The Azhvar priests of Kerala

 

The  Azhvar priests   of Kerala

Compiled  by

P.R.Ramachander

  As is well known the   tamil shiva or ambal temples are  worshipped using Shaiva agama only

And the  Vishnu temples  managed  byIyengars are  worshipped  by Pancharathra  or Vaikasana   Agama

The temple in the west coast  managed by  Nambudiris   and Pothris  are  worshipped  using  Saktha  agama

 When I yers shifted to kerala, they started  living their  own agraharas.If the agrahara  had a kerala temple earlier  , they were given to Brahmins  for management,

But the iyers did build  their own temples with an iyer  to do pooja  and  administration of temple.These temples   were mostly dedicated  to Krishna,Vishnu(perumal) ,  Rama  and Shiva . Most  of them not being  experts in Agamas, During important festivals of the temples and during kumbhabhishekams  , they  invite experts in agamas  to guide them  . The experts  in case  of Krishna /Vishnu  temples   are  called  as Azhvars, I was always  curious  to know about them. Through a friend  I could contact an Azhvar  in Palakkad.

   He told that  altogether  in Palakkad  there  were only  four families  of Azhvars. Then I asked him, Where from they came  .He said they are  from Namakkal  and   maintain links  with Iyengars there  .They always  marry  from those  families  in Namakkal  ,Due to young people  interested  in getting education and employment  , they also  request their contacts  to help them out  when there  is lot of work to do

  He said, the local treat  them with honour  and respect 

I still could not contact any gurukkal  , who help locals in Shiva  worship