In the current scenario 'Judgement' or 'Justice' has become a sore topic! In fact, people are slowly losing hope on the 'Judiciary'. In such times as these, we are bringing you a heart-felt story of a 'judge' who punished himself for giving a wrong judgement!
Yes, the story of Judge Uncle Temple in Kerala is amazingly unique and quite pitiful at the same time. This interesting tale takes us back to the days of Tranvencore Kingdom. Once lived a respectable person named Govinda Pillai who was the Royal Judge under the Tranvencore Kingdom. He was said to be the man of words and his judgement was always fair. It so happened that, Govinda Pillai gave a wrong verdict to hang the culprit. Later, he realised that his judgement was entirely wrong and had punished a wrong person.
Cheruvally Temple
Photo Courtesy: Praveenp
The Royal Judge confessed this to the King and asked him to punish him for his mistake. The King jerked out by saying he doesn't have the authority to give 'judgement'. So, Govinda Pillai wrote his own verdict to get himself hanged. The King had to approve as he didn't have any other way. Thus, the Royal Judge was hanged for his mistake. This great story of a sincere judge shows the respect he had towards the 'System of Justice'.
Judge Uncle Temple (Judgiammavan Temple)
The story doesn't end with his death! His family members consulted an astrologer who said that the judge's soul is still not happy with the punishment he got. So, a temple was constructed for the Royal Judge within the Cheruvally Bhagavathi Temple complex.
Judgiammavan Shrine inside Cheruvally Complex
This small shrine is locally famous as Judgiammavan Temple (Judge-Uncle Temple) in Cheruvally village of Kottayam.
Speciality of the Judge Uncle Temple
Judge Uncle Temple gradually became popular in the locality. People who were undergoing legal problems or stuck in a court case came here to seek the blessings from Judgiammavan. Those who pray for the justice and relief from the court case are said to be granted by this Judge God! Hence, many devotees visit Judge Uncle Temple to get out of legal issues. Hence, it is one of the uniquely popular temples in Kerala.
Cheruvally Temple
Cheruvally Sri Bhagavathi Temple
The Judgiammavan Temple is located inside the Cheruvally Sri Bhagavathi Temple premises. Even the Cheruvally Bhagavathi Temple has a great historical importance in Kottayam, Kerala.This 800-year old temple was built during the reign of the King Marthanda Varman.
According to the myth, the statue of the goddess was found in a grove of Red Lucky Seed Tree or Bead Trees near the temple. Once a woman was searching for some tubers in this locality and stuck a sharp weapon to a rock to dig out the tubers. Surprisingly, the rock started to bleed and thus the statue of the goddess was found.
Goddess Durga (Bhagavathi) is the presiding deity of Cheruvally Temple. This age-old shrine also has temples for other Gods and Goddesses like Shiva, Ganesha, Kodumkali, etc. It is also one of the rare temples where Goddess Durga along with all her family members are worshipped in one place.
Over the years, Cheruvally Temple has become more famous because of the Judgiammavan Temple. Many celebrities like cricketer Shreeshanth and Balakrishna Pillai have visited this Judge Uncle Temple.
How to Reach Cheruvally
Cheruvally is a small village in the town of Pokunnam. It is around 36km from Kottayam.