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Vatakku Vasal (which means "north entrance") is the north entrance of Swamithoppe pathi. It was here Lord Vaikundar performed his Tavam. This is considered sacred by the followers of Ayyavazhi. During the Eleven-day festival in Swamithoppe, on the eight day after the Kali vettai, scene of austerity (Ekanai) of Lord Vaikundar was performed.
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Lord Ayya Vaikundar, known to his followers as tenth avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu, also called as Sriman Narayana Vaikundasamy or Narayana Pandaram, was a 19th-century social reformer and iconoclast who worked for the upliftment of downtrodden people in the Kingdom of Travancore. He is central to the Hindu denomination of Ayyavazhi, as per holy scripture.
Akilathirattu Ammanai, also called Thiru Edu, is the main religious text of the Tamil belief system Ayyavazhi. The title is often abbreviated to Akilam or Akilathirattu.
Pathi is the name of the primary centres of congregational worship for the South Indian religious system of Ayyavazhi, having a relatively large structure like that of a temple. They are seven in number.
Ambala Pathi, also called as Pallathu pathi or Moolakunda pathi is one of the primary pathi of the Ayyavazhi, and the second important pilgrim centers of Ayyavazhi, and the place where Ayya Vaikundar is said to have unified all divine power into himself by symbolic marriages.
Mutta Pathi, is one of the Pancha pathi, which are the primary centers for worship of the Ayyavazhi. This is the third important pilgrim center of Ayyavazhi. This place earn the religious importance in Akilam from the event that, Ayya Vaikundar is given two Vinchais here by Narayana under the Sea; One just before the arrest of Vaikundar by Swathi Thirunal and the second after the completion of Thuvayal Thavasu.
Thamaraikulam Pathi, is one among the Pancha pathi, the five holy places of Ayyavazhi. The Ari Gopalan Citar, who wrote the Akilam was born here.
Sampooranathevan is a mythical figure found in Ayyavazhi mythology. He was considered a powerful Deva of Deiva Loga.
Ayyavazhi mythology is the mythology of the South Indian religious faith known as Ayyavazhi, which is officially considered a Hindu sect. The main source of Ayyavazhi mythology is the Ayyavazhi scripture, Akilattirattu Ammanai, and its supplement, Arul Nool. The Akilattirattu Ammanai is a recitation by Mayon to his consort Lakshmi. It is divided into three sections: pre-incarnational events, incarnational events and post-incarnational events.
Pancha pathi are the five important pilgrim centers of Ayyavazhi. These are also considered as the primary Pathis and as worship centers of Ayyavazhi with primary status. The first pathi is Swamithope pathi itself and is the headquarters of Ayyavazhi. The other Pathis are Muttappathi, Thamaraikulam Pathi, Ambalappathi and Pooppathi.
According to Akilattirattu Ammanai, for ten months, Ayya Vaikundar revealed to the people all about the past, present, and future in the form of songs. He sang definitively about the future. Some of those who heard him, took his words as meaningless mutterings. Vaikundar, realising that forbearance and fortitude were the essential virtues needed in his project of transforming the world, becalmed himself and performed the Tavam (Meditation). Having justice in his breath, the thought of mercy in his mind, and renouncing the desires of the body and containing the tendencies of his ego, Vaikundar performed the Tavam concentrating totally on the commands he had received from his father. His appearance was squalid, with holy ashes smeared on him, and the long unkempt hair flowing in the air.
In the literature of Hinduism, Vinchai are proclamations and instructions to the newly born child Vaikundar, by his father Narayana, also known as Vishnu, one of the three godheads in Akilattirattu Ammanai, the source of Ayyavazhi mythology. Three such Vichais took place during the period of Vaikundar; the first in Thiruchendur, immediately after his incarnation; the venue second and third Vinchais are in Muttapathi (sea), one by one between his incarnational activities.
The Vaikunda Avatara Orvalam or Vaikunda Jayanthi Orvalam is the name given to the procession which originates from Nagercoil to Swamithoppe. This is held annually on the day of Lord Narayana's tenth incarnation as Ayya Vaikundar, according to the teachings of Akilattirattu Ammanai, the holy text of Ayyavazhi religion. See also Ayya vaikundar avataram.
The Ayya Vaikunda Avataram or Vaikunda Jayanthi is a festival celebrated by the followers of Ayyavazhi on the 20th day of the Tamil month of Masi, the date on which the Ayyavazhi followers believe that Lord Narayana himself incarnated as Vaikundar during an encounter with a deity Goddess Lakshmi, he was beget inside the sea and arose from the sea of Thiruchendur on Kollam Year 1008 at 20th day of Tamil Month Masi. He took the human form as Narayana Pantaram at Tharuvaiyur near seashore to destroy the evil spirit of Kali and transform the Kaliyukam into Dharma Yukam.
The History of Ayyavazhi traces the religious history of Ayyavazhi, a belief-system originated in the mid-19th century in Southern India. Ayyavazhi came to be noticed by the large number of people gathering to worship Ayya Vaikundar in the middle of the 19th century. The majority of the followers of Ayyavazhi were from marginalised and poor sections of society.
Panguni Theertham is a festival which is celebrated in honour of the Tavam of Vaikundar. This festival is also called "Tava Dinam". On this day a procession starts from Swamithoppe Pathi to Muttappathi. This festival is celebrated on the Tamil month of Panguni.
The purpose of this chronology is to give a detailed account of Ayyavazhi from the beginning of the incarnational events of Vaikundar to the present time. Question marks on dates indicate approximate dates. A star (*) indicates the mentioning of that particular date in Akilam or Arul Nool. All dates but a few are found in the Tamil calendar and so doesn't coincide exactly with the months of the Gregorian calendar. The dates may span over any halves of the two consecutive months (Gregorian).
Muthiri Kinaru is the sacred well located in the north-western corner of Swamithoppe village. This is the famous theertha of the temple. It is located half a kilometre west from the main Pathi.
An Ayyavazhi wedding is the wedding custom within the Ayyavazhi belief system of South India. Usually Dharmagharttas, Panividaiyalars from Thangals or an older person experienced in Ayyavazhi assumes a role as a Guru and is seated in the Manvarai for leading the wedding ceremony.
This Thangal of Kadambankulam was the sixth among the Primary Nizhal Thangals. This Thangal was situated South to Valliyoor, 2 km southeast to Kalantha panai. This was the place where Thavam petral, the daughter of Dharma Citar was married to a man from here. Also, this was the native place of Thuvayal Pandaram, who were the participants of the Thuvayal Thavasu. Ayya also visited this place before his Six-year Tavam. Likewise this place gains so many importance from Ayyavazhi.
Swamithoppe Pathi is the primary pathi of the Ayyavazhi, the head of all Worship centers of Ayyavazhi, and the sacred venue of the Tavam. Religiously Swamithope is considered primary among the Pancha pathi and the primary centre of the incarnational activities of Vaikundar.