Sunday 21 November 2010

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Punarjani Guha

Punarjani Guha is a natural tunnel 150 meters long in a rocky cliff in Thrissur district of Kerala state, south India. Punarjani Guha is situated 2 kilometres from the Thiruvilwamala Temple where the chief presiding deity is Sri Rama. The idol is believed to be ‘swayamboo’ ie. born on its own. It is believed that performing ‘noozhal’ or crawling through the tunnel from one end to the other will wash away all of one’s sins and thus attain freedom from rebirth or moksha. Only men are allowed to do the ‘noozhal’ and women can only visit the cave. The legend is that sage Parasurama once observed this ritual 101 times in a row to atone the sin of annihilating the kshatriyas.

This ritual is practised only one day in a year on Guruvayur Ekadasi day, in the malayalam month of vrichikam. The "noozhal" is a challenging task and not all can perform this ritual. There is utter darkness in the cave,except in the middle. The source of light there is still unknown. Even those who have performed this ritual many times need about half an hour to finish the ritual. The movement through the cave demands all kinds of bodily postures like standing, sitting, creeping, crawling etc. yet every year thousands of men flock to this place on Ekadasi day to avail themselves of a chance to be reborn.

Punarjani Guha entrance......

theertham ...near punarjani

way to punarjani ...thiruvillamala

costumes of kavadiyyattam

ambal ...photo from poochunnipadam (thrissur)