TRIPUNITHURA: When the entire state is preparing to welcome Thiruvonam, a temple is all set to recall the memories of a dedicated sculptor who had shed his life to carve the idol of the temple.The eight-day-long ‘Moosari Ulsavam’ of Sree Poornathrayeesha temple is held to commemorate the sculptor who had moulded the idol of Lord Sree Poornathrayeeshan.This year’s ‘Moossari Ulsavam’ will begin on Friday, with flag hoisting by melshanthi Sreenivasan Embranthri.There is a touching story behind the celebration of the ‘Moosari Ulsavam’. The main sculptor who was in charge of moulding the idol of Lord Sree Poornathrayeeshan was about to finish his strenuous work. After crafting the mould of the idol, the sculptor mixed the metal mix which he poured into the already prepared mould.Though he tried his hard to give finishing touches to the molten metal mix, he could not achieve the task. He prayed aloud and tears began to flow from his eyes.Finally the devout sculptor wholeheartedly hugged the molten metal mix by uttering the prayer, ‘Koodu Koodente Poornathrayeesha...’ (Oh my Lord please merge into the desired shape).According to the anecdotes, the devout sculptor himself merged with the beautiful idol of the presiding deity and thus the idol got the beautiful shape. Since the sculptor merged with the almighty before completing the final process of opening the eyes of the idol, the beautiful idol of the deity still remains with its eyes closed.Poets like Vayalar Rama Varma had satirically written poems to remind the devotees not to forget the strenuous effort of the sculptors while bowing before the beautiful idols. His lines starting with ‘Sabarimalayilum Kallu, Saktheeshwarathum Kallu, Kalline Nithyam Thozhunnavare, Ningal Kalpanikkaare Marakkaruthe…’The western gateway is an ideal example of the towers of the temples in the state. The first floor of the entry tower contains a wooden mandapam with beautifully carved wooden pillars with the images of Lord Ganesha.The unique mix used for moulding the sculptures is yet to be identified, said M Raman Namboothiri, a retired officer of the Archaeological Survey of India, the founder member of Sree Poornathrayeesha Seva Sangham who had taken efforts to protect the western gateway by including it in the list of protected monuments.Similarly on the ‘vilakkumada thara,’ one can see the detailed depiction of the stories of Sree Rama, Sree Krishna and ‘Paalazhimadhanam’ carved on granite. Around the sanctum sanctorum, there are immortal moments from epics like ‘Bhageeratha’s attempt to bring the Ganges to Earth, ‘Gajendra Moksham’ and also a unique pose of Lord Siva.All these sculptures are moulded in bronze.The sculptor’s festival also has some other special features. The traditional staging of ‘nangiar koothu’ at the miniature ‘koothambalam’ situated inside the temple is the only ritualistic art form performed as part of the festival.Similarly, the ‘araatu bali’ of the festival will be performed by traditional temple trustee Vasudevan Valiya Moothathu instead of the temple thanthri. The ‘araatu’ will be held on Thiruvonam.
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