Rebuilding temple at Vaniyannur Malappuram Kerala
The temple ruins are located at Vaniyannur in Cheriyamundam Panchayat in Malappuram district of Kerala. As per the villagers the temple was believed to be atleast 1000 years old and was ransacked during the Mysorean invasion of Kerala. The temple was further destroyed completely during the insurgencies around 1921 and has been lying in disuse, ruins and abandoned since then.
The temple revival started in February 2018 with Swamy Bharati Maharaj of Bhuvaneswari Ashram lighting the lamp and restarting the Poojas.
The reconstruction of the temple started in February itself with site clearance work. The foundation stones, the sanctum sanctoriums of the temple were found during the excavation. The ritual marking the reconstruction, the DevaPrashnam and Ganapati Homam was conducted on February itself.
Keshavan Acharyan , a renowned temple architect has been entrusted the task of designing the new temple imbibing the old. As per his advice and directions, the clearing of the well and rebuilding of the same is now being done. The broken idols of Hindu Gods and Goddesses were discovered during the excavations and clearing of the well.
The estimated cost of reconstruction of the temple is Rs. 20 lakhs, of which we have already spent Rs. 1.7 lakhs towards the site clearance works, excavation, rituals, excavation of temple well and reinforcing the same as well as volunteer expenses.
The people of the locality have been employed in the temple jobs and the reconstruction of their heritage site is bringing tremendous positivity in their life.
This temple is part of the #ReclaimTemples project in Malappuram Kerala to rebuild 300 ancient Hindu Heritage temples that are lying in ruins for decades and centuries. We believe the project will strengthen the society and along with their social, economic and cultural prosperity.
