Naranath Branthan - The Prophet Lunatic
Naranath, the mad, the most popular among the twelve issues of Parayi (Parayi Petta Panthirukulam) was a man with unusual talents. At the same time, he was a social revolutionary who taught against the social evils and blind beliefs prevailed during the period. Those who were unable to understand the revolutionary view points of the man called him mad.
He was believed to have grown up in a namboodiri home called Naranath Mangalam in Chethaloor, a place near Mannarkad of Palghat district in Kerala. When he went to Thiruvegappura, another place in Palghat district for his studies in Vedas, he became an inhabitant of Rayiranellor Mountain. From there, he experienced the vision of Devi and for the welfare of humanity; he enshrined the Devi and started worshipping her. Rayiranellor, which was the main seat for Naranath, the Mad, was a place blessed with the beauty of nature and it was a meeting place of many divine spirits. He who was a priest and enshrined icons in many temples was said to have many divine qualities.
Many fabulous stories are in circulation in association with Naranath, the mad. He who lived the life of a beggar used to prepare his food at any place where fire and water were available with the rice and all he got by begging. He used to sleep also at the same place. One day, the place caught fire. When he had started preparing his food over there, the goddess of cemetery called 'Chudala Bhdra Kali' and her companions who were there to dance, asked him to leave the place. She thought of this as a plan to usurp the place and so she warned him to leave the place quickly. But soon she realized that he was an unusual man and thus she decided to give him a blessing of hits choic. Naranath, the mad demanded to change his time of death. But the goddess who denied this asked him to demand something else. Thus he had demanded to change his elephantiasis disease from his left leg to right leg and he won the consent of the goddess. The end of this socialized man with unbelievable talents is not recorded any where.