Kallekulangara Emoor Bhagawathy temple

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Introduction

Sudhakaran P, April 21, 2019: The Times of India

Palakkad’s Hemambika temple
From: Sudhakaran P, April 21, 2019: The Times of India

The Kallekulangara Emoor Bhagawathy temple in Palakkad is famous for its unique idol – two raised hands symbolising the blessings of goddess Durga. It is famous for another reason: Indira Gandhi visited the temple in 1982 and the goddess’ hands are believed to have inspired the Congress’ symbol.

“Though Hemambika Bhagawathy, the presiding deity, is very powerful, it was Indira’s visit that made the temple famous in a different circle,” says Achuthankutty Marar, a traditional percussionist at the temple. Indira Gandhi visited the temple on December 13, 1982, but the late Kerala CM Karunakaran is believed to have talked about the powerful goddess to the PM and the party picked the hand as its symbol in 1980.

One of the legends behind the temple has it that Kurur Namboothiri, an ardent devotee of Durga, had a vision that the goddess would appear before him and he was to keep it a secret. But Kurur was so excited that he shared the vision with others and a huge crowd gathered to see the goddess. The next morning, the goddess emerged from a pond nearby, with raised hands to bless her devotee but angry on seeing the crowd, she vanished. All the crowd could see were her raised hands.

“You know, these hands are not mere hands, they appeared from the waters in ‘abhayamudra’ (mudra of nofear). Such a deity is not there anywhere in India,” says Marar. With elections round the corner, party leaders have been lining up at the temple, hoping for a divine blessing.