The myth of Palan Pulayan, a Dalit farm worker who lived in the eighteenth century, and a temple dedicated to him by the Chittedathu Nair family in Kanjeettukara, near Kozhencherry, has broken the barriers of caste and religion.
The wayside shrine at Kanjeettukara in the foothills of Ponmala houses an idol of Palan Pulayan wielding a sickle in his right hand.
The shrine, now, is a place of worship drawing people from all castes and religions. Palan Pulayan is believed to have been the head farm worker of the Chittedathu family having a lineage of 700 years.
Myth has it that Palan, while tilling the farm, once got a treasure box of gold coins and a golden pumpkin. He handed over the treasure to the head of the Chittedathu family. Palan was later attacked by a tiger and in the tussle both he and the animal were killed. The Nair family head had a vision that Palan was a man of saintly qualities. He then constructed a shrine dedicated to the worker.
The family and their farm workers started worshipping Palan Pulayan since then. The Chittedathu Kudumbayogam (family trust) that came into being in the 20th century had reconstructed the shrine and the idol was replaced thrice over the past three decades, P. Vasudevan Nair who had been the secretary of the family trust for four decades said.
People expressed their gratitude to Palan Appooppan in various forms. They lighted candles and offered farm produces such as coconuts, ghee, lamp, and so on, said Mr. Nair.
