Pazhayannur is a town and panchayath in

Thrissur district Thrissur (), anglicised as Trichur, is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the central region of the state. Spanning an area of about , th ...

, in the state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India. The eminent

mridangist The ''mridangam'' is an ancient percussion instrument originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is the primary rhythmic accompaniment in a Carnatic music ensemble. In Dhrupad, a modified version, the pakhawaj, is the primary percussion in ...

, Palghat Mani Iyer was born here.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Pazhayannur had a population of 15,979 with 7,680 males and 8,299 females. Historically, a major part of Pazhayannur was under the Brahmins, who came from Thanjavoor in Tamil Nadu. Pazhayannur is a place of religious harmony. From Pazhayannur, there are four major roads that point in different directions; towards

Chelakkara Chelakkara is a large town in the Thrissur district of Kerala. Geography Chelakkara is located at . It has an average elevation of . Politics Chelakkara assembly constituency (SC) is part of Alathur. It is also the constituency of ex- Spea ...

Alathur Alathur is a town, taluk and gram panchayat in Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Alathur Taluk and is situated about 24 km from the district headquarters Palakkad through National Highway 54 ...

Ottapalam Ottapalam (also spelled Ottappalam) is a town, taluk, and municipality in the Palakkad District of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of Ottapalam taluk and is located approximately 34 km (21 mi) from the Palakkad (district ...

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

. This makes Pazhayannur town an important junction to go to many nearby towns.There is a Higher Secondary School and a college run by the Institute of Human Resource Development (IHRD CAS Chelakkara) in this panchayath.The nearby railway stations are Lakkidi and Wadakkancherry.The nearest airport Is at Nedumbassery.

History

Pazhayannur – a small town located in Thrissur district & Chelakkara region of Kerala – is a place where religions dwell in harmony with each other. Earlier, a large part of this town was under the Brahmans. At the centre of Pazhayannur is the Bhagavathy Temple that is presided by the main deity Pazhayannur Bhagavathy. It is believed that this deity was the family deity, ''paradevatha'' of the erstwhile Royal family of Cochin and was brought by the Maharaja of

Cochin Kochi ( , ), formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of Kerala. The city is also commonly referred to as Ernaku ...

himself. Pazhayannur Bhagavathy Temple is believed to be more than 500 years old. In those times this temple – known as Pallipurath Mahavishnu – was dedicated to Lord

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

. Divine Mother entered this temple in Seventeenth Century and there are synopses to support this. The king of Kochi helped a great deal to develop this temple. And then it was named the Pazhayannur Bhagavathy Temple as it is called now. Both Divine Mother and Lord Vishnu are equally worshiped here in this temple. The premise has a Shiva temple too. The offering of live roosters and feeding them as an act of worship is a ritual as believed by the worshippers. People believe that these are Divine Mother's favorite; hence, by this act their wishes will be fulfilled. People say that when in old times the temple and the area around it was under an attack, Divine Mother appeared in forms of thousands of roosters, assaulting the enemy soldiers with their piercing beaks, knife-like claws and high-pitched sharp sounds and won a victory over them. So, the belief is that the act offering live roosters to Ma & feeding them would burn the evil and destroy the enemies. Going back to that odd yet kindly and pleasant ritual – something that we don't see around. Many innocent animals and birds are sacrificed in the name of religion & a visit to such a place was indeed a joy, Adjoining to the Bhagavathy temple is the Siva temple. Pazhayannur is considered a place of historical importance, and is seen in the map of "Nannangadis" of

. Nannangadis are the tombs of people who lived in the medieval times and are usually depicted in the shape of large pots.

Festivals

Hundreds of devotees visit the Mahakshethram every year, and partake and participate both in person and contributions to carry out the various poojas and offerings to Her. Traditionally the temple celebrates Aarattu, Niramaala, 9 days of Navarathri vilakku which is sponsored in a large way by the local institutions including the Dept. of Police, Revenue etc. The nightly events include Classical music by famous musicians, Ottanthullal,

Kathakali ''Kathakali'' (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Kathakaḷi ) is a traditional form of Indian Classical Dance, and one of the most complex forms of Theatre of India, Indian theatre. It is a play of verses. These vers ...

and Harikathakaalakshepam etc. Niramaala is one of the major celebrations that goes on every year in Pazhayannur. Important Festivals "Ulsavam" and "Niramala". Ulsavam 8 days festival is held, which begins with Kodiyettam and ends with Aarattu on "Thiruvonam" in the month of Malayalam month Meenam and "Niramala is one day Festival.

Navarathri Navaratri () is an annual Hindu festivals, Hindu festival observed in honor of the goddess Durga, an aspect of Adi Parashakti, the supreme goddess. It spans over nine nights, first in the month of Chaitra (March/April of the Gregorian calen ...

also Celebrated in grand manner with traditional Keralite Arts. The main sloka for Goddess Annapoorneshwari goes as below:

"Annapoorne sadapoorne sanakra pranavallabhe
Gnanavairagya siddhyaratham bikshamdeheecha paravathy
Matha cha Parvathee devyo pitha devo maheswaraha
Bandahvaschiva bakthyartham svadesobhuvanthrayam"

References

{{Commons category, Pazhayannur The famous song for Pazhayannur is posted on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VscLS3_eMnk Villages in Thrissur district