When the Gods sought refuge in Kozhikkode

The year, 1323 AD. It was the final day of the festival at the famous Srirangam Temple, known as the most important Sri Vaishnava shrine in South India. The utsava (festival) idol of the presiding deity, Lord Vishnu, known as Azhakiyamanavala Perumal, and of his two consorts, Bhudevi and Sridevi were being taken in procession to the accompaniment of loud chanting of the Vedas and the Divya Prabhandam.

 Suddenly, a person could be seen jostling through the crowd of devotees, trying to reach the head of the procession. He was stopped by an archaka before he reached there. He whispered something in the ears of the archaka and soon, the stranger was taken to the chief priests. The procession was moving slowly, but unnoticed by the crowd, the chief priests dropped out one by one, leaving the Nambis to continue the procession.

They assembled in a corner away from the din of the procession. The messenger had brought ominous news. The Muslim forces from the Delhi Sultanate had conquered Thondaimandalam ( which included Chennai, Chengalpattu, Tiruvannamalai and Arcot) and were marching towards Srirangam. The invading army was led by Ulugh Khan, the son and successor of Giyazuddin Tulgaq. This Ulugh Kahn would later ascend to the Delhi crown as Mohammed bin Tuglaq.

The messenger had come running from Kannanur ( now known as Samayapuram) which was one of the cities under Hoysala occupation and was close to Srirangam. This Hoysala provincial capital had already been overrun by the Muslim force. He had escaped the enemy's notice and had rushed to warn the temple authorities at Srirangam.

The head priest and other senior Sri Vaishnavas were in a quandary. Many of the senior priests recalled with horror the earlier Muslim attack of 1311 AD which was led by Malik Kafur, the slave general of the Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khilji. They had then plundered the Srirangam temple and taken away not only the hoard of gold and precious stones, but even the utsava idol of Lord Ranganatha. 

It had taken a great deal of effort and some trickery on the part of the Sri Vaishnavas to bring back the idol from Delhi. The Delhi Sultan's daughter, who had fallen in love with the idol, followed the Sri Vaishnavas all the way to the temple and she ultimately died of grief there. This incident is commemorated in the small shrine inside the temple complex - in the northwestern corner of the Rajamahendran enclosure, in the path of the procession - with a painting of the Sultani, named Tulukka Nachiyar (the Muslim wife). Every day, a special offering of wheat bread, sweet dal and khichdi is offered to the Nachiyar. 

For the last 12 years since the idol was brought back, when Lord Ranganatha proceeded in a procession, He visited her as part of the ritual, attired in a lungi such as is worn by Muslim men in South India. The special offering on such visits consists of chapatis, mung dal and milk.

The acharyas decided that something must be done urgently to prevent a repeat of the events of 1311. They knew that the Muslim soldiers would have instructions to recover the idol, as it was believed in Delhi that it had some magical powers. Otherwise, how could their princess fall in love with a lifeless idol and travel all the way to Srirangam in Tamil country only to give up her life?

It was, therefore, decided that Pillai Lokacharya, the presiding priest of the Koyil and a few other archakas would escape with the utsava idol of Lord Ranganatha and the two consorts, Sridevi and Bhudevi. Other Sri Vaishnavas would erect a wall in front of the main idol in the sanctum sanctorum, known as Periya Perumal, and conceal it from the marauders.

The small procession carrying the idols moved stealthily in the dark, avoiding the main roads. They wanted to halt at Tiruppathur but when they reached there, they learnt that the Delhi army was already camping at the local temple. The group carrying the precious idols then diverted to Tirukkoshtiyur and from there, crossed the dense forest to reach Jyotishkudi.

Pillai Lokacharya, the elderly priest passed away at Jyotishkudi. After cremating the acharya there, the group travelled to Tirumalirunjolai ( very close to Madurai) where they stayed for a year.

Madurai had recently come under Muslim rule. The Governor of Madurai, Ahsan Khan was a ruthless fanatic from Kaithal (modern Haryana). He was, incidentally, the father-in-law of Ibn Battuta. Battuta has recounted the cruelty of Madurai forces on innocent villagers, in his Rihla. They would round up Hindus and after impaling them on sharpened wooden spikes, leave them to die. 

The journey of the Srirangam idols is described in detail in the temple's chronicle, Koyil Olugu (KO). According to one version of KO (published by Tirumalai-Tirupati Devasthanam in 1954), 'The icon was then worshipped at Tirumalirunjolai for a year and was later taken to Kozhikode, to which refuge many icons from important shrines including that of Nammalvar , had been removed during the troublous period.After a year's stay at Kozhikode, the icons of Manavala and Nammalvar were taken by the sea route to the Mysore coast and from there the latter alone was conveyed to Tiru-narayana-puram and finally to Tirupati.'

'Going from temple to temple of the Vaishnava holy places on the west coast they reached at last Calicut', writes historian S Krishna Swamy Ayyangar in his classic work, South India and Her Muhammedan Invaders'. 

Calicut was by no means a Vaishnava holy place. It is also not true that the Srirangam team went 'from temple to temple of the Vaishnava holy places', at least after deciding to get out of Madurai. From Madurai, the easiest route would be the Kambam trade route which was an established trade route from Madurai to Kottayam and the hinterland. 

Out of the 108 Divya Desams sacred to Sri Vaishnavas, 13 are in Kerala, known collectively as 'Malainadu Divyadesams'. Assuming that the Srirangam team had crossed over to Kottayam or further north, they must have passed at least a half dozen Divya Desams - including Trikkakkara, Moozhikkalam, Tirumittakkode and Tirunavaya - before reaching Calicut. Thus, if they were looking for 'Vaishnava holy places' there were several on the way.

Nor was Calicut a peaceful haven where one could hide from enemies. It was a bustling port city with merchants from several nationalities crowding the shores and market places looking for quality spices and textiles. Ibn Battuta who was in Calicut around this time (1342-1347) has left a graphic description of the number of Chinese and Arab vessels which crowded the port of Calicut.

UNLESS, there was a strong magnet in Calicut that was drawing the fugitives here on the assurance that they would be safe here. What could this be?

We had, in an earlier post, indicated the possibility of the spread of Vaishnavism in Malabar in the wake of the Hoysala conquest of the area in the 11th and 12th Century. Vaishnava communities from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka likely migrated to serve the newly built temples of Lord Vishnu. The original inhabitants of the small Goshala Krishna temple could be one such community. This probably explains the cryptic statement about the fugitives being 'protected by various persons in the various places' in Koyil Olugu. 

This also explains the statement that when the Srirangam team reached Kozhikode, they were surprised to see 'Nammalvar and other Emberumans from various sacred shrines'. Nammalvar shrine is in Alwar Tirunagari in Southern Tamilnadu. The entire area remained disturbed during this period, first by the antics of the Venad Kind Ravi Varman Kulasekhara who claimed the title 'Tribhuvana Chakravarthi' (one who has defeated all the three powers viz.; Chera, Chola and Pandya) and then by the Muslim invasion of the nearby Madurai. It was in this context that the idols of Alwar Tirunagari and nearby temples were shifted to Calicut. Perhaps, the Calicut Vaishnavas had intelligence that the Srirangam idols would be brought here. The more elaborate West-facing Temple was constructed to receive Azhakiya Perumal and his two consorts. 

At present, the Azha Trikkovil Temple complex consists of two distinct temples : a smaller (perhaps older) shrine of Goshala Krishnan facing east, a lump of butter in either hand; and the west-facing main shrine of Chaturbhuja Maha Vishnu with Shankha, Chakra, Gadha (mace) and Lotus. By either side of the Vishnu idol are two mounds representing Sridevi and Bhudevi. The Goshala Krishna idol was once vandalised and it was re-installed based on the evidence obtained from the damaged idol. 

According to the Tantri of Azha Trikkovil Temple, Patirisseri Sankaran namboodiripad, initially there was a Krishnan Koil belonging to the Tamil Brahmin community living in the area. Subsequently, another group of Tamil Brahmins built the MahaVishnu Temple. He was not aware of the the Srirangam connection nor about the Koyil Olugu.

A 1977 document states that as per the land records of Nellikkode amsom (where the temple is situated), the temple's name is recorded in the land records of Nellikkode desam as 'Azhwar Trikkovil'. This could be a reference to the idol of Nammalvar which was the first to be shifted here. The land records also show sizeable land grants in the name of the temple.

We, at Calicut Heritage Forum, tried to look for further evidence of the Srirangam connections. We were thrilled to find several stone pillars with marks like inscriptions. These pillars had been dislodged from their original location and used as paving stones in the pradakshinam and near the tirtha well. We brought in the expert epigraphist, Dr. Rajendu (a freshly returned Fulbright scholar). His team worked for half a day trying to make estampages of what looked like inscriptions. These were indeed inscriptions but during a 'renovation' of the temple in 1984 or so, these stones were used for paving and as a protection for the well. As the pavements needed to be skid-free, workers sharpened the stones. In the process, they had totally disfigured the inscriptions. All that Dr. Rajendu could read was : 'vi ta'! We have requested the management committee of the Temple and the Managing Trustee to consider overturning some of the paved stones. Hopefully, the other side is left undisturbed and has some inscriptions!

The Hindu newspaper had carried a report on the temple and its Sreerangam connection. It is reproduced here.

The Hindu, Calicut Edition, 25th May 2024