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For
the people who visit Kerala temples, It is a must that, for men they should wear dhothis, in thriuvananthapuram they don't
even permit, an additional bag with you. Men has to remove the shirt completely, before entering into the temple. Ladies, some temples like Guruvayoor, Thiruvananthapuram etc, don't permit Churidar at all.
Saree will be the best
> choice, no one will complain (it
is a pain, becoz, some times the temple guards behave in a bad way in case of "improper dressing" and if you try to enter
without knowledge of dress code). There are other magnificiant Vishnu temples also in kerala. One another example is Thrippunithura.
It is a family temple of Kochi Royal family, Hosting ParamapadaNathan or Poornathrayeesan. I request the bhagavathas who visit
thrikkakkara, also visit, this place, it is in 10 KM distance from trikkakkara and it is as old as trikkakkara. The deity
is in Adisesha Simhasanam, with an exquisite sitting posture. There are very special temple timings. Most of the temples now
follow the Tanthra Samuchayam Kriya bhagam an old collection of temple rituals, and are non agamic. The temple has a
> thirumanjanam early in the morning, followed by the first,
prasanna pooja know as Usha: pooja., the second pooja, is at the time of the rising Sun, around 7.00 AM, this is associated
with a small procession of Perumal, to over see the Sri Bali being done for the
> Dwarapalakas, Dikpalakars, and other buutha ganas and vishwasksena. The fourth pooja is called PanthIradi,
which is done when the Nizhal gets 12 feets of length. It is around 8.30 PM. Ucha PUja is the most important pooja conducted,
is similar to Ijya aradhanam. Many important temples has a special thirumanjanam Called Navakam, assosicated with this pooja.
In big temples,
> it is Panchapakshaparamanandam
that is the food for perumal is associated with special Curry called Kalan, OLan, Erisseri, and Mezhukku puratty, Asthram,
and Paysam. After that there is a second Sri Bali, overseen by perumal procession. During Special days,
> this Sri bali is replaced by Sri bhUtha Bali, which is a
slightly more elaborate version of it. During Annual Festival Days, a much more elaborate version of it which takes 7 hours
to finish (in the case of Perumal time varies, for other demigods) is done called Uthsava
Bali. After ucha pooja around 12 pm, the temple closes and reopens around 5 pm. Which is associated with a deepa arathi. The
night pooja, called Aththazha pooja, starts around 8 pm, which is followed by a third Sri Bali, again over seen by perumal.
there
are 13 divyadESams based on malai Nadu, out of them, there are 11 divyadESams
in Kerala. (other two are in the boundaries i guss, thiruvattaru for sure, it is in the Tamilnadu-kerala border near to Thiruvanantha
puram, other one is thiruvanparisaram) the Sangameswara temple at irinjalakuda, is not among the mangalasasanam divya dESam.
besides its associated temple Thirumoozhikkalam, which is near to Mala, in thrissUr
district is the divyadeSam. thirikkakkarai, also is not near to irinjalakkuda, it is in Cochin, these are the 11 temples inside
kerala
1. Thiru naavaay
2. Thiru viththuvakkOdu
3. Thiruk kaatkarai
4. Thiru mUzhikkaLam
5. Thiru vallavaazh
6. Thiruk kadiththaanam
7. Thiruch chengkunRanUr
8. Thiruppuliyur
9. ThiruvaaRan
viLai
10. Thiru vaN vaNdUr
11. Thiru anandha puram
1. Thiru naavaay
MOOLAVAR : Tirunavai Mukundan
Thayar:
Malarmangai Naachiyaar
Vimanam: Veda Vimanam
TEHARTAM: Senkamala Saras
OTHER
SANNIDHIES : There are subshrines to Ganapati on the south west corner and Bhagavati
on the north east corner.
This
is the only divyadEsam, in Kerala which has a separate sannidhi for thayar. The image of Navamukundan is portrayed only from
above the knee, the rest of the image being concealed within the ground. There are interesting legends associated with this
state of the image. There is believed to be a bottomless unexplored pit behind the image in the sanctum. The Maasi makam festival
used to be
> celebrated at this temple in great
splendour on the Bharatapuzha river bank for a 30 day period commencing with Thaippoosam, once in 12 years (corresponding
to the Maha makam festival at Kumbhakonam). This celebration stopped after control of the region
> passed on to Hyder Ali in the 18th century. It is indeed the cradle of culture in northern Kerala.
HOW TO REACH: best travel base is Shornanur, from where one can easily get into Malapuram Dist near Ponnani
and situated on the banks of the river Bharathapuzha. The ten-day annual festival at the Thirunavaya Navamukunda Temple, dedicated
to Navamukunda (Lord Vishnu), begins with Kodiyettam and concludes with Arattu (theertha vari). The last three days are the most auspicious.
2. Thiru viththuvakkOdu
MOOLAVAR : Uyyavanda Perumaal.
(Thiruvithuvakkottamman as KulaSekhara perumaL referes him) Padmapani
Naachiyaar
TEHARTAM: Chakra Theertham
OTHER SANNIDHIES :
The same travel base as that of thirunavaya, it is also in malappuram dist. But if you ask, somebody on the road
about thiruvithuvakkode, nobody will be able to answer. It is popularly known
as thirumittakkode, or anchumurthy kovil, the temple has connections to > mahabharatha, and said to be installed by the pandavas. The annual festival is celebrated in the
month of Chittirai.
3. Thiruk kaatkarai
MOOLAVAR : Trikkakkarai Appan. Perunchelva Naayaki thayar
TEHARTAM:
kapila theertham
OTHER SANNIDHIES : sridevi, Ayyappan, Gopalakrishnan (inside the main shrine) there
is an associated siva temple, just on the doorstep, which is believed to be worshiped by Mahabali himself. The local practice
is first to go to siva temple, and then to go to katkarai appan sannidhi. I lived in this place for last 5 years, had a daily
darshan of katkarai appan. Besides this there is a shrine of a Brahma Rakshas,
also, out side the temple., the shrine has associations with the temple
HOW TO REACH: it is situated, close to the Cochin University of Science and Technology. So on the route to Eranakulam from Thrissur at NH 47, one has to
deviate from South Kalamassery (this is 5 km after Alwyae junction which has a big Railway stn).
> In the month of Sravanam starting from the star Hastham till Thiruvonam is the annual Festival, which is also the festivals for keralites, Onam.
4. Thiru
mUzhikkaLam
MOOLAVAR : Moozhikkalattappan (Lakshmana Perumaal)
TEHARTAM:
Shankha Theertham
This shrine is associated with legends from the Ramayanam. Legend has it that while
Bharata the brother of Rama and Lakshmana, came to invite Rama, then in exile, to take over the reins of the kingdom, an angry
Lakshmana suspecting Bharata's intentions intended to kill him; however, Bharata's
innocence was very soon revealed, and then the two of them offered worship together at Tirumoozhikkalam. Worship is offered
to Rama, Sita and Hanuman at this spot acknowledging their presence. No music is played during worship services here, unlike
other temples. The annual festival which falls in the malayalam month of Makaram used to be an occasion of great festivity, with performances of koothu and Koodiyaattam for a 41 day period (in the temple Koothambalam).
Associated closely with this temple are temples dedicated to Bharata at Irinjalakuda Rama at Triprayar
and to Satrugna at Payammel.
The
temple was Sacked by during Tippus invation, like the temple at Thiruvanjikkalam. The image of the presiding deity is in a
damage . A silver kavacam or armour was made as a covering for the image; however soon after installation of the kavacam an
attempt was made to steal it. Afterwards a Devapransam was conducted, which insisted that the perumal wanted to be in that
state only, he didn't want to hide the damage or replace the moolavar. Since then it stays like that. For the people who travel
from GuruvayUr, towards, trikkakkara, the best is to cover thiruMUZhikkalam first.
Infact, it is a practice in Kerala, during the Ramayana month (Adi month) to visit the four temples Thriprayar, irinjalakkudai,
moozhikkalam, and payummal on the same day it self. One can infact finish this on the
same day, if you are in a vehicle, and this is en route to cochin from guruvayUr,
if you adopt the route through the NH 17 and then switch to NH 47. (if you stick on to NH 17 alone, it is not possible to
reach moozhikkalam directly.)
5. Thiru vallavaazh
MOOLAVAR : Sri Vallabhan. There is a subshrine to Vishwaksena, in the north east >
corner of the inner prakaram, facing south. Vallabha is portrayed as bearing
a conch, a discus and a lotus. Chakraththazhvar is seen through the west cardinal door
of the sanctum is held in worship and is believed to have been installed in the
13th century. Much of the present form of the temple dates back to the 14th century. Festivals: A one day festival is conducted in
the month of May when images of deities (Bhagawati) from the Kavil, Padappaad
and Alamthurathu temples are brought in decorated palanquins to this temple and
brought in through the northern entrance of the temple in great splendor and
are given offerings of new clothes and the likes prior to their return to their respective
temples. It is only on this day that the northern entrance is opened. HOW TO
REACH: the comfortable staying place, is Kottaym, from which thiruvalla town is in 1hour distance. But thiruvalla is also
a developing town.The following five temples, Thiruvalla, Trikkodithanam, thirichittar
(don't ask thiruchengannur), thirupuliYUr, Aranmulai and thiruvanvandoor are
also considered to be consecrated by the pandavas (except thiruvalla). And it
is also a practice of the south keralaites, to go to all these
> five temples (except thiruvalla other five are together
called Anchambalam) in one day. That means they are situated in and around thriruvalla, chengannoor and aranmula. This place
is one of the base camp of Sabarimala temple so, if you want to have a better calmly darsan avoid sabarimala Season.
6. Thiruk
kadiththaanam
MOOLAVAR
: Amrita Narayanan Tirukkodittanam is one of the five ancient shrines in the Chengannur area of Kerala, connected with the
Mahabharatam. (thiruchittar - Yuddhishtra, Tiruppuliyur - Bheema, Aranmula
- Arjuna, Tiruvamundur - Nakula and Tirukkadittaanam
- Sahadeva). It is located near the town of Changanacheri near Kottayam. There
are subshrines to Narasimha and Dakshinamurthy here. The Narasimha image is said
to date back to the Vijayanagara period. Deepa Mahotsavam is celebrated
> in the month of Vrischikam (Nov 15 - Dec 15). This festival
is said to commemorate the self immolation of Madri the mother of Sahadevan.
In this unique festival, plantain leaves are arranged in the form of a pyre,
and torches are inserted and lighted to the accompaniment of unique percussion instruments.
7. Thiruch chengkunRanUr
The better used name is thrichittaru, becoz, there is a huge siva temple
at chengannur. So if you ask chengannur, people will simply direct you there.
MOOLAVAR : Imaiavarappan,
In its good days, this temple's annual festival in the malayalam month of Meenam (this is that particular month,
I don't know tamil name) witnessed elaborate celebrationss with performances
of Chakkiyar koothy, Koodiyattam etc.
8. Thiruppuliyur
MOOLAVAR : Maayappiraan (Kuttanattu > thiruppuliyoor as inscribed
by Nammazhvar). Local legends associated with feudal warfare amongst the local
rulers and the priests are also associated with this temple. It is believed that
this temple lay without worship
for a 200 year period after which it was consecrated and reopened.
9. ThiruvaaRan viLai
MOOLAVAR : Parthasarathy (Tirukkuralappan) Aranmula is a beautiful village located further inland from Chengannur, (9 km west) on the left bank of
the Pampa river. The temple has four towers over its entrances on its outer wall.
The eastern tower is
>
accessed through a flight of 18 steps. Descending 57 steps through the northern tower, one can reach the Pampa river.Aranmula
Boat Race is done on the Uthrashada star after the thiruvonam star, in the month of Avani. On thiruvonam day there are special
> rituals and thadiyaradhanam, is done for thousands of people,
and the person who leads the festival, takes fasting on Onam day (which is very unusual). The temple was consecrated by Arjuna.
And there is no other shirine other than parthasarathy, and Balarama.
> The annual festival is again falling in this month (I am not sure, it is over or not), and the last days
are very special becoz, one day perumal comes out in Garuda vahanam, I think this is the only temple in Kerala has a Garuda
Sevai.
10. Thiru vaN vaNdUr
MOOLAVAR : Kamalanathan
The deity Kamalanathan is portrayed in a standing posture; the
name Pambaniyappan which also refers to Kamalanathan arises from the fact the river Pampa cicrles the town (Pampa nadi appan).
There is also a shrine to Gopalakrishnan here.
11.
Thiru anandha puram
MOOLAVAR : Anantha padmanabhan I have
no words to describe this temple. It is the sriramgam of Kerala. Hosting one of the largest Sayana Perumals. There is also a narasimham and a Krishna sannidhi.
The place, which the temple hosted is in the heart of the city of Thiruvanantha
puram. The theertham is known as padma theertham. Huge temple structure was said to be renovated, including the moolavar, by Marthanda Varma the great who is a late
successr of Kulashekara perumal Azhavar. In 1750 he took over the charge of the
kingdom as padmanabha Dasan. The official title of the kings of Travancore is
Still Kulasekhara perumal. Among them the first being the azhwar, the second one being a Nayanar, third one a Muslim, since
then the royal family stayed belonging to Sankaracharyas tradition. Martanda Varma of the Travancore Kingdom, in a spectacular
ceremony in 1750 surrendered the kingdom to the presiding deity of the temple, and received it back as a fiefdom and ruled
Travancore as a servant of Padmanabhan; all of
> his successors adopted this custom. Much of the present structure dates back to the period of Martanda
Varma, who made several renovations and built the eastern gopuram, which got completed by 1798. The flagstaff is enclosed
in a casing of gold. The Kulasekhara mandapam near the flagstaff has fine sculptures dating back to the 17th century. The
long prakaram, with a terraced roof with 324 columns, mesaures 540 feet by 325 feet, and is about 24 feet wide. It has two
rows of granite pillars, and every pillar bears an image of a Deepalakshmi. Also here are images of yalis (mythological animal),
with non removable stone balls in their mouths. (thanks to templenet.com)
There are two annual festivals here - one in the month of Pankuni (Pisces-Meenam) March
15-April14, and the other in Aippasi (Tulaa-Libra) (Oct-Nov). one of which has a theertha vary in the Samkhum mukham beach.
Which is associated by the great royal procession. King of travencore, still Guards the procession, followed by the special
Police squads, of Kerala police. The procession is a feat to eyes.
HOW TO REACH: five minutes distance from Thiruvanathapuram Railway station. The place is known as Kizhakke
Kotta (or East Fort).
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