Kallekulangara Sri Emoor Bhagavathy Kshethram

Kallekulangara Sri Emoor Bhagavathy, also known as Sri Hemambika is our family deity.

Emoor Bhagavathy Temple is also known as Hemambika Temple (or) the Kaipathi Ambalam (or) Kallekulangara Bhagavathy Kshethram. This temple is about 8 kilometers from Palakkad town on the road to Malampuzha Dam, in a small village, Akathethara, Kallekulangara.

Emoor Bhagavathy, the bestower of prosperity, boons and auspiciousness raised her divine hands in the middle of the blessed pond Kallekulam.

The chief deity here is Goddess Hemambika, but the idol worshiped here is an “upraised hand,” behind which there are many legendary tales.

“On their regular trek through the dense Vadamala forest to worship at the valley shrine of Durga, one day Kurur and Kaimukku Nambudiris were granted a vision. The golden Goddess stood beside an elephant under a tree. When the aged Kurur was disheartened by his inability to undertake hazardous pilgrimages, the Goddess assured him in a dream that he would find her in the neighborhood. The next day witnessed the emergence of her hands in the middle of a lake close by. When Kurur swam through to clasp them, the divine hands turned into stone. The lake was filled and a shrine erected by the local ruler, whose descendent remains in charge of temple administration” (Hindu, June 14., 2002) .

The goddess had once agreed to appear before a devotee on the condition that he would not disclose it to anyone. The excitement led the devotee to disclose the fact to others. When the goddess appeared before the devotee, she noticed many people along with him. The displeased goddess vanished suddenly. By that time The devotees had seen only her upraised hand and in the temple her upraised hand is worshipped.

Another variation of this story is that the devotee saw the form of the Goddess rising from the middle of the huge tank and he was so freightened that he cried out and suddenly the Bhagavathy stopped her appearance except for her two hands. A temple with the two hands was consecrated here.

The specialty of the temple is in its unique idol and also the fact that it is surrounded by water on three sides. The Sanctum Sanctorum (or the Garba Griha) is at the same level as the water in the pond that surrounds the temple, signifying that the deity emerged from there.

It is believed, the deity takes three forms a day – in the morning as Saraswathi, in the noon as Laxmi and in the evening as Durga. The rituals vary according to the form of the deity at the time of worship.

Daily pooja timings are 0500 hrs to 1130 in the morning and 1700 hrs to 2030 in the evening

This temple is the family deity of Palakkad kings. In fact the ariyittu Vazcha of the king (coronation) used to be conducted here. Main attraction is the nine day festival of Shivratri. Thousands of devotees attend the festival with pomp and fanfare. The celebration ends at the Kalpathy River. Kalam ezhuthu pattau mahothsavam is celebrated every year in the months of Vrichigam-Dhanu (From November 16th to December 25th).