Important poojas and offerings

Uruli Kamazthu

The Uruli Kamazthu ceremony at Mannarasala Temple embodies a profound spiritual journey between devotees and the divine serpent deities. This sacred practice unfolds in two transformative phases, guided by the ritual authority of Mannarasala Amma (Valia Amma), the temple's revered priestess.

Devotees (childless couples seeking the blessings for a child) place an uruli (traditional bronze vessel) in an upright position at the temple with utmost devotion and prayer as instructed by the poojari. Amma then ritually inverts the uruli (Uruli Kamazthu) and places it within the Nilavara. When blessed with a child, the family returns to the Temple to show their gratitude to Sree Nagaraja, Sree Sarpayakshi by offering Uruli Nivarppu vazhipad and seek their blessings.

Uruli Nivarppu

The sacred journey of Uruli Kamazthu culminates in a profound act of gratitude: the Uruli Nivarppu offering. Blessed devotees, now accompanied by their child, return to the temple to express their heartfelt thanks to Lord Sree Nagaraja, Goddess Sarpayakshi, and the divine intercessor, Mannarasala Amma.

This concluding vazhipad is marked by significant offerings that symbolize both reverence and celebration. Devotees present a gold image and a silver swing to Lord Sree Nagaraja, and a gold image and fine silk to Goddess Sarpayakshi. They also perform Thulabharam—a ritual weighing of their child against offerings—and present Pal Payasam as a nourishing prayer for the child’s well-being.

Following the temple rituals, the family seeks the darshanam of Mannarasala Amma, the spiritual mother through whom their prayers were channeled. Receiving her blessings completes the ceremonial vow. Yet, while the Uruli Nivarppu formally concludes the ritual, it is, in truth, just the beginning—the first step in the child’s lifelong bond with the temple, its deities, and its eternal grace.

Noorum Palum Pooja

Noorum Palum Pooja is a vital ceremonial offering dedicated to Lord Nagaraja, Goddess Sarpayakshi, Goddess Nagayakshi, Goddess Nagachamundi, Lord Shiva (accompanied by the Ashta Nagas), and other serpent deities. This ritual serves to please the serpent Gods and provides a powerful remedy for various afflictions, including Sarpa Dosha, Rahu Dosha, and related karmic imbalances.

The pooja gets its name from its primary offering - Noorum Palum - a sacred mixture of Nooru (grounded rice) and Palu (milk), symbolizing purity and nourishment, is presented as the main oblation to the serpent gods. Following the Noorum Palum, additional offerings of turmeric (a purifying agent) and tender coconut water (representing vitality) are made to complete the ritual.

• Observance Period: Conducted daily from Kanni Aayilyam (marking the sacred birth anniversary of Lord Nagaraja) until Edavam 15 (mid-May to mid-June).
• Restricted Observance: From Edavam 15 until the next Kanni Aayilyam, the pooja is performed exclusively on Aayilyam days (auspicious lunar asterism days associated with serpent worship). The Noorum Palum Pooja embodies the deep-rooted Naga Aradhana (serpent veneration) traditions of Kerala, serving as both a spiritual remedy and a means of divine communion. Its structured observance reflects the harmonious alignment of astrological timings, agrarian cycles, and ritual purity in Hindu worship. Noorum Palum pooja on Aayilyam days is also known as Aayilyam Pooja.

Sarpa Prathima Nadakkeveppu

The Sarpa Prathima Nadakkeveppu is a profound ritual offering performed by devotees seeking atonement for any intended or unintended harm caused to serpents. By presenting a sacred serpent idol to Lord Sree Nagaraja, the devotee acknowledges the sanctity of serpent life and seeks reconciliation through divine grace.

To facilitate this offering, serpent idols—complete with puttum (serpent dwellings) and mutta (serpent eggs)—are available in various metals at the Temple Vazhipad Stall. Devotees may choose from idols made of brass, silver, or gold, depending on their vow and capacity. Devotees may also bring a sarpa prathima from their home that has been invoked (through Avahanam). In such cases, the idol must first be ritually cleansed in the temple pond located at the western entrance. Following this purification, the devotee should obtain an official receipt from the Vazhipad Counter before proceeding with the offering.

Ritual Procedure:

The devotee then brings the cleansed sarpa prathima to the holy doors of Lord Sree Nagaraja. Here, the temple poojari recites a sacred prayer (mantram), which the devotee repeats with devotion. Holding the idol, the devotee then performs three parikrama (circumambulations) around the temple. Following the circumambulations, the sarpa prathima is reverently submitted at the holy doors of Lord Sree Nagaraja, completing the offering.

Palum Pazhavum Nivedyam

The first among daily Nivedyam offerings to Lord Nagaraja and Goddess Sarpayakshi, Palum Pazhavum Nivedyam consists of a sacred blend of kadali fruit (banana) and milk. This unique preparation is ritually presented as a purificatory offering, believed to detoxify both body and spirit while bestowing rejuvenation upon devotees.

Kadalipazham Nivedyam

An integral part of the prasanna pooja, the offering of Kadalipazham (plantain fruit) is presented twice—to both Lord Sree Nagaraja and Goddess Sarpayakshi—in accordance with the temple’s sacred tradition. This simple yet profound nivedyam carries deep ritual significance, particularly in association with the Uruli Kamazthu vazhipad.

Childless married couples who place an uruli at the holy doors of the sanctum also make a heartfelt vow (sankalpa): to offer Kadalipazham daily to the divine couple until they are blessed with a child and can return to the temple in gratitude. This practice transforms the offering from a ritual act into a tangible thread of devotion, a daily reminder of faith during a period of patient hope.

Nilavara Payasam

A sacred offering presented every Wednesday to Lord Nagaraja, Nilavara Payasam is prepared with the devotional sankalpa (ritual intention) to Lord Anantha—a revered form of Lord Nagaraja—residing within the Nilavara, the sacred cellar of Mannarasala Illam.

This Nivedyam is meticulously created using jaggery, pure ghee, and rice, with a distinctive seasoning blend of cardamom and dried grapes, symbolizing both austerity and divine sweetness. The preparation embodies the temple’s ancient traditions, aligning culinary sanctity with spiritual invocation.

Chathussatha Nivedyam

Regarded as the most exalted of ritual offerings, Chathussatha Nivedyam is meticulously prepared using the milk of 108 coconuts, jaggery, and rice. Due to the labor-intensive nature of its preparation, the keezhshantis (temple assistants to the poojaris) commence the process as early as 3:00 AM, ensuring the offering is completed by 9:00 AM for offering as Nivedyam (holy food) to the deities.

This Nivedyam holds particular sanctity and is exclusively offered on Pooyam days, during the Malayalam months of Kanni and Thulam. Following the ceremonial offering to Lord Nagaraja, the prasadam is distributed to devotees of Lord Nagaraja.

Muzhukappu

Muzhukappu is a sacred ceremonial offering in which Lord Sree Nagaraja is adorned from head to toe with sandalwood paste (chandana). This obligatory ritual is performed on four consecutive days preceding Pooyam, commencing on Rohini star day and concluding on Pooradam star day, during the Malayalam months of Kanni and Thulam.

The evening darshanam (sacred viewing) of the deity, resplendent in sandalwood paste and ritual embellishments, evokes profound devotion among worshippers, elevating their spiritual experience to a transcendent level. The cool, fragrant sandalwood symbolizes purity and divine grace, while its application reflects the ritual’s deep roots in temple traditions.

This offering serves as a perfect prologue to the sacred days of Pooyam and Aayilyam. Specifically, Kanni Aayilyam marks the birth anniversary of Lord Sree Nagaraja, heralding not only a celestial celebration but also the dawn of a spiritually transformative era for devotees. The ritual’s timing—bridging the preparatory sanctity of Muzhukappu and the climactic observances of Aayilyam—imbues it with layered theological significance, intertwining divine worship with personal renewal.

Sarpabali

As the most significant offering to the serpentine pantheon, Sarpabali is performed under critical circumstances when a family is afflicted by Sarpa dosha - a karmic imbalance resulting from harm inflicted upon serpents by any lineage member. This elaborate propitiatory rite serves as both spiritual remediation and cosmic rebalancing.

The ritual's complexity manifests through several sacred components:

• The preparation and offering of individual Noorum Palum libations for: Lord Sree Nagaraja (the primordial serpent lord), Goddess Sree Sarpayakshi (the serpent-mother), Lord Shiva along with the serpent deities of 58 realms.
• The offering of Guruthi Pooja, a tantric ceremony dedicated to: Goddess Sree Nagachamundi and Goddess Sree Nagayakshi.

Sarpabali stands as the most resource-intensive and temporally demanding of all Vedic propitiations, requiring: extensive material preparations and prolonged ceremonial engagement. The ritual's profundity lies in its dual function as both karmic rectification and divine communion, reestablishing harmony between the human and naga realms through meticulous Vedic protocols.

Palpayasa Homam

The Palpayasa Homam serves as a sacred Vedic expiation ceremony performed to seek absolution for the karmic consequences arising from the intentional or unintentional slaying of serpents. This propitiatory fire ritual holds particular significance in the Naga worship traditions of Kerala, functioning as both spiritual remediation and ecological reconciliation.

Central offering of Palpayasam (milk-rice pudding), symbolizing Purity (through dairy) and Sustenance (through grains). This homam represents a profound synthesis of ethical responsibility and spiritual practice, where material offerings become vehicles for karmic rebalancing and restoration of cosmic harmony between humans and the serpent realm.

Ashta Naga Pooja

The Ashta Naga Pooja is a powerful Vedic ritual performed to mitigate the malefic effects of Kala Sarpa Yoga, an astrological condition occurring when all planets are confined between Rahu and Ketu in one's birth chart. This elaborate ceremony invokes the divine intervention of the cosmic serpent pantheon to restore planetary equilibrium and spiritual harmony.

The ritual begins with the invocation and veneration of principal deities of the Temple: Lord Sree Nagaraja, Goddess Sarpayakshi, Goddess Nagayakshi, Goddess Nagachamundi and Lord Shiva. Followed by the separate invocation and propitiation of the Ashta Nagas (Eight Primordial Serpents): Ananthan, Vasuki, Sankapalan, Takshakan, Mahapatman, Patman, Karkotakan, Gulikan.

Primary offerings include Noorum Palum (a sanctified blend of rice flour and milk) and specially prepared Nivedyam made of coconut milk (produced by crushing grated coconuts and squeezing the milk from them in three stages), jaggery and rice. This ritual serves as both an astrological remedy (Shanti Karma) and a profound spiritual practice (Upasana), aligning individual consciousness with the serpentine energies that uphold cosmic order according to Vedic cosmology.

Ekadashini Rudraabhishekam

The Ekadashini Rudraabhishekam is an exalted Vedic ritual performed on the hallowed southern grounds of Mannarasala Illom during Thiruvathira star days in the auspicious Malayalam months of Kanni (September-October) and Thulam (October-November). This profound ceremony unites an assembly of Kerala's most venerated priests, who converge upon this sacred space to conduct the ritual's elevenfold purification through precise Vedic protocols.

• The abhishekam incorporates: Eleven sacred substances (milk, honey, ghee, etc.) representing the Ekadasha Rudras.
• Mantric precision drawn from Krishna Yajur Veda traditions.
• Cosmological resonance between the ritual space and macrocosmic principles.

This ritual embodiment of Kerala's living heritage transforms the southern grounds into a dynamic sacred theater where Vedic orthodoxy meets regional tantric practice through meticulously preserved ceremonial forms.