In ancient times, the local kings used to divide their territories by dividing them into borders for administrative convenience. Such small local kingdoms are called swaroopam.
The swaroopam of the Kolathiri kings in Kannur district of northern Kerala was called Kola. The word Kolathiri was derived from the word Kolathirivadi Koviladhikarikal. The old name of the Kola swaroopam was Mooshika Vamsam. The Kola swaroop is also known as the Kola dynasty. Although the main headquarters of the Kola swaroop is Chirakkal, the Kola swaroop does not have a permanent headquarters. The Kola Swarupam was mainly governed from eight headquarters. At various times, the eight headquarters from which the kings ruled according to their convenience were respectively these: Madai Kotta, Ezhikotta in Ramanthali, Kollam Kotta in Pantalayani, Sreekantapuram in Taliparamba, Perumkotta in Valapattanam, Kadalai Kotta, Chirakkal Kovilakam, and Karipathu Palli Kovilakam in Taliparamba.
In Madai Thiruvirakattil Kavil Sree Bhadrakali (Madaikkavilamma) is the primary Deity of the Kola Swarupam .
Over time, the Kola Swarupam split into two branches through two sisters. The branches were Udayamangalam, which was headquartered in Madai, and Palli Kovilakam, which was headquartered in Karipathu.
The Kolathiri Swarupam maintained good friendship with Travancore. These two kingdoms stood together to defeat the Kadamba Chalukya and Bellala armies. Also, when the Travancore dynasty had no children, it was common to adopt children from the Kolara family. It was during the time of Aditya Varma that two princes were first adopted from the Kolathu land. When they reached Travancore, they built a temple in Attingal to the clan deity Thiruvarkad Bhagavathy , which is also known as Thiruvirakad temple. Since the Attingal Thiruvirakad temple came from Madai Kavu, most of the people who performed the rituals there were also from Madai. In both the temples, especially the customs, all are the same.
Royal Seal: A rectangular gold plate featuring the inscription ‘Kolathiruvadi Koviladhikarikal’ in a semi-circular shape at the top half. Beneath this, there is a Vaka (Mushik) flower, with a sword positioned below it. Below the sword, a chain with a burning wick is depicted, and at the very bottom of the plate, a boat is illustrated.
Flag: Two curved swords drawn face to face on a white cloth, with a Vaka flower positioned between them and four small boats stacked one below the other.
Although the Kolathiri dynasty became divided into many dynasties, in the form of Kolathiri, the first four ranks of each family were given property as Kolathiri, second dynasties, third dynasties and fourth dynasties. In all dynasties, the oldest males were called Kolathiri and the females were called Achamma.
The Chirakkal Kovil, which is the main headquarters of the Kolathiri dynasty, was built in 858 AD. In the old temple, there is a room that is the headquarters of the gods, which is called the kottilakam.
