The temple is surrounded by the sacred river anchankovil
that has its origin in the Achankovil mountain ranges. The very name " Valamchuzy" derived from the fact that the river circumvents the temple on
three sides. Due to the constant fury of the river over the past 3000 years
large tracts belonging to the temple have been washed away. The temple
presently is well protected from the ravages of floods. Formerly this area was under dense
forests and its remnants can still be seen in the "Sarpakavu"
that presently exists there. The sarpakavu is also home to a large
variety of rare medicinal herbs. Constant
threat due to illegal sand mining from the river is posing a danger to the Sarpakavu.
Meditation and prayers in this cool, quiet and serene surrounding will
bring in abundant blessing to the devotees.
The Kodungalloor temple and
Valamchuzy temple are similar in several aspects.
It is believed that the sword and the chilambu kept at this temple had been
brought over from Kodungaloor. It is also believed that there existed in
this temple at one time, both human and animal sacrifice.
As elsewhere, the great floods of 1096
had its repercussions in Pathanamthitta and it caused severe damage to the temple.
However, after the floods had receded a lot of reclamation and maintenance work had been
undertaken by the temple authorities with the active participation of the
government and the landlords within the vicinity of the temple. A bund was
also constructed to make access to the temple easier. The temple
continued
to be under the patronage of the velluvettuvelil madam family till the year
1974. They also served as the priests of the temple all this while. Later
on, the administration of the temple passed on to the senior members of the
14 Karas hailing from Pathanamthitta municipality, pramadam and Mylapra
Panchayats. A Devasom council and a team of 14 members of executive are elected every two
years from this 14 karas. These representatives are the pillars of the
temple administration. The administration of the temple is presently on the lines of
the Indian Parliament. |
