Shripuram
Śrīnāgakālīsameta
Aṣṭanāgeśvara Kāvu
There prevails a legend, that the land of Kerala was once a thick jungle and a habitat to Serpents. The fear evoking groves or ‘Kaavu’s of Kerala, which are abode to numerous living beings including snakes and serpents, are not just a place of worship of a particular religious sect but play a critical role in maintaining the ecological balance. The misconception that the environment is a commodity meant exclusively for human consumption, has led to the exploitation of natural resources and in turn disturbed the ecological equilibrium. The realization of the fact that every living being in our ecosystem has its own importance and needs its space to thrive has led our wise men or ‘Munis / Rishi’ to envision the existence of these Groves (Kavu) for the welfare of humanity. This perspective about these groves gains a lot of significance in the present day.
According to the Tantric point of view, the "Nagam" or the divine serpent is the symbol of dormant power that lies in the subtle body or ‘Sukshmasharira’ in the form of the "Kundalini". This dormant energy, when active rises up to the "Sahasrara" which is the symbolic representation of unitary consciousness. The union of Kundalini with Shiva of Sahasrara causes an individual soul to come to realize that he is none other than the supreme lord "Shiva" himself, which leads him to experience eternal bliss. Hence, the tantric conception of Kundalini also reinforces that the serpent represents the infinite, cosmic energy that is dormant within all of us.
According to the Tantric point of view, the "Nagam" or the divine serpent is the symbol of dormant power that lies in the subtle body or ‘Sukshmasharira’ in the form of the "Kundalini". This dormant energy, when active rises up to the "Sahasrara" which is the symbolic representation of unitary consciousness. The union of Kundalini with Shiva of Sahasrara causes an individual soul to come to realize that he is none other than the supreme lord "Shiva" himself, which leads him to experience eternal bliss. Hence, the tantric conception of Kundalini also reinforces that the serpent represents the infinite, cosmic energy that is dormant within all of us.
Opening on Ayilyam days only
The nāga worship is the most common of all forms of worship prevalent across cultures. Kerala has a long history of nāga worship.
Kerala is known as the land of serpents. More than a place of worship, these serpent groves played a key role in sustaining the environmental balance. These Kāvus assume more importance in present time when all the vegetation and natural water bodies are getting destroyed on large scale.
Shripuram Śrīnāgakālīsameta Aṣṭanāgeśvara Kāvu is special in the sense that it lays stress on ecology and follow a unique ritual system.
Śrīnāgakālīsameta Aṣṭanāgeśvara Kāvu
Pantheon
The unique structure of this kāvu is where Nāgeśvara assumes the central position in circular pīṭha and he is flanked by four nāgās each on either sides. The exquisite icons of aṣṭanāgas are made in such a way that each of them holding their own weapons as laid down in the scriptures and have symbols associated with them engraved on their rear side. Nāgakāli is installed in the northern side of Nāgeśvara where she is worshiped in her nāgayakṣi, nāgachamundi and nāgakali forms. On the left side of nāgakālī Akhilasarpa is also worshiped.
01
Nāgabali
Remedy to all sorts of Naga-Sarpa Doshas
02
Āsleṣābali
all the obstacles will be removed and participants will become prosperous
03
Sarparasādanahoma
a proper remedy to kālasarpadoṣa
Customs
Pūjas are done here only on āyilyam days. They consist of āyilyam pūjā, aṣṭanāgasameta nāgeśvara pūjā, nagakālī pūjā, nūrumpālum and sarpabali. The āyilya of malayalam month kanni and tulā are very special to nāgeśvara and nāgakālī respectively. On these occasions nāgakālī guruti is performed with all the devotional pomp and fervor. One of the special features of this temple is that as the day comes to a close, all the arrangements for a full worship is made for the divine beings to come and perfome their due of worship
It is held that a year of mortals is equivalent to a day of gods. In that sense, here the rituals are performed everyday. Here we do not observe the general rules of purity and pollution and such practices associated with untouchability. What we put forward is that such centers of worship are really meant to bring the devotees close to the divinity, not to alienate them.
The rituals which had gone into oblivion due to passage of time and ignorance are brought back here for the well-being of humanity. E.g; nāgagaṇapati homa, nagasubrahmaṇya nāgabali, āśleṣābali and sarpaprasādana homa.
Notwithstanding all the above mentioned tantric rituals, we have also hosted the traditional as well as folk art forms like teyyam, kalam paṭṭu, tiriyuzichil and pulluvan pāṭṭu here in recent past.
It is held that a year of mortals is equivalent to a day of gods. In that sense, here the rituals are performed everyday. Here we do not observe the general rules of purity and pollution and such practices associated with untouchability. What we put forward is that such centers of worship are really meant to bring the devotees close to the divinity, not to alienate them.
The rituals which had gone into oblivion due to passage of time and ignorance are brought back here for the well-being of humanity. E.g; nāgagaṇapati homa, nagasubrahmaṇya nāgabali, āśleṣābali and sarpaprasādana homa.
Notwithstanding all the above mentioned tantric rituals, we have also hosted the traditional as well as folk art forms like teyyam, kalam paṭṭu, tiriyuzichil and pulluvan pāṭṭu here in recent past.
Nāgabali
The nāgabali which we have performed here is believed to have not been performed in Kerala for the last two centuries. In this special form of ritual, the nāgas who inhabit the three worlds are invoked and propitiated with some unique ritual procedures. The highlight of this ritual is that the rice which is pounded by all devotees present in the premise is offered to nāgas of three worlds. No caste distinction is made here in this context. It is followed by guruti. The whole ritual ends with a prayer that conveys 'May the grace of nāgas fall up on all the sentient beings, which may in turn lead to their mundane and spiritual well-being'.
Āsleṣābali
Sarpabali is śaiva in nature and Āśleṣābali is vaiṣṇava oriented. In this form of ritual, the nāgas along with their lord Saṅkarṣaṇa are worshiped in a specific order. It is believed that by doing this ritual all the obstacles will be removed and participants will become prosperous.
SarpaPrasādanahoma
This ritual is believed to have been performed two centuries ago in Kerala. It is brought back to life from the dormant manuscripts. It is performed as a proper remedy to kālasarpadoṣa.
