01Annadana Prabhu
Vaikkathappan is called Annadana Prabhu, the Lord who feeds, and the temple kitchen has fed pilgrims for centuries. The linga is worshipped in three moods through the day, as Dakshinamurti in the morning, as Kirata at noon and with Parvati as Sadashiva in the evening. Vaikom Ashtami falls in the Malayalam month of Vrischikam (November–December), when the deity of nearby Udayanapuram, held to be his son Subrahmanya, comes in procession to meet him. Parashurama is said to have installed the linga here, and the temple is one of the 108 Shiva temples of Kerala tradition.
02The road satyagraha
Until 1924 the roads around the temple were closed to Hindus of the castes then called avarna. On 30 March 1924 volunteers began to walk towards the barriers each day, three at a time, and were arrested. T. K. Madhavan, K. P. Kesava Menon and K. Kelappan led it, Sree Narayana Guru blessed it, Gandhiji came in March 1925, and E. V. Ramasamy joined from Madras. A savarna jatha of Hindus walked from Vaikom to Thiruvananthapuram under Mannathu Padmanabhan to petition the Maharani Regent. In November 1925 three of the four roads were opened. The full answer came on 12 November 1936, when Maharaja Chithira Thirunal’s Temple Entry Proclamation opened every state temple in Travancore to all Hindus.
The life of this place
- 30 March 1924The Vaikom Satyagraha begins.
- March 1925Gandhiji visits Vaikom; in November three of the four roads are opened.
- 12 November 1936Travancore’s Temple Entry Proclamation opens state temples to all Hindus.
About 35 km from Kottayam. Vaikom Ashtami falls in November–December; the evening lamps on the wall are lit daily.
