Nochur Agraharam - 100 Agraharams Project

Nochur Agraharam - 100 Agraharams Project

Nochur was once a village of 150 homes with brahmins. It was a center for vedic learning. As Sri Subbaraman says, the march of time has left the village with no Vedic Pundits even to do rituals and they currently depend on adjacent villages for the same.

"The village came into being during the middle of the 18th century during a period of upheaval and instability caused by the Carnatic wars in the south. Many smartha brahmin families started an exodus with all their belongings in search of a shelter and hopefully a permanent residence. Since most of the families hailed from the 3 paddy going district of Thanjavur, they were in search of a place that would be similar, and naturally, the present district of Palghat must have impressed them with her paddy fields, palm trees, coconut trees and ponds, and revived the memories of their old beloved homes. So they decided to settle in small groups in and around Palghat and the families that settled in Nochur formed one of the ancient settlements among the villages of Palghat."

"Prior to the migration the place was under a benevolent and pious namboodiri whose residence was called Nochupulli illam. The name of the illam must have come from the fact that the place was surrounded by the herbal plant “Nochi”, which is found even to this day. In course of time the village built by the Tamil speaking brahmins came to be called as Nochi Agraharam and subsequently Nochiyur and finally Nochur."

"In course of time the brahmins of the new settlement found their footing, and were well established by acquiring land for agriculture and dwellings, and became one with the place. They started evincing interest in the affairs of the temple and eventually the management of the temple and its related lands must have passed on to them. They also built a temple for God Vishnu, known as Krishnan temple which is at the junction of the two streets of Nochur. In addition a separate temple for God Siva was built that is now adjacent to the Bgagavathi temple but within the same premises. These temples became subsidiaries to the main Bhagavathi temple. Goddess Bhagavathi, being a Vana Durga, was found to be very powerful and the villagers found that even small omissions and commissions were enough to get retaliations in the form of fire and epidemics like chicken pox. The good samaritans of the village decided that something should be done to appease the Goddess. Under the guidance of the famous astrologer Rama Josyan from Cranganore (Kodungallur), it was decided to transform the Bhagavathi to a more peaceful form, “Shanti Durga”, and necessary propitiatory functions were performed. From that day onwards the Goddess came to be known as Shanti Durga Paramaeswari."

Transformation of the form of a deity from fierce to benevolent is possible by mantra shakthi.
Sri Sankaracharya visited the Tiruvotriyur temple and put an end to the ritual of offering sacrifices at the Amman shrine. He incepted a Sri Chakra and reduced the power of Devi and converted the fierce form of Devi into a graceful, beneficent form.

Sri Subbaraman has preserved his agaraharam home very well and the home and the priceless woodwork and vessels are immaculately preserved. I hope that all Agaraharam folks hold on to their family home and keep it intact.

Radhe Krishna

Sriram(Hari)
100-Agraharams Project
Rama Bhagavathar Charitable Trust
July , 24 2024