Koilandy Pisharikavu temple
By P.R.Ramachander
Pisharikkavu is a temple near Koilandy . The sword called Nandakam is worshipped here as the Goddess. It seems a group of Nair diamond merchants who were belonging to Kollam of Southern Kerala were great devotees of the Goddess. The Goddess had given them her sword called Nandakam and asked them to worship the sword instead of her. Since they were opposed to the very powerful king Marthanda Verma, they were forced to run away from their native place. They migrated to the northern part of Kerala and settled down near Koilandy. They decided to call the place of their new settlement as “Kollam” in memory of their native place. They also built a temple for the sword Nandakam and called it Pisharikkavu. The local population used to call them as Vyapari Nayars and this later changed over time in to “Ravari Nayars”. Apart from the devi temple , the temple also houses a siva temple.
Valia vattala guruthi is the main offering and booked for several years. Udayasthama pooja, Niramala, Rakthapushpanjali, Palpayasom are a few of the other offerings.
The main festival of the temple is celebrated in the Malayalam month Meenam (March-April) for eight days and with innumerable processions in the presence of thousands of devotees. The 7th day is celebrated as "Valiya Vilaku", and the 8th day is celebrated as "Kaliyattom", The divine Nandhakam sword is brought in procession around the temple on 7th and 8th day on a fully decorated female elephant, and traditional art forms of Kerala is also staged in the temple. Thayambaka, pachavadyam, padhakom, ottanthullal, chakyarkoothu are also performed well on these days.
Navarathri festival is also celebrated in this temple.