Overview

Sri Krishna Swamy Temple

Location

History

Deities

Photo Gallery

Utsavams

Vahanas

Adimakkavu

Other Agraharam Information

Contact Information

Well Known Elders from the Agraharam

Food and Catering

Hall for functions and Lodging

Bank Accounts for sending Kanikkai, donation or vazhipadu

Author's Notes

Kunissery - 100 Agraharams Project

About 26 kilometers from Palakkad Railway Junction, Kunissery can be approached easily via the Kochi highway. Just before Alathur the thrippalur road takes us to the agraharam where the primary lord is Sri Krishna.

I am happy to see Sri Viswanathan's glowing mention of his efforts in keeping the traditional home intact. We need more of his tribe in each agraharam. 

Sri K R Vaidyanathan was a great son of the agraharam. His long years in the Indian Railways from where he retired as a  Senior Commercial Officer (of the Indian Railway Traffic Service) prompted him to pen "150 Glorious Years of Indian Railways" which is a highly readable account of the rise of the railways in India, and "A Trainload of Jokes and Anecdotes".  I read that he renovated the three temples in the village and appointed a proper priests to conduct religious proceedings. Ditto Sri Seetharam Iyer who was an educationist.

About Kunissery, In his historicalleys blogspot Sri Maddy mentions thus:

"At its southern extremity, and bordering the Nelliyampathy jungles and the Tamil border were a bunch of principalities of Chittur, Kollengode, Pallasena, Pallavur, Nemmara, Kunissery, Trippalur and finally Alathur. Today a bustling national highway connects Alathur to Palghat via Koyalmannam, but in the past, the important road from Palghat passed through Koduvayur and Kunissery to reach Alathur and through the Kuthiran hills to Trichur and beyond. Cart traffic and an occasional bus passing through Pallavur and coming from Pallasensa also touched Kunisseri, thus defining its importance as a junction."

He further mentions "That the area was home to a bustling prehistoric civilization was always clear to historians who documented such matters during the 19th century. Pallavur and Kunissery had large numbers of granite dolmens and menhirs all around which we would gleefully clamber upon, though you see none today, perhaps they were simply picked up and used by people constructing something, One survey mentioned...Kunissery had 120 dolmens,

25 menhirs and 250 stone circles. Sad isn't it? Just one stone circle in Stonehenge UK brings in millions of visitors, while even older stone circles and dolmens in Pallavur and Kunisseri simply vanished in less than 50 years! It tells you how little we care for our history."

The Pookulathi or Pookulangara Bhagavathy Temple in Kunissery is famous for the Kummatti festival and the once in 12 years 'Mamakam' - "Valiya-aarattu". "Kunissery Kummatti is celebrated in relation to the historic military assaults of the Zamorin who advanced into the princely states. There are many different symbolisms of the Zamorin's Kovilakam in the festival of Kummatti. When the Zamorin troops arrived at Kunissery, they were blocked at the border by the warriors of Kunissery. The brave warriors put up a brave fight but got killed. The widows of the dead warriors prayed to the Bhagavathy and put a strong resistance to the Zamorin.The Zamorin could not advance. The legend says that the Bhagwati also became a part of the women who went to the battlefront. The Zamorin was defeated and upon knowing that it was the power of the Devi that was the cause of his defeat, he surrendered himself to the Bhagavathy by offering his sword. The Goddess was pleased and the Zamorin agreed to hold Kummatti festival on the Punartham star of the month of Meenam."

Radhe Krishna

Sriram(Hari)

100-Agraharams Project

Rama Bhagavathar Charitable Trust

September 1, 2024