advise of Siva the disciples led him to Kanyakumari. Vyasa took bath at the holy water. After wearing Bhasma and Rudraksha he prayed Kanyakumari. Devi appeared before him and gave him tirtha i.e., Vyasa tirtha. Vyasa told this to his disciples. siva eva jagatsaksi sarvapunyah sadasiva parasakya cintitavyah satyam yusmabhirajnasa This story indicates that the author is a saivaite. 26

The last part of this chapter describes the famous story of Vamana, the fifth incarnation of Mahavisnu. According to this story by the blessing of devi Kanyakumari he defeats Mahabali without a war. Chapter 12 has 92 verses. This chapter deals with story of Gayathri, Savithri, Sarasvathi and the story of the mouse of Ganapati. According to the story Ganapati defeated gajasura and made him his Vahana. 13 chapter has 43 verses. It deals with the absolution of curse of oceans and the penance of Bhimasena for the defeat of Jarasanda. The place where Bhima took bath is known as bhimatirtha at Kanyakumari. The fourteenth Chapter has 57 verses. It deals with two stories (i) Siva's curse to Brahma (2)story of sidhasaila or marutvamalai The source of the story of ketakipuspa i.e., the story of Siva's curse to Brahma is the fifth skanda of Devi Bhagavata. Once upon a tome time a quarrel between Brahma and Visnu ahamevajagannatha ahameva prabhuttama Then a Siva in his cidakara stood in between Brahma and Visnu. Siva asked Visnu to find his feet, to Brahma to tip of his jata. Visnu could not find out the foot. Brahma spent one thousand years but he cannot find out the tip of his jata. Then Brahma saw a ketakipurspa falling from the head of Siva. Brahma requested her to be a false witness that he saw the tip of jata of Siva. Ketaki did the same and Siva cursed her and Brahma. 27

su Brahma and ketaki visited Kanyakshetra and Devi gave them removal from the curse. The second story is that of siddha's which tells the Ramayana story of Hanuman lifting the ousadhasaila. Chapter fifteen has 64 verses. It tells the story of Mandharaparvata and Srirama. Srirama came to Kanyakumari and prayed Devi. She gave him the boon for killing Ravana. Chapter sixteen has 91 verses. It describes SriRama, and Santhanu, the famous Mahabharatha character. Santhanu went to Kanyakumari and prayed Devi. She Sapamoksha. gave him Chapter seventeen has 69 verses. It is the story of skanda and his penance to Devi Kanyakumari. Eighteenth chapter has 43 slokes. It describes about two methods for worshipping Devi 1. bahya 2. abhyanthara. The last part is the interesting story of Yamadharama. One day Yamadharma, the god of death expresses his confusion to his minister chitragupta. He says that he is appointed by Lord Siva for the punishment of sinners. But so many sinners get entrance in the heaven. He went to kailasa to see Siva. Chapter twenty continues the story of Yama. Siva then told him the story of a wicked Brahmin. That man did so many cruel deeds in his life. But at the end of his life he accidentally uttered the word Kanyakumari and he got heaven. Siva consoles yama that sinners who say the word Kanyakumari will get moksa. Chapter twenty one is a long one. It has 154 verses, describes the story of a thief puskalasha who got salvation by praying the goddess 28

Kanyakumari. The concluding chapter describes various tirthas in Kanyakumari and the importance of Deviworship. It describes the bhuvanesvari mantra and pancakshari mantra. There are many similarities between Sucindrasthalamahatmya and Kanyakumarikshetramahatmya. The legends in both of them are almost same. In Sucindrasthalamahatmya there is a holy tree. But in Kanyakumarikshetramahatmya there is no holy tree. Vaiyakhrapureesamahatmya This work is of anonymous authorship. According to the author the work is a part of bhargavapurana, one among the 4 lakhs of upapuranas. Vaiyakhrapureesamahatmya in it's 14 chapters deals with the legendary origin of the famous Mahadeva temple of Vaikkam, at Kottayam district of Kerala. Contents of the work The work starts with praise of Lord Siva sripatipramukharadhyam srimad pamcaksaralayam srisarvamamgalakantam sivam vande sivamapi || As usual as in the Stalamahatmyas the work says about the request of Rsis to Suta. They request him to tell about the story of Siva. Suta begins to tell them the holy story of Siva. Sriparameswara is the Saccidanandarupa and the cause of the creation of his universe. No one equal to him in this universe is to be bestowed. All the Sruti's Ithihasas and Puranas took their origin from this Sambhu. Siva gave all of them to 29

caturanana for the blessings of the world. Caturanana gave them to Vyasa and Vyasa became the great arranger (R). yasya sravanamatrena bhurkhopisvadvimuktibhak | | tadevakrpayavakse yugamakam munisattamah || 1.20 Saying these words Suta begins to narrate the story of Siva. Suta describes the famous story of Parasurama, who requests Varuna to give him land. Varuna accepts his request and gives him the land. This is a variation of the popular legend in Kerala. According to the legend Parasurama through his parasu from Gokarnam to Kanyakumari and erected the Kerala. Parasurama erected Sivalinga's in some places and visnubimbas is in some other places. The earth which he got from the ocean was donated to Brahmins who gave it to the pandya King for protection. After a short while Parasurama, saw a Sivalinga in the ocean, when he travels by yogamarga. He enshrined it on the nearby place and constructed a temple. This temple is the Vaikkam temple. This is the content of the first Chapter, which contains 63 slokas. The second Chapter deals with the story of Parasurama and the feeding of the Brahmins. Vaikkam temple is well known for feeding. The Lord is popularly known as annadanaprabhu " This Chapter explains the etymology of the words: 30 30

yatassamsrstirupannorujamdravayati prabhu | rudrahatyuccate sadbhissivah paramakaranam | 2-32 The second Chapter contains 54 verses. The third canto starts with the praise of Siva of Parasurama. Siva appears before him and tells him about the importance of sivapooja and describes about the tirtha of the temple, the Parasutartha. tasmat parasutirtha tatprathitam bhuvanatraye | tatrasnanena bahabo bhuktimukti samapnuvana || 3-53 The fourth Chapter contains 55 verses. It deals with the arrival of parasurama from Malaya mountain to see Mahadeva on the eve of pradosa. The stories of sage Kasyapa and Neelakanta the ideal devotes, is described in detail. Here the ominipresent quality of Mahadeva is emphasised tilesu tailavat sarpirdidhinivaranaisucih | savatravartate gudhah karta bhokta ca mahesvara || 4-62 Chapter five contains 51 slokas. This chapter deals with the story of a gandharva girl, who was cursed by sage Agastya. She was an egotic girl who mocked the sage Agastya and his company and because of his curse she became a rakhasi. She went to the vyakhrapadapuram, a place got fame by the penance of vyakrapadamuni .The vyakrapadaura is also 31

known as vyakralaya. She did severe penance on lord Siva and got liberation. This story proclaims the greatness of sivabhakthi. Sixth chapter describes bhasmamahatmya. Here is the story of a person who got rid his leprosy by bhasmadarana. The author says about the importance of bhasma in the following verse. adhivyadhiyutanam ca bhasmaivausadham param | tasmat bhasmanusamsparsadvisadoso vinasyati || 6-27 The story of Parasurama appointing various priests and all other officers for the daily pujas and other functionaries of the temple is told in this chapter which has 51 verses. The seventh chapter starts with a sloka describing about the origin of gangathirtha. Parasurama by his penance succeeded in making Siva to appear before him. He told Siva about the mortality and pity of human life. There is a description about the human biological factors like pregnancy, delivery etc. Parasurama requests lord Siva to create a tirtha which destroys all of the sorrows of humanity. On his request Siva created Tirtha from his kaparda in presence of deva, kinnara, Yaksha, Rakhasa, Pannaga, siddha and manuja. Parasurama proclaims that, when dharma declains and adarma spreads the only remedy is Sivabhakthi. From the story of Vyakhrapadamuni the place got the name Vyakhrapadapuram. Vyakhrapada teaches Sivrahasya to the niradha a sage from Panchaladesa. He says that Siva is the supreme reality. 32

saccidanandasampurna sivosmitisthiro bhava | manassamnkalpitamsarvam tattasmin layameksyati || 4-52 Total number of verses in this canto is 55. Eight chapter deals with the penance of Vyakhrapadamuni to please Lord Siva. Siva appeared before him and taught him yogamarga. There is a detailed description of the yogamarga and unity between jeeva and brahma. Virtues and sins will not touch the Sivanjani. By the stuti of Vyakrapadamuni Siva appeared before him and blessed him. In the concluding part of the chapter, there is a description of the importance of three thirthas, Kapardyacutam, gangaprapatam and niladatirtham,. This canto has 71 slokas. In the beginning of the ninth chapter Mahatmya of a tirtha namely arthihara is described. Here the reference of Sucindram occurs. Two brahmin boys hailing from Kanyakumari visits Sucindrum. On their way to vaiyakhrapuri they wanted to see sivalinga on Sivaratri. They visited Sucindram and saw Sucindranatha. When they saw the holy Sivalinga they became blessed. Importance of tirthayatra is described in detail here. This chapter concludes with the stuti of vyakhrapada on Siva. There are 70 slokas in his chaper. Tenth chapter refers the story of the erection of Sivalinga of Vaikam temple; That is related to Khara, a character in Ramayana and co- brother of Ravana. Khara who is popularly known as a notorious character xt affa faidi a far: (Mbh): Vanaprasta: 259: 12 a) here appear as a pious follower of Siva. Khara who has studied Sivavidya from 33

Malyavan, went to Chidambaram and acquired three Sivalingas from Siva. He carried two of them in his hands and one with his mouth. Due to pain in his teeth Khara put the one at the mouth in a pond. He approached the Vyakrapadamuni and requested him to enshrine the Sivalingam. Vyakrapada then enshrined the Sivalinga in the near by beautiful place. This is the Sivalinga of Vaikkam temple it is said. Ravana, the famous king of Raksasas came to this place and worshipped Lord Siva. The author, describes the story of virasminda an ardent devotee of Siva. This chapter concludes with the description of the famous tirthas of Gokarnam, Rameswaram, Kedaram, Chidambaram and Srisailam. This chapter has 55 verses. The 11 th chapter describes the importance of vaidikamarga. The author describes the story of Srisambanda, known as Thirunjanasambanda in Tamil Saivite works, who is said to be breast fed by goddess Parvati. Sambanda's argument with a Buddist about vaidikamarga is described in detail. Finally the Baudha converts in to Saivisam. This chapter has 42 slokas. The twelth chapter continues with the story of viraminda who is a devotee of Siva. This chapter has 101 slokas. The thirteenth and fourteenth chapters deal with the sorrow of chera King who has no children. Parasurama appeared before him and gave him sivanjanopadesam. By his advice the king visited many tirthas. On the way he saw a women crying because of the death of his only son. The king advises her about the instability of the body and this world. The natural beauty of the countryside of Kerala is described. By seeing the beauty of various places, the Chera king thought that Kerala 34

was another Kailasa. The king said that Kerala was a holy land because great Rsis do penance here. The King visits may tirthas and fed brahmins at Siva temples. Last part of the work gives a detailed description of the Sivamahatmya. Thirteenth chapter has 84 slokas and fourtheeth has 92. A comparison between Sucindrasthalamahatmya and Vaiyakhrapureesamahatmyam There are so many similarities between these works. Both give importance to Saivism. Vaiyakhrapurisamahatmya is related to Vyakhrapadamuni. Sucindrasthala-mahatmya is related to Atrimuni. The vaiyakhrapureesamahatmya it did not mention any holy tree. Notorious characters like Ravana, Khara appear in it as pious Sivabhaktas. Both the works proclaim the importance of tirtha worship. anantasayana ksetramahatmaym Anantsayanakhetramahatmya glorifies the famous Sripadmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. The name Thiruvananthapuram means the city of Ananta, where Lord Visnu lies on his serpant Ananta. The work is of Anonymous authorship. It contains 750 slokas in it's eleven cantos. Contents of the work As in the case of Sucindrasthalamahatmya the Anantsayanakhetramahatmya begins with the request of Rsis to Suta. They request him to tell the story of Anantasayana which is the abode of Lord Visnu. According to the author the work is a part of Bramandapurana. The work starts with anantabhogaparyanke sayanam ksirasagare | naimi sundararajantam srivarahatanum harim || 35

The Rsis tells about the position of Ananthasayana anantasayanamnnama daksinambunidhestare yatra sete svayam visnuh darsananmuktidanrnam | (verse :5) On the request of Rsis, Suta begins to narrate the story of Ananthasayanam. The first chapter deals with the story of Divakaramuni. It has 34 verses. Suta explains the story of Anantsayanakhetra. At first the temple was called Naimisakhetra, and later Adikesava. It has a long history. The devotees attain moksa by the daily worship of Sreepadmanabhaswamy. matat ksetram mahapunyam smaranat muktidamnrnam 13.b In the main Shrine Lord Visnu is reclining on the five headed serpent Ananta whose body is coiled thrice. The holy temple is near to the southern sea coast. Many sages from Venkatadri, Kuruksteram, Srisailam, Dvaraka and Pindarakam, who were the devotees of Lord Padmanabha settled near and around the Sripadmanabhasvamy temple. Of them, Divakaramuni, a tulu brahmin, who took sanyasa in his youth was a true devotee of Sripadmanabha. One day a radiant child of two years appeared before him. On seeing the child the heart of the sage was filled with affection for the child. He asked the child about his father and mother. The child replied that he has no father and mother. The Sage requested him to stay with him. The child agreed on the condition that if he felt humiliated he would not continue to stay a minute. 36

avamatya hi kupyanti pradravanti tatahparam . 31 b b The sage agreed and they lived happily. Second canto contains 57 slokas which deals with the conversation among Agastya, Lord Siva and Vishu and the disappearance of the child from Divakaramuni. The story of Agastya narrated in this chapter is related to the famous Agastyakuta situated at the boarder of Kerala and Tamilnadu. This story runs like this. To witness the marriage ceremony of Siva and Parvati people gathered on the Himalayas. The earth is unable to keep balance due to the concentration of weight on one place. The devas approached Brahma and asked the reason for the shake of the earth. He told them the reason and about the secret knowledge about sage Agastya, who only can solve the problem. Even though a short fellow, Agastya is with tapobhara and he was the destroyer of the Asura vatapi He also had drunk the entire water of Samudra. Davas came to Lord Visnu and repeated the words of Brahma to him. The supreme Lord asked Agastya to go to Malayadri to avoid the shake of the earth. On hearing this Agastya got angry, because he had the desire to see the holy marriage of Parvati and Siva. He cursed Brahma that no one in the world would worship him. Tvasta also cursed Agastya that he and his family would not recover from poverty. With deep despair, Agastya came to Malaya mountain and the earth became stable. The happy days of Divakaramuni and the child came to an end when the child desecrated the sacred salagrama, by putting it in his 37

mouth. In irritation the muni reprimanded the child. The child felt humiliated and he ran away. The sage in despair ran in the direction taken by the child. Finally he came to the south sea shore where he saw the child disappearing into the hole where a tree crashed down. The third chapter narrates Divakaramuni's search for the child and Visnu s divine darsan to him. It has 45 slokas. The sage continued his search for the child. To his wonder the tree transformed into a mighty form of Lord Visnu with a length of three yojanas. verse: 17 tata padupabhuyaddeva tarurevaharihsvayam | triyojanacchitakarah sayanassanakhacakraghrt | | There is also the reference of vrksakrti of harih evam vistrtadeho'sau vrksah evakrtirhareh | | Thus the temple become a place of tree worship. The body of Padmanabha rests on the five hooded serpant Ananta. Head of Padmanabha is at Velavanam (Thiruvallam) near Matsyathirtham and hands at Chakra tirtha and Sankatirtha, Udara at Varahatirtha, Nabhipadma at Padmateirtha the tanks of temple. Both legs are at Padathirtha, and feet at dharmadharma, ie, Thiruppadapuram, a place situated 14 Kilometers away from Thriruvananthapuram. There is the mark of foot print on a rock, ie. Trippadam in the nearby Siva temple. 38

sahasradityasankasam padmapatraruneksanam | sayanam bhogaparyanake srivatsankam carturbhujam || 23 Thus the Lord granted the divine vision to Divakaramuni. He was pleased at the sight of the Saccidanatamurti and he praised the Lord in twenty slokas in which the muni extolled the Lord from the feet to the lock of hair. The fourth chapter starts with the devotional prayers of Divakaramuni to Lord Visnu. There are 32 slokas in this canto. The omnipresent majesty of Lord Visnu is briefly described in this canto. sarvajna sarvakarta tvam srastavatapyadikrta | jagado'sya jagannata jagadantasthito bhavan | 4.5 sarvam vyapyatiriktastavam vartase paramadbhutah | bhutam bhavyam bhavisyanca jahat tvadvasagam sada - 4.13 muktidastvam hi sarvasam brahmadinam paragatih | etavannaiva mahima tava jayanato'pi va | 4-14 sarvajinasrayo natha sarvesanca pitamaha | sarvacirikto lokanam srstivrttiprado mahan || 4-17 tenasrstastasa deva sadyasca rsayasca ye | tvam yajanti sadatrptam yajna bhoktaramavyayam || 4-20 39

The great sage Agastya was able to see Lord Visnu as a reward for his divine penance. With great devotion he offered a garland of verses to the lord. rajamsi ganayet bhumeh yah ko vapi puman bhuvih | na te gunamsca viryani karmani ganyetamnanu || 4 ekam brahma dvitiyam tvam samadhikavivarjitah | neha nanabhidhavasti gunarupadibhih kvacit || 5-4 hrt guha nitim veda yo visnum sarvacestakam | sa vai jnanatmana tena visnuna sukhabhasnute || 5-10 The content of the fifth chapter is that the supreme Lord is manifested in different unreal forms. Brahma, Agni, Indra and so on are the different manifestations of Visnu. The Supreme Lord has only one form. He pervades every where like the sky. He is the form of knowledge. The sixth canto deals with the prayers of the mountains of Malaya, Mahendra, Trikuta and the river Tamraparni. They praise the supreme Lord Visnu in 32 verses. Malayala mountain describes Visnu as "atthastvam hi vrksanamadrinam kancanacalah ( verse 36 ). Lord Visnu was pleased by the devotional songs and gave blessings to them. 40

Then, there are descriptions about Visnu's blessings on Agastya. He told Agastya to stay in the Malaya mountain to protect the whole world. Malayala was also made divine by the touch of the Lord. The Lord blesses Mahendragiri that he will became divine by the touch of the Lord. Here is the reference of Ramayana story which also is referred in Sucindra-sthala-mahatmya hanuman devakaryartham vanarairamgadadibhih sahagatya tvayi sthitva samudram lamghayisyati || 4-12 The story of Parasurama is also referred here. Visnu told Trikuta mountain that he will get liberation at the time of Kalpana by his blessings. Here is reference made of Indradyumna, who had been cursed by Agastya. The Lord says that the contact with Trikuta mountain will free Indradyumna from Agastya s curse. Tamraparni was blessed by these words "You will be the most sacred river in the south and the gods will reach you to worship me". This is the summary of the 7 th canto. This canto has 30 verses. In the 8 th canto Lord Visnu blesses Divakaramuni. Divakara is the foremost among the devotees of the Lord pleased by his sincere faith and devotion. Visnu asked him to receive any boon as he wanted. Divakara prayed to the Lord to be pleased to limit his form to the three times the length of his yogadanda. His plea was heard by the Lord and the mighty form Shrank into three times of the length of yogadanda. Thereafter the sage offered worship to the Lord in great devotion. Pleased by his deep devotion the Lord told him that henceforth Tulu Brahmin hailing from 41

Divakara s homeland shall conduct daily worship for him. This is the prevailing tradiction even to day, chief priest of Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple is a Tulu Brahmin. This chapter has 60 verses. Ninth canto deals with the stories of the Varahavatara and Narasimhavatara. This is written in 188 verses. Hiranyaksa and Hiranyakasipu the two Asura brothers captured the earth and the heaven. The defeated gods came to Lord Visnu and he told the gods that he would incarnate as Varaha and Narasimha and kill the Asura Lords. After some time the Lord incarnated as Varaha and killed Hiranyaksa. Hiranyakasipu was raged by this. He pleased Brahma doing severe penance and received the boon that he must not be killed by the gods, demons, Manusyas or animals. So as to kill him Visnu took halfman half lion form (Narasimha). At sunset he killed Hiranyakasipu and the gods were happy. Brahma requested the supreme Lord to be present at the south sea shore. anantasayane'nantah padmanabho nrkesari | ksetra'smin vasa devesa yadistam me padaracasi | Verse :185 Visnu accepted the plea. In consequence the lord resided at Sree padmanabhaswamy temple. The tenth canto deals with the killing of demon kesi by Lord Visnu. The Asura kesi defeated the Gods. The Gods came to Lord Visnu and requested him to release them from the threats of Kesi. Visnu heard their words and a fierce battle ensured in which the Lord killed kesi. This chapter has 51 verses. 42

The eleventh canto deals with the various tirthas which directly relates to the Padmanabhaswamy temple. There are 72 thirthas. Many of them are located far away from the temple. Of them the major tirthas are Matsya tirtham, Varaha tirtham, Pada titham, Padma tirtham and Sanka tirtham. Holy bath in these tirthas would release one from the sin in this world. Thus the poem ends with the description of the holy baths of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. A Comparison between Sucindrasthala-mahatmya and Anathasayanasketramahatmya As their name indicates both these texts are Sthalamahatmayas. There are certain similarities between them. Both are tirthamahatmyas. Both of them tell about the stories of great sages. In Sucindrasthalamahatmya the story of Atrimuni and in Anantsayanakhetramahatmya of Divakaramuni occupied prominent place. There are description in ksetravrka, Anantsayanakhetramahatmya about the Illupa tree. Visnu appeared in this Vrkska and there is the reference of his vrksakrti. In the Sucindrasthalamahatmya the trimutris appeared in Asvadh and later it transformed into konrai. Both the texts contain so many references about various holy tirthas. Both works commonly use anustup. differences between them. There is also some Anantsayanakhetramahatmya describes about only one temple ie, Sripadmanabhaswamy temple. That text is Vaisanvaite one. Even though Sucindrasthalamahatmya describes the Sucindrum temple it also refers more than 13 other places of worship. The work is mainly saivaite in nature. 43

Vilvadri Mahatmya This mahatmya glorifies the Vilvadrinatha [Original temple of Thiruvilvamalai in trichur district of Kerala State. The temple is well known as vilvadri and the presiding deity is vilvadrinatha, ie. Vishnu. The famous punarjani cave is situated here. Thousands of devotees visit this cave on the eve of Akadasi. One who crosses this cave will get liberation, it is said. As in the case of Sucindrasthala-mahatmya Vilvadrimahatmya said to be written by Vedavyasa. This work is supposed to be a part of Mahabharata. Vilvadrimahatmya is on the form of dialogue between Siva and Parvati. When Siva told that this is a part of Mahabharata, Parvati questions his arguement by saying that she did not hear this story in Bharata. Siva convinced her that Vyasa told this story sitting inside the vila (cave). So many of the people could not hear it (verse 2314-2316). Sanskrit manuscript of this work is not available. At present a faithful Malayalam translation is available which is written in the form of Kilippattu ( Kilippattu is a type of Dravidian versification in which a parrot is supposed to sing the verses.) The Malayalam work is written by an anonymous author in 1746 A.D. The book is published from the ORI & MSS Library, Thiruvananthapuram in 1969. Sanskrit text was not available even at that time. So the present study is based on the Malayalam Kilippattu-ie. Vilvadrimahatmyam Kilippattu of 2410 slokas. The work has two parts. The first part consists of 713 slokas. This part is harivarmacaritham. It is usharakshetramahatmya. The second part is the actual Vilvadrimahatmya. ] According to the author Vilvadrimahatmya is an episode of Mahabharata which was told by Vaisampayana to Janmejaya. The story 44

begins like this. Yudhistira became grief stricken after the great Mahabharata war. Then Vedavyasa appeared before him and advised him to approach Bhisma who is in Sarasayya. Yudhistira approached him and became aware of rajadharma from him. yushistira requested him to describe the way to please Srinarayana in Kaliyuga. Then Bhisma said that he will tell the story in the form of dialogue between Parvati and Paramesvara. The story runs in the following manner. Parvati requests Lord Siva to tell her what is dharma in Kaliyuga. Siva told her about the problems of Kaliyuga. In Kaliyuga all the beings in this world will lose. their wisdom, truth, strength and duration of life. Enmity will spread everywhere and by that all the people will quarrel each other. Only remedy for these problems is bhakti on Srinarayana. Siva then describes about the Astaksharamantra (7) citing examples. The author narrates the story of two Brahmins who go rid of their sins by reciting this mantra in detail. Lord Siva tells about the types of temples (&). Mainly there are two types of temples. 1.usara .2.Bija. One who do tapas in bijashetra giving up all of his desires and his body, all of his virtues and sins will be perished and he gets the moksa ultimately. He has no re-birth. One who do a karma in bijashetra will get the result of a hundred Kokamukha is an usarakshetra and Vivadri is a bijaksetra. The story of Harisharma is that he got moksa by doing penance in kokamukha, ie the famous Usarakshetra. Here ends the first part of vilvadrimahatmya. Second part of the work is the bijakshetramahatmya ie, the actual Vilvadrimahatmya. Most important place among usaraksetra 's are Vilvadri. Here Lord Visnu stays in his Samkha, cakra, gada and padma 45

form in Visnusila. He stayed here with bhudevi and Sridevi on the prayer of Brahma and the penance tapas of Alamkara. In this place there is a vila (cave) and a vilva tree inside it. This vilva tree shines with golden leaves and fruits. It stands like gold having leaves and fruits. Fruits of this tree is like solar disc and have sweet taste. Those who use these fruits will get golden colour in their body. It is due to this vilva tree the place got the name Vilvadri. Here is the story of one Bhadrasarma who got rid of all his sins and attained a golden colour to his body. Bhadrasarma was a sage who has the power of parakayepravesa. He gave his human body in the protection of a sage and took bodies of a bird, lion, deer and bird. When he came back he saw his human body being perished and became desperate. By the advise of the sage he came to Vilvadri and prayed Vilvadrinatha and ate the fruits of Vilva tree. He got rid of all of his impurities caused by his parakayapravesa and his body became golden in colour. He then went to Himalaya. Parameswara describes unity between Jiva and brahma to parvati. The author is an advaitin, importance of visubhakti is also described. All other devas give so many boons but only by visnubhakti one can attain Salvation. Next part describes the story of Visnu's appearance in Vilvadri. Brahma requested mahavisnu to be present in vilvadri to dissolve the irregularities of Kaliyuga. Visnu acquired the form of a sila which is known as vilvasila. The next story is that of an asura Kumbhanasa who tried to destroy visnusila. Visnu appeared from the sila in his famous sankha, chakra, gada, padma form and destroyed Kumbhanasa. Hearing this incident all the asuras became frightened and they left this bhumi; 46

world. They never returned back. By the orders of Mahavisnu all the gods reached in Vilvadri. The story of a Brahmin who had visited abode of yama with his body is narrated and a detailed description of various types of Narakas follows. In this part there is a long sivastuti. Next story is that of Parasurama. After the completion of his heroic deeds, he desires to construct a temple at Vilvadri. Lord Siva gave him an idol of Visnu which is worshipped by himself and asked him enshrine it on the Vilvadri. Then the story of Ramayana is briefly narrated. Sri Rama's visit to Vilvadri is described. According to Vilvadrimahatmya, Vilvadri is the hermitage of Sabari, a tribal woman. This is against the popular legend in Kerala that the hermitage of Sabari is at Sabarimala, (Sabari mountain) the famous Pilgrim centre and the abode of Dharmasasta popularly known as Sriayyappa. According to Vilvadrimahatmya, Sabari gave up her body in Vilvadri. The last part of the work narrates about the importance of Vilvadrimahatmya. Bhisma advises Dharmaputra that one who studies Vilvadrimahatmya properly and worship Vilvadrinatha, will surely get moksa. We can find the unique similarities between Sucindrasthalamahatmya and Vilvadrimahatmya. Both works proclaim the importance of tree worship, and also claims to be written by Vedavyasa. Both of them describes the importance of tirthas. 47

References 1. Shulman, David Dean, Tamil temple myths P.17. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. ibid P.18. Raghava Varrier and Rajan Gurukkal, Kerala charitram PPRaghava varrier, Adiverukal PP-188-89. Nachimuthu K.Dr, sthala-puranas in Tamil PP-11,12. Meenakshi sundram. T.P. A History of Tamil literature. PP 166-7. Raja Raja Varma Raja, Vadkkumkar, Keraliya samskrita sahitya charitram PP-53-54. Nanchimuthu. Dr. Sthalapuranas in Tamil. P.16. Raja Raja Varma Raja, Vadakkumkar, Keraliya samskrita sahitya charitram PP-53-54. Ibid. 48