Jayaram Receives Oushadheswari Puraskaram, Enthralls Crowd Leading ‘Panchari Melam’

KOCHI:
Actor Jayaram was today presented the maiden Oushadhewsari Puraskaram instituted by Nellikattu Sreedhareeyam Oushadheswari Temple , coinciding with the commencement of the Oushadha Seva pilgrimage season on the first of Karkitakam of the Malayalam calendar.
An accomplished percussion artist, Jayaram also led the ‘panchari melam’ performance featuring 111artists on the occasion, enthralling hundreds who had gathered at the temple at Koothattukulam.
The ensemble featuring the best of Kerala’s temple orchestra was performed before the newly erected idol of Oushadhewsari, consecrated after the completion of the Oushadha Biksha Yatra that toured 114 temples across Kerala.
Jayaram was chosen for the award, carrying Rs one lakh and citation, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to art and culture. The honour was bestowed on him by the temple head Naryanan Namboodiri.
The ceremony also turned out to be a moment for the multi-talented star to go down the memory lane, reminiscing how he had honed his acting skills as a mimic, often on the stages offered by temple festivals. Jayaram said he considered it a rare honour to receive the award instituted in the name of Oushadhewsari (Goddess of Wellness), and offered prayers at the temple.
Oushadheswari Temple trustee Hari N Namboothiri, Malliyoor Maha Ganapathi temle trustee Divakaran Namboothiri and Sreedevi Antharjanam also attended the award presentation ceremony. Special pujas and rituals were also conducted in the temple to mark the beginning of the Oushadha Seva month, during when the specially prepared Ayurvedic medicine will be served as prasadam to devotees.
The rituals began with the Ashta Draviya Ganapati Homom performed by priests led by Sooryakaladi Sooryan Parameswaran Bhattathirippad. Also, Gaja Pooja, elephant feeding ceremony lining up over 20 jumbos, was also conducted.
Ahead of the season, the temple trust had taken out a massive road show called ‘ Oushadha Biksha Yatra’, which had visited 114 temples across the state to collect the basic ingredients for making the restorative medicine to be distributed to people for a whole month. The medicine will be served from 6 to 12 in the forenoon and 5 to 7 in the evening on all days, till the end of Karkitakam (August 16).
The first such massive campaign undertaken anywhere , it marked the revival of a tradition of invoking divine blessings for universal wellbeing and gathering the basic ingredients for making the special Ayurvedic preparation, served to people in the month of Karkitakam of Malayalam calendar to energise the body and mind. Planned and executed by leading Ayurvedic institution Sreedhareeyam, the Yatra also highlighted the concepts and approaches of the time-tested Indian wellness system and its emphasis on a healthy society.
The campaign, carrying the idol of Oushadheswari (Goddess of Wellness) in a vehicle fashioned as a chariot, had visited all the major temples up and down the state. It has been a centuries old tradition in Kerala to take special medicines and follow a strict regimen of simple diet and oil bath in the month of Karkitakam (broadly July-August), which will re-energise the body and mind.