Navaneetha Krishna Temple, Melaseval – History
Constructed
by the Maharaja of Travancore Samasthanam about 700 years ago, the granite
edifice is structured in the Vaishnava Agama style. Most parts of the present
Tirunelveli district on the southern side were under the control of the
Travancore Samasthanam. Though no inscription is available anywhere to find out
the year and the period of construction, the Gazetteer of Tirunelveli District
in 1781 under the then British Government, credits the construction of this
temple to the Chera kings, 500 years prior to the date of publication.
As per
the inscription found in the Navaneethakrishnan temple, there is a mention of
the Saga year 1147. The present Saga year being 1924, it is presumed that this
temple is 777 years old. Enchanted by the beautiful surroundings, fine
architecture, sculptural work in the mandapam and beautiful posture of the main
deity — the ISKCON made an offer in 1980 to convert the whole area into a
Brindavan, provided the temple was handed over to them. But it was not decided
in their favour as the temple is under the supervision and control of the State
Government.
Sri
Isakki Konar, aged 94 years, (deceased on 22nd Jan 2008) the resident of the
village from his birth (the only Konar in his community and in his days to
learn English) recalled that the village had two Agraharams occupied by Vedic
scholars on all the four Vedas. Villiputthurar, for writing the Villi Bharatham
in Tamil, stayed in this village for many months to exchange his views and
compare notes on the Mahabharata with these Vedic scholars before finalizing
his work.
The
presence of large numbers of Vedic pundits in the village inspired Yatrikas
from various parts of the country to take the route through village to reach
Kanyakumari. There were two choultry to provide food and shelter to them. The
temple was donated fertile lands, coconut groves and mangroves and revenue from
these estates used to take care of the maintenance of the temple. But
unfortunately, the present records do not indicate the details of these
properties and the persons enjoying the fruits of the property.
It was
maintained with the help of the State Government's grant of Rs. 25,000 under
the scheme for maintenance of one time puja. The annual interest earned from
this deposit is inadequate. Due to the vagaries of nature and lack of proper
maintenance, unwanted vegetation damaged the terrace and the mandapam was under
a threat of severe cracks and damage. A collapse was imminent unless repairs
were carried out.
Lord
Navaneethakrishnan is said to have appeared in the dream of an old woman who
was married into the family of this village and, stating that he was starving
and requested that he be provided with food every day. Similar things appeared
in the dreams of few other people also to whom the deity was the `Kuladeivam'.
A committee was, therefore, formed by the members of these families in October
1998 under the leadership of S. V. Bhaskara Mudaliar, mirasdar of this village
and T Narayana Iyer, Retd. Dy. Collector. Voluntary donations were made by the
current descendants of the past residents of the village and also by the local
community.
Complete
renovations were carried out costing an estimated Rs. 4 lakhs. Maha
samprokshanam was performed on January 21, 2000. At Present, regular puja — in
the morning and the evening — is conducted besides Naivedya to the deity every
day with the help of the interest earned from the corpus fund. The temple is
visited by devotees in large numbers. The Melaseval Navaneethkrishnaswami
Temple Seva Trust aims at running Vedic Patasala, educational institutions and
hospitals/clinics for the benefit of the community surrounding this village.
Kalasabishekam is conducted every Year of the day of Thai Poosam and many
devotees from all the places attends this pooja.