PALAKKAD:
The Oushadha Biksha Yatra of Nelliakkattu Sreedhareeyam Oushadheswari temple of Koothattukulam passed through various temples of Palakkad district today, receiving ‘alms’ from devotees who thronged to greet and make offerings to the road-show set out to tour 114 shrines across Kerala.
Top-notch devotional singer Jayan received the chariot carrying the idol of Oushadheswari (Goddess of wellness) by rendering devotional numbers invoking the blessings of Lord Ganesh as the campaign reached the Snehashram at Muthalamada. The Ashram head Swami Sunil Das lauded its organisers, saying this was a mission aimed at creating awareness about a healthy society by propagating the total and holistic approach of the ancient Indian wellness system Ayurveda.
Devotees offered ‘Thriphala’ and Ghee as ‘biksha’ (alms) at the temples where the chariot, a specially designed vehicle with the idol of Oushadheswari and a lighted lamp installed in it, had its stop-over. The Yatra also passed through Vadakkancherry Azhikkulangara temple, Sree Cherunetturi Bhagavathi Temple, Sri Nellikulangara Bhagavathi Temple, Nenmara, Meenkulathi Bhagavathi Amman Temple, Pallassana, Puthankavu Temple, Pallassana, Kollengode Kachamkurissi Perumal Temple, Manappulli Bhagavathy Temple, Kalpathy Viswanathar temple and Vadakkanthara Bhagavathy temple.
It has been a centuries old tradition in Kerala to take specially prepared medicines and follow a strict regimen of simple diets and oil baths in the month of Karkitakam (broadly July-August ), which will re-energise the body and mind.
Medicines, herbs and other ingredients collected during the campaign from around the state would go into the making of the special ‘Karkitaka” medicine package, which will be distributed to the people. The temple has also organised ‘Oushadha Ponkala” on August 6, a ritual seeking divine blessings for the wellness of the society as a whole.
‘OushadhaSeva’starts once the Yatra returns to Koothatukulam Oushadheswari temple.
