Alathiyoor Nambimar or Alathiyur Mana stands atop of mythology of Vettathunadu in modern Malappuram district of Kerala. Alathiyur Mana was an adobe of Ayurveda medicine and was one of the Ashtavaidya families in Kerala. Ashtavaidyans are eight Ayurvedic practitioners families who were masters of traditional Ayurveda in Kerala. Alathiyur Mana is believed to have hosted Ashwani Kumaras, twin gods associated with medicine and Ayurveda.
Alathiyur is a junction town in Tripangode panchayath in Tirur taluk of Malappuram district, Kerala. Alathiyoor and neighboring areas have been a bastion of Hindu culture and tradition for thousands of years and still caste light to a magnificent Sanatana culture which prevailed eastern part of Malappuram district. Several Hindu temples like Thrikandiyoor temple, Tripangode Shiva Temple, Chamravattom Ayyappan Temple, Hanuman Temple, Garudankavu Temple and Tirunavaya Navamukunda Temple, all of which are within a radius of 10 kilometers. Alathiyur Illam is situated near Poozhikunnu on Tirur road.
Story of Alathiyur Nambi Illam
One of the Nambi in Illam who had known the language of birds and animals, used to converse with them in their languages. He was a great Shiva whorshipper and was a regular visitor of nearby Shiva temple. Everyday, on his way to temple, he used to hear two birds, on the branch of tree, were chirruping the slogans of “ka aruk” which means in Sanskrit ” who is not having illness”. As it became a regular thing, Nambi replied reciting a sanskrit slogan
“Kale hithamitha bhoji krithachamkramana
kramena vamashaya avidhruthamoothra pureesha; sthreeshuyathathma chayo nara soruk”
“A person, who eats lightly and walks a little, defecate on time, do not possess excessive interest in women, are free from illness”.
After hearing a well pleased reply, both birds who are believed Ashwani Kumaras, flew away. A few days later, Ashwani devas disguised themselves in the form of two naughty boys, reached Nambi illam to learn vedas. One day, while Nambi was outside, a man with severe headache approached Nambi Illam for healing. Hearing the news of Nambi’s absence at home, sick man got deeply distressed. The boys came forward and informed the patient that they will heal his headache. Patient was taken to one of the rooms in the illam and two boys left for outside and grabbed some herbals and a karamullu (a thorn with a point like a needle). They applied herbal medicine on the head and opened outer layer of the head cutting with karamullu.Then all the bugs in the head were removed and put back together. One of the boy in illam was watching all these surgical procedure through. The boys who saw the boy in illam and told him that if he looked like this, he would have a squint eye, an alignment disorder of eyes. Since then atleast one child had squint eye and there are people with squint eye even in the present generation too.
Alathiyur Nambi Illam is believed to be the first place in Kerala where a surgery took place. Soon after Nambi came back home, boy in the illam explained everything what he had seen. Two boys informed Nambi that they no longer stay in the illam and handed over a book of medicine to Nambi.
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