Poorna Pushakala Sametha Hariharaputhra Swamy, the deity in our village. (Hariharaputhra with Poorna and Pushkala) Lord Hariharaputhra (Son of Hari [Lord Vishnu] and Haran [Lord Shiva]) or Lord Ayyappa. The devotees of Ayyappa call him by several favorite names that include, Dharmashasta (one who established Dharma), Manikanta (born with a bell on the neck) etc. This picture is uthsavamoorthi (festival idol) decorated with flowers and taken in theru (wooden cart) and taken through out the village as part of annual 9 day celebration.
The Thirunellai in Palakkad, Kerala in South India is a small village located in the banks of the river nila/kannadi. It is about 4 kilometers from Palakkad Town. It is part of Palakkad Municipal Corporation limits. View Larger Map Like the 18 gramams/agraharams/villages in Palakkad Town, Thirunellai also is inhabited by Brahmins who are descendants of those who have migrated from TamilNadu. They are called as Tamil Brahmins / Kerala Brahmins synonymously. The brahmins who settled in Thirunellai on the banks of the river nila or kannadi, where vaishnavites (devotees of Lord Vishnu). Out of the 18 gramams in Palakkad, Thirunellai and Pallipuram are settled by Vaishnavites, whereas the rest by Saivaites. Though there is no direct proof of the time of settling in Thirunellai, it could have been a most recent when compared to the other gramams. Most probably the settling was about 200-300 years before 20th century. The gramam at present consists of nearly 150 houses arranged in