Way back, approximately 130 years ago, the ground on which the temple is situated today, was the abode of Namboodiris, also known as Illam.
There were many illam’s in that area in those days. As time went by, this land was sold to various people.
Mr. Thottan Nair belonging to the Engandiyoor family (tharavaadu) who was wedded to Mrs. Meenakshi Amma of the Kuppayil tharavaadu bought this land and settled here with his family. While staying here the family experienced various divine miracles in and around their home. It is said that some members of the family had darshan of Shri Vana Durga Devi at the banyan tree in the premises. Various people have also experienced sounds of conch, smells of fruits that did not exist there and so on. Due to such experiences, Mr. Nair dedicated a sculpture representing Bhagwati and Brahmarakshas, along with that of a few more deities such as Guru, Bhuvaneshwari & Dhambadhi. The dedication (prathishta) was performed by strictly following the rituals per the guidance of Kaanipyoor astrologer. After the dedication, a priest would consistently worship the deities once a day. After a few years Mr. Nair and his family moved to another village, leaving behind the divine land for the deity.
The family that had prospered and lived happily over the years were getting signs of discomfort in many ways, although no specific reasons were clearly visible. Such discomfiture was also experienced and reported by villagers in the vicinity of the temple. Per the suggestion of senior members of the family and the request of villagers in the vicinity of the temple, all members of the Kuppayil family, young and old alike pulled together and decided to do a re-dedication or punar prathishta in the year 2017, with the proper guidance of the temple tantri Shri Sreedharan Namboodiri and the astrologer from Kaanipyoor. On Navrathri, Thursday 12th October, 2017, the auspicious official punar prathista of the deities took place.
The prathista ceremony was conducted in a grand scale in the presence of Kuppayil family members who had gathered from various parts of the globe, along with lovingly supporting villagers from the community around the temple.
Until 2017, only members of the Kuppayil family were allowed to enter the temple premises. After the punar prathishta, the temple was opened to public. From 2017 to 2020, only morning pooja was performed by the current priest Parameswaran Thirumeni. From 2020, with the blessings of the tantri Shri Sridharan Namboodiri, both morning and evening poojas are performed.
Many people around the temple premises, and Kuppayil family members have reported divine experiences or a sense of divine intervention in many ways such as better relationships, removal of hurdles and so on ever since. Many have reported their specific prayers answered.
It is indeed a very divine temple which offers the powerful blessings of the main deity Vana Durga and all other deities Bhuvaneswari, Guru, Vetakkaran, Ayyapan, Bhagwati, Brahmarakshas, and Dhambadi.
The new temple was constructed as per the plan seen in the image above.
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