A lesser known temple in Nellikode, near here, could shed light on the presence of a Vaishnavite settlement on the outskirts of Zamorin’s Calicut, and also link it with Mohammed bin Tughlaq’s invasion of the Srirangam temple in Tamil Nadu in the 14th Century AD.
Functionaries of the Calicut Heritage Forum, a Kozhikode-based group of history enthusiasts who work to preserve the city’s cultural past, have come to this conclusion after going through temple records, historical data, and land records.
C.K. Ramachandran, convener of the forum and a former IAS officer, says that Azha Thrikkovil Goshala Vishnu Temple at Nellikode could have been built by Vaishnavite priests from the Srirangam temple who were running away from the Muslim invaders.
Azhvar Trikkovil
In the land records of Nellikode desam, the name of the temple is recorded as Azhvar Trikkovil, a possible reference to the original temple where the Nammalvar idol was installed. In the Tamil Vaishnava tradition, Azhvar means Nammalvar. The land records also show sizeable land grants which existed in the name of the temple. The name Azhvar could have got corrupted to Azha later, he says.
Azha Thrikkovil has two distinct temples. This is the smaller shrine of Gosala Krishna. The other one is the west-facing main shrine of Chaturbhuja Mahavishnu. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
“According to the temple records, the forces of the Delhi Sultanate led by Ulugh Khan, the son and successor of Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq who later assumed the name Mohammed bin Tughlaq, invaded Srirangam in 1323 AD,” Mr. Ramachandran says.
“The priests of the temple, led by Pillai Lokacharya and a few others, escaped with the idol of Lord Ranganatha and that of the two consorts, Sridevi and Bhudevi,” he says.
“They wanted to avoid a repeat of the situation when the forces of the then Delhi Sultan Alauddin Khalji managed to take away the main idol, which is supposed to have some ‘magical powers’, after looting the temple in 1311 AD. The temple authorities had to take a great deal of effort to bring it back,” Mr. Ramachandran says.
The team led by Lokacharya travelled stealthily to Tiruppathur, Thirukkoshtiyur, and Jyotishkudi, where the elderly priest passed away. After cremating him there, the group went to Tirumalirunjolai, near Madurai.
Azha Thrikkovil has two distinct temples. This is the main shrine of Chaturbhuja Mahavishnu. The other is the smaller shrine of Gosala Krishna. | Photo Credit: K. Ragesh
Koil Olugu, the record of events in the Srirangam temple at least from the 10th Century AD, gives details of the flight of the Lord. But, it does not explain why the Sri Vaishnavas chose Calicut, recorded as ‘Kolikkodu’.
According to the condensed English version of Koyil Olugu, the temple records published by Thirumalai-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 that turbulent period. After a year’s stay in 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.”
Historian S. Krishna Swamy Ayyangar in his work South India and Her Muhammedan Invaders has written that “Going from temple to temple of the Vaishnava holy places on the west coast, they reached at last Calicut”.
Two distinct temples
Right now, Azha Thrikkovil has two distinct temples: a smaller shrine of Gosala Krishna and the west-facing main shrine of Chaturbhuja Mahavishnu, with two mounds on either sides representing Sridevi and Bhudevi.
Mr. Ramachandran says that while one version of Koil Olugu says that they stayed in Kozhikode for a year, another version states that they stayed for a few days. From their activities in Kozhikode and the chronology of events, it would appear that their stay in Kozhikode was indeed a prolonged one. It is believed that there was a Tamil Brahmin settlement around the present temple at Nellikode with a small shrine of Goshala Krishna.
Mr. Ramachandran says it was here that the Madurai idols of Nammalvar and other deities were brought, even before the Srirangam idols had started their journey. And it was here that the Srirangam team came straight from Tirumalirunjolai. The period of one year when the Srirangam team had stayed in Tirumalirunjolai might have been used to build a new temple in Kozhikode to house Lord Ranganatha and his consorts, he says.
