SABARIMALA TEMPLE Constructed by Polachirakkal Kochumman Muthalali

Who constructed the temple of Sabarimala in the present form? Who was the contractor? Very few people know that a Christain contractor namely Poalachirackal Kochumman Muthalali was that contractor. It was in Malayalam Era 1075 that the then government controlled by the Travancore Maharaja called tenders for reconstructing the temple which was destroyed in a fire. At that time Kochumman Muthalali was engaged in the construction of Thevalli Palace at Kollam.As Sabarimala was not easily accessible at that times no other contractors even from the Hindu community came forward to take the contract work,. Thick forest was with tigers, leopards, elephants, leech and malaria. No guarantee was of returning from there. Those times pilgrimage was done by facing all these factors and only because of the hardships devotees were more dedicated.Kochumman Muthalali was a good contractor, and he took it as a challenge, only because he will get some profit from the temple construction. In Kollavarsham 1079 construction of the temple started. It was not in Sabarimala. But it started at Kollam Puthukulangara Temple compound. All the parts of temple made of stone and wood were carved in that place . After that the entire temple was assembled on the bank of Ashtamudi Lake. Roof inside was covered with brass and outside covered with copper.The Maharaja of Travancore came, inspected and passed the construction and he ordered to move the temple to Sabarimala.Structure of the temple dismantled and sent to Kodimatha of Kottayam . from there the entire materials were planned to transport via Ranni to Pampa and from there to Sabarimala. But he decided to transport the materials Sabarimala via Mundakkayam. From Kottayam, it took eight days to bring the materials to Mundakkayam Padinjareppaara estate. Total labourers were 450, among them 200 were of Kochumman Muthalali, and others were provided by the Estate Manager, an Englishman. The materials included from big granite materials to small wooden nails. The entire materials were taken on head and shoulder and the gang moved through thick forest where all types of wild animals and hardships they had to face.In front of the great procession with loads of materials made out of granite, wood and metals, they walked, the body guards of Kochumman Muthalali named Pattani Saheb and Thampi Pillai. After that another body guard Kochuveettil Kunju Vareeth. Then Kochumman Muthalaali. Then the gang of carriers , labourers and the skilled carpenters. After a long march of four months they reached Sabarimala .When the work of granite finished, Kochumman Muthalali returned , but the work continued. In 1082( Malayalam Era) he was undergone an operation for diabetics. On 10th of Mithunam 1082 he died without completing the construction work of the temple. Nobody came forward to take in charge of the works. His sons were of below 12 years . Facing this critical condition, his wife Akkamma had given power of attorney to her son in law and Manager of Thazhakkara M.S.English School Skaria Kathanar. The government appointed the then Chengannur tehsildar M.C.Narayana Pillai to oversee the work. Under the instructions of Skaria Kathanar, the construction was completed as early as possible.When Skaria Kathanar made the bill and approached the authorities at Thiruvananthapuram the agreed amount was cut off by about 38000 rupees at that time! The reason of the deduction in the bill was that they transported the materials via Mundakkayam instead of Ranni.The family of Polachirakkal Kochumman Muthalali dejected in debt, but they recovered afterwards. That means the Sabarimala temple structure which we see now is indebted to Kochumman Muthalali and his family family still now, and the indebtedness is increas

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S.SALIMKUMAR