KUTALAMANIKYAM

THE LEGEND OF KUTALAMANIKYAM

And this Lord Bharata is popularly known as Kutalamanikyam. It has an interesting story embedded in folk - lore literature, and is held in high esteem. As the belief goes, once on a particular day, the forehead of the image emitted lustrous light. Its blazing brightness attracted all the adorers assembled then for worship. The excited asthikas began guessing about the origin of that extraordinary luminosity. They could not. Are God's ways lo simple comprehend? Do they admit easy interpretations? How else could God makes himself acceptable and adorable, if not through such miracles? One among the congregated Bhaktas volunteered to get the brightest Manikyam in possession of the Raja of Kayamkulam for comparison and identification of the source. He succeeded to get that much valued Manikyam and took it near the image. And lo! as a soon as the Raja's Manikyam was brought near this image, strangely enough it merged into the forehead of the Moolavirat. Efforts to remove it failed, but it heightened their devotion and cemented faith in the Lord. As the lustrous brightness of the deity increased due to the merging of the Raja's Manikyam, the deity came to be known as Kuttalamanikyam - combination of Manikyams, or Manikayms, joined together. 

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