TEMPLE OF PARASHURAM

TEMPLE OF PARASHURAM According to legend , it was Parashuram , who cleared the forests (his weapon is the axe) and reclaimed the land of Keralam. There is only one temple in Thiruvananthapuram where the Deity of this hero is installed. Every year in Thulam month , there is a festival here with two caparisoned elephants and beating of drums . (normally the number of elephants is odd) Parashuram’s father suspected his wife Renuka, of infidelity and ordered his son to cut off her head. After faithfully complying with his orders , the father asked the son for a boon. He said:”Give me back my mother.” So Renuka became alive and Parashuram brought her to the new land of Keralam. The heroic fighter was the bitter enemy of Kshthriyas who ruled the countries of North India. (ironically , the two factions of the Indian National Congress , were led by Kamalapathy Tripathy (a Brahmin) and Kamanlal Gupta (a Kshatriya) . Similarly , Ravan was a Brahman and Ram a Kshathriya. Parashuram defeated Kshathiyas eighteen times in war . He had the Pashupthasthram , gifted by Lord Shiva.