Manalikarai Madam, Kanyakumari

Manalikarai Madam, Kanyakumari

Manalikarai Madam is located at Manalikarai, a small village located in the southern part of ancient Travancore state, presently under Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu in Kalkulam Taluk. The area comes under Padmanabhapuram division in Kalkulam Taluk in Kothanallur Panchayat. The Malayalam name Manalikkara was very popular during the Travancore state rule and after the reformation of Indian states in 1956, this place is more known as Vazhikkalampadu and it became the part of Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu.

This place belonged to constituency of Princely Travancore State in 1235 AD. The Inscription about Taxation was written in a pillar in front of the Manalikkara Alwar Temple in year 410 ME during the rule of Venadu ruler King Veera Ravi Kerala Varma. The place Manalikkara has its influence as one of the branch of Travancore royal family in Kalkulam in 1610 AD. Raja Sri Illaya Rama Varma from Venadu was from Manalikkara branch of the family in Kalkulam.

The old building in Manalikkara is Manalikkara Madam or Manalikkara Kalpaka Mangalathu Madam is the monastery of Brahmins. The Brahmin scholars lived in Manalikkara proved their expertise in tantric rituals, vedics and literatures. They served as priests in several temples in Kalkulam. The last patriarch of the family who lived in Manalikkara is K V Manalikkara whose name is Kesavaru Vasudevaru. He was a good writer and poet. His contributions in Malayalam script writings, poems and translations are memorable.

The major translations by K V Manalikkara from Sanskrit to Malayalam are Sasthreeya Bhouthikavadha Rekha, Rahul Sankrityante Darshana Rekha, Samugiya Rekha and Vishwarekha. He also translated Maxim Gorky’s book "Mother" in Malayalam. He also wrote and published the second smallest book in the world called "Rasarasika" is 1.5 cm’s in length and 1 cm in width contain 5 characters in each line readable only through lens.

The Manalikkara Madam is founded by this Hindu Brahmin family, residing in a place called Mathur in Kalkulam Taluk. They were the priest of Thiruvattaru Adhikesava temple. To overcome the poverty, they believed in worshipping lord Ganesha deity which was then lying in the place called Kottur. They brought the deity to Manalikkara Madam and started worshiping. The writer and lyricist S.Ramesan Nair is also from the neighboring village Kumarapuram who wrote poem about Manalikkara Lord Krishna.

There is a small library named "Keasva Vilasam Vayanashala" in Manalikkara which had been a contribution from the scholars of Manalikkara Madam. Although it is not functioning now, the memories are still alive. Palm leaf manuscript bundles about ancient scientific researches and vedic literature's were found from Manalikkara Madam that later shifted to Oriental Research and Manuscript Library of University of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram. The 13 plays in Sanskrit called Swapnavasavadatta written by the famous playwright and ancient poet Bhasa were unearthed from Manalikkara Madam in 1912 by T.Ganapati Sastri that was believed to be lost till the time. 

The Sanskrit literature Devi Mahatmiyam written in palm leaves fabricated in the shape of garland was also found in Manalikkara Madam. It consists of a string of fifteen beads, each made of inseparable palm leaves pressed against two ingeniously worked out knots. "Aryamanju sreemoola kalpam" a rare work about Buddhism also unearthed from Manalikkara Madam. The script is in Devanagari, written with special resinous ink. It consists of 307 palm leaves. The "Manalikkara Shasanam" written by Ravi Kerala Varma and the Unnuneeli Sandesam script found by the poet Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer were from the library of Manalikkara Madam.

Manalikarai is located at about 13 Kms from Marthandam, 10 Kms from Thiruvattaru, 10 Kms from Padmanabhapuram, 12 Kms from Eraniel, 20 Kms from Nagercoil, 9 Kms from Thuckalay, 18 Kms from Colachel, 42 Kms from Kanyakumari, 27 Kms from Boothapandi, 16 Kms from Thirparappu and 58 Kms from Thiruvananthapuram. Nearest Railway Station is located at Eraniel and Nearest Airport is located at Thiruvananthapuram.