Page:Castes and tribes of southern India, Volume 5.djvu/252

NAMBUTIRI BRAHMAN this pass with the ruler whom they had secured from the Chēra King, a strange light was observed on the adjacent hills. Two young Brāhmans of Chengngamanat village, on proceeding towards the hill to investigate the source thereof, found to their amazement that it was none other than Sri Bhagavati, the consort of Siva, who enjoined them to go, viâ Trikkariyūr, to Kodungngnallūr, the capital of the Perumāls. Seeing that the sight of Bhagavati foretold prosperity, the king called the range of hills Nerumangalam or true bliss, and made an endowment of all the surrounding land to the Brāhman village of Chengngamanat, the members of which had the good fortune to see the goddess face to face. When they entered the temple of Trikkariyūr, a voice was heard to exclaim "Chēra Perumāl," which meant that into that town, where Parasu Rāma was believed to be dwelling, no Perumāl (king) should ever enter — a traditional injunction still respected by the Malabar Kshatriyas. At this place, the sixth Perumāl who, according to a tradition, had a pronounced predilection for the Bouddha religion (Islamism or Buddhism, we cannot say), called a meeting of the Brāhmans, and told them that a religious discussion should be held between them and the Bouddhas, in view to deciding their relative superiority. The presiding deity of the local Saiva shrine was then propitiated by the Brāhmans, to enable them to come out victorious from the trial. A Gangama saint appeared before them, and taught them a hymn called nālupadam (four feet or parts of a slōka) which the Nambūtiris say is extracted from the Samavēda. The saint further advised them to take out a lamp from within the temple, which according to tradition had existed from the time of Srī Rāma, to a room built on the western ghāt of the temple tank, and pray to Siva in