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Kumarapuram Youngsters Association
The KYA is the central supporting structure of the gramam, carrying out all the necessary duties required by the temple, organising cultural events, managing this website, social media handles & live streams and also carrying out social welfare activities beyond the religious boundaries as well.
About 25 years ago, the village was surrounded by paddy fields which were later converted to housing plots (Venkateswara colony, Prasanth Nagar etc.). The village is divided into Pazhan Theruvu, Ratta Theruvu and Otta Theruvu. As the name indicate the Pazhan theruvu may be the oldest part of the village. The area is surrounded with coconut trees, mango trees, jackfruit trees and other flowering plants.
Earlier many villagers had paddy cultivation and reared cows. There were many eminent Sanskrit and Vedic scholars in the village. In the course of time due to changed socio economic conditions and higher educational standards younger generations migrated and settled in different cities of India and across the globe.
A history of migration, hope and cross-culture
The Tamil Brahmins of Palakkad, also known as Pattars or Bhattars are assumed to have moved from settlements around the Kaveri river basin over multiple waves of migration between the 10th - 14th century. The reasons would have been ongoing drought across years and also fear of persecution created by a civil war that broke out between Sundara Pandian and Veera Pandian. Sundara Pandian, upon defeat, sought help from Ala-ud-din Khilji which led to General Malik Kafur moving his army towards the then princely state.
Adding to the drama, the Palghat Raja was boycotted by the Nambudiris in support of the Zamorin when the Raja asked Hyder Ali's help in a power struggle. The Palakkad fort, constructed by Hyder Ali is a testament to this relation.
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The festive practices
The temple rituals follow Vaikhanasa Agama Shastra which is also followed in the Tirumala Tirupati temple. Vasnthothsavam, the 10 day chariot festival is celebrated in the Malayalam month of Medam. Shastapreeti and Navaratri are also important occasions at the temple.
In Hindu mythology the name “Kumara” is synonym to Skhanda or Subramanya. The village might have got its name because of importance of Subramanya worship in the temple. Unlike other Vishnu temples, Subramanaya is worshiped here with regular Sashti pooja and “Thai Poosam” is celebrated in a grand manner.
Beyond the cultural practices of this temple and the people living around it, lies a history of migration through the 27km long natural passage called the 'Palakkad Gap', a geological wonder perhaps, which facilitated migration, trade, invasion, war and cultural exchange between the then Kerala and other parts of India.
Who left and who came?
There is also an account of the Nambudiris leaving Palakkad because a prince in the ruling family married a tribal girl. The tribal queen is the reason the bhagavati's in the area have a more community and locality centric tales like that of tribal goddesses. This facilitated the migration of tamil brahmins to Palakkad for carrying out temple and vedic duties on the king's request. The history of Palakkad is truly a tale of adaptation and hope even within these traditional social structures.
If we trace the paths of migration further, we see that the migrants from Madurai first established the Chokkanathapuram village. Acknowledging this significance, the Siva temple of the village still has importance in the temple rituals of adjoining villages including ours. In fact, when the Kalpathy Viswanatha temple was constructed in 1424-25AD, CN puram and Emur Bhagavati were the witness documented. Similarly, people from different villages in the district are believed to be from Thanjavur, Kanjeepuram, Sreerangam, etc.
