Resurgence of Malaparamba Mattummal Narasimhamoorthy Temple

 Kerala’s communal History

I came across @anjaliGorg in Twitter as a person who spoke her mind, unshackled by upbringing, a sign of inquisitive mind that conquers inherent and instilled prejudices of milieu one is born in. I am always fascinated by people who express views that are individualistic and a result of arriving at a conclusion after internal debate as against those who only repeat intelligent sounding words heard somewhere. If one trains the ears and mind, surely one can hear the distance between the spoken words and the ideas that spur them. The larger the distance between them, the faker the person is.

In one of her tweets she had mentioned about Malaparaba Mattummal Narasimhamoorthy temple and its gory history. Her tweets suggested that the destruction of the temple was only symbolic, the real one being the intrinsic tolerant values that are commonplace in India.

As a frequent visitor to Kerala, that too, to the abode of my chosen deity that is situated within an hour’s drive of this temple, I determined to visit Malaparamba Mattummal temple.

The desire to visit the temple is culmination of multiple wants in me. Here I try to sum it up here as a historical narrative of the temple.

This is a temple that bears multiple scars of destruction carried out by Islamic groups of various hues from different timeline. The modernity and the era of the Islamists notwithstanding, the result has been consistently the same.

During the onslaught of Tipu Sultan, this temple, it is said, was destroyed for the first time. The depravity of Tipu Sultan, that he considered a desirable Islamic quality, is well documented well through history. It is another matter that post-independence secular politics in India put a wrap on that. “Tipu Sultan – The tyrant of Mysore” by Sandeep Balakrishnan details the atrocities committed by Tipu in Kerala. The current Muslim folks of Kerala, most of them, are descendants of forefathers who were forced to convert by Tipu.  As a result of the wanton destruction of the temple, the temple fell to disuse and ruins.

The temple also was targeted during the Maplah riot in which Islamic ideology committed a modest genocide in Kerala.

During 1947 one Uneen Sahib took over the land of Mattummal temple on lease and used the wooden columns of the ruins of the temple to build latrine in his bungalow. Uneen Sahib suffered innumerable problems including health that drove him to consult the Hindu wisdom. It is also said he had a vision of Goddess Durga in his dream and Uneen Sahib turned a new leaf in his life.

Uneen Sahib turned vegetarian, subsequently converted to Hinduism at Calicut Arya Samaj presided over by a Punjabi, Buddha Singh. To the chagrin of modern day secularists, he was also made a Brahmin, marrying him to a Namboori woman. The local RSS leader Shri Shankar Sastri ji was instrumental for the conversion as well as the protection.

Uneen Sahib, who became Ramasimha said that he was a Muslim by accident; as a result of his grandmother’s decision to convert. His brother, wife and children too converted, children taking Sikh names.

The Muslim community rattled by this conversion did not take it lightly. It is not out of place to recall that Islam seeks to punish apostasy by death. They did just that. Killed Ramasimhan, his pregnant wife, his brother and cook.

The case was investigated and the Palghat sessions court sentenced four people to death. However, it is said, with the help of Sri Kozhipurathu Madhava Menon, a lawyer, evidences were destroyed and High court of Madras acquitted all for want of evidence.

It is also mentioned by many that the estranged Father-in-law of Uneen Sahib (who was married to a Muslim woman before committing apostasy) Kalladi Unnikkammu Sahib as well as the lawyer Madhava Menon turned mad.

After years of fighting, the Hindus have got back a princely 67 cents, about 0.1% of the original 600 Acres that belongs to the temple where a Balaalayam (temporary abode) has been erected by the patrons. In what should be the temple land, domes of Islamic character adorn.

The usual suspects galore in this story. Violent Islamists, sword wielding invaders, iconoclasts, Marxist politicians who turn a blind eye to Hindu interest, Newspapers who take pain to see that the news does not reach public, apathetic Judicial system, corrupt justice etc etc.

In all this, what we can do is, donate generously to the temple, make those lonely fighters financially strong and help the local Hindus regain some respect deserving a human being.I was told in the temple that Yeddurappa ji donated INR 1,000,000/-

For those who want to donate kindly see details here
http://www.malaparamba-narasimhamoorthy.org/second_destruction.htm

Thanks to these sources:
@anjaiGorg
http://www.amazon.in/Tipu-Sultan-Tyrant-Mysore-History-ebook/dp/B00H2LWIG4
https://www.haindavakeralam.com/hkpage.aspx?PageID=9193