Temples destroyed by Tippu Sultan – First Jihad Against Hindus Of Malabar- Part 2

The Mysore Gazetteer says that the ravaging army of Tippu Sultan had destroyed more than 8000 temples in South India. The temples of Malabar and Cochin principalities had to bear the brunt of plunder and destruction. The History of Cochin by K.P. Padmanabha Menon and History of Kerala by A. Sreedhara Menon narrate some of them:

“In the month of Chingam 952, Malayalam Era (corresponding to August, 1786) Tippu’s Army destroyed idols of the famous Perumanam Temple and desecrated all the temples between Trichur and Karuvannur river. “

Hemambika Temple of Kallekulangara, also known as Emoor Bhagavathy temple, the Family Deity (Kula Devata) of the royal family of Palakkad.

Keraladhiswara Maha Vishnu Temple, Tanur Town, Malappuram Dist.

Jain Temple in Palghat .

“Irinjalakuda Tiruvilvamala Temple dedicated to Rama and Lakshmana. It is a twin temple complex situated on top of Vilvadri Hill which is located to the North of Thrissur Town.

Mammiyur Siva Temple in Guruvayur Town.

Thiruvanchikulam Mahadeva Temple, in Methala Panchayat, south of Kodungallur Municipal town on NH 17.

Triprangode Siva Temple near Tirur.

Thrichabaram Sri Krishna Temple near Taliparamba, Kannur Dist.

Taliparamba Siva Temple, Kannur District.

Tiruvanjikulam Siva temple near Kodungallur.

Vadakkum-Nathan Temple of Trichur.

Varakkal DurgaTemple, West Hill Kozhikode.

Trikkandiyur Mahadeva Temple, Tirur Town, Malappuram Dist.

Sukapuram Dakshinaamoorthy Temple, near Edappal, Malappuram.

Vadukunda Siva temple at Vengara village Kannur District.

Pariharapuram Subrahmanya Temple, Ramanathakara, Kozhikode District.

Vadukunda Siva Temple of Madai, Kannur District.

Thrikkavu Durga Temple of Ponnani was converted into Military Garrison.

According to the Malabar Gazetteer, the following important temples were destroyed by Tippu’s Army.

Tali Mahadeva Temple, Kozhikode.

Sree Valayanadu Bhagavathy Temple, Govindapuram, Calicut.

Tiruvannur Siva Temple, Kozhikode.

Shri thirpuraikal Bhadrakali Temple, Puthur, Palakkad District.

Narayankannur temple at Ramantali, Kannur District.

Even the Tirunavaya Temple known all over India as a centre of Rig Veda teaching was destroyed. Tippu personally ordered the destruction of Calicut which was the capital of the Zamorin Rajas.

In the case of Triprayar Temple, the main deity was shifted temporarily to Gnanappilly Mana situated in a remote village. However, both of them were brought back and ceremoniously installed after the withdrawal of Tippu from Malabar towards the end of 1790.

Following the route of his father Hyder Ali who attacked Guruvayur in 1766, Tippu Sultan attacked Guruvayur temple in 1789 after destroying the Mammiyur Shiva Temple and two other Sri Krishna Temples in the vicinity of the famous Guruvayur Temple. Those two Sri Krishna Temples destroyed in the town of Guruvayur by Tippu have being recovered by the Hindus; one is being renovated as the Parthasarathy Temple and the other one as Tirupathy Balaji Temple.

The 4,000 year old Narasimhamoorthy Temple near Angadipuram was destroyed by Tippu’s Army, rebuilt in 1946 and destroyed again by the Moplah Muslims. http://www.malaparamba-narasimhamoorthy.org/ is the website of that Narasimhamoorthy Temple which is now being reconstructed.

A large band of Moplah fanatics desecrated the Tiru-mandham-kunnu Bhagawati shrine at Angadipuram, Valluvanadu Taluk. [Pg 186, Malabar Manual. by William Logan (1841-1914) . Logan was a Scottish officer of the Madras Civil Service under the British Government. Before his appointment as Collector of Malabar, he had served in the area for about twenty years in the capacity of Magistrate and Judge. The highly acclaimed Malabar Manual was the result of his strenuous research and study of various official records, oral history, and legends of Kerala.To commemorate this British official’s work and life in Thalassery town, the main road that cuts across the town is named after him as “Logan’s Road”.]
The Muslim mosque at Kathiroor, near Chokli in Kannur District is almost a temple. Historians feel that it was originally a temple but converted into a mosque in the wake of Hyder Ali’s or Tippu’s destructive march over Kerala.

The Malabar Manual mentions that the Maniyoor mosque was once a Hindu temple. The local belief is that it was converted to a mosque during the days of Tippu Sultan.

According to certain personal diary notes of Tippu Sultan, the Chirackal Raja offered to pay over Rs. 4 lakh in gold and silver to save the destruction of the local Hindu temples by Tippu’s army. But, true to his fanatical jihadi character, Tippu replied that “even if the entire world is offered to me, I will not desist from destroying Hindu temples” (Freedom Struggle by Sardar Panicker). It was the reply of a typical Islamic ruler!

Tippu’s jihadi soldiers made it a point to slaughter cows en masse. To rub it in, they always slaughtered a cow at the very spot where a Hindu moorti was worshipped, before erecting a mosque in its place. Most of the time, the moorti was smashed and placed at the steps of some mosque for the “faithful” Muslims to tread upon as they came for prayer.

In the wake of that murderous jihadi aggression by the barbarous Muslim Tippu Sultan more than eighty percent of the temples were destroyed in Malabar.

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