Rayranallur Climbing

Rayranallur hill was the residence of Naranath Branthan, the Indian counterpart of Greek mythology. It was a calm and quite located at Naduvattam near Pattambi,Palakad district in Kerala. It was at the Rayranallur hill that he received the vision of Devi on first day of the month of Thulaam.
Rayranallur hill is 500 feets high and has a width of 300 acres. That is the place where he got the vision. It became a temple without an Idol of Devi, but had the footprint of the Goddess forming a pond . From that day thise place is considered holy and people began to after worship there. The Pond has much water and it never runs dry. This water is used for ‘Pujas’ and ‘Archanas’.
The temple situated on the hill stretches for about six hectares. Thousands of people outside and inside Kerala visit the place to have blessings from the Devi on the first day of the month of Thulaam every year. They believe that climbing the hill on that day would provide them with many blessing such as marriage, getting children, cure from diseases etc.
The man who made the temple was NaranathBranthan. When he was meditating in ‘Branthachalam’, two kilometers west of the temple he saw the Goddess(Devi) swinging on a Banyan tree and he followed her. But no sooner had he reached near her than she disappeared leaving her foot print which turned in to a pond. When he saw the pond, he started ‘pujas’ there. Myth says that Naranth Branthan rolled up huge stone from the valley to the top and rolled them down laughing loudly. This is said to reflect his vision on the triviality and futility of human efforts.
Naranath Branthan was the offspring of the Brahmin who adored the court of Vikramadithya. He was one among the twelve children that Vararuchi had in a ‘Parayi’ (a woman who belonged to the low cast of ‘parayan’). ‘Parayi Petta Panthirukulam ’(the twelve branched clan of Parayi) is a strong current in Kerala folklore. We can the statue of Naranathu Branthan on the beautifull hill created by Architect Surendra Krishnan to the commemorate Naranathu Branthan

Author: Smitha Atholi