The Lord of Thiruvilwamala

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> !! Sri Rama Jayam !!

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> Thiruvilwamala - GIREESAN.C

> http://thiruvilwamala.tripod.com/

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> Among the three famous temples dedicated to Lord Sri Rama in Kerala,

Tiruvilwamala is the foremost, the image here being self born (Swayam Bhu). The

other two temples are Triprayar near Trichur and Tiruvangad in North Kerala.

Similarly, there are only a few temples for Lakshmana in India, let alone in

Kerala. There is one temple at Vennimala some 8km away from Kottayam. But it is

not as well known as Tiruvilwamala. To the south of the sanctum is the little

Ganapati shrine, which faces east. The east facing image (Lakshmana) is believed

to be an image of Vishnu held in worship by Shiva. It is said to have been

granted to Parasurama (yet another incarnation of Vishnu) who is said to have

established the image here and initiated a worship protocol. The west facing

image is said to have been installed by a sage by name Aamalaka who with intense

fervor prayed to Vishnu and requested that he take up abode on the Vilvadri

hill. Outside the temple and down below on the southern side a flight of stone

steps lead to the shrine of Hariharaputra or Ayyappa installed on the same

pedestal as Siva and Parvati. The entire courtyard of the temple is paved with

stone slabs. On the north side is the temple tank. There is no well inside the

temple which is another peculiarity. The water required for daily worship is

drawn from a tank situated in the northeast side. Therefore no one is allowed to

use this tank. If any pollution is suspected water is brought from the nearby

Bharatapuzha. The popular belief is that darshan of both Tirunavayi and

Tiruvilwamala on one and the same day is very auspicious. Since seeing the light

of temple even from a distance is equal to seeing the deity, lights in the

towers were prohibited. It was ordained by the Lord that the real Bhakta should

come physically to Tiruvilwamala and pray rather than adopt the short cut of

viewing the lights from Tirunavayi.

> Legend:

> The story goes that once the temple priests sleeping on the top storey of the

gopuram lighted a lamp and some of them went to Tirunavayi to see if the lights

could be really seen from there. They did see the lamp and they showed it to

others as well. The very next day the gopuram was struck by lightning and

thunder and was razed to the ground. They have not been rebuilt since. According

to legend, the eastern idol is the earlier one and was installed by Parasurama

himself. It is a stone image about three feet in height. When decorated with

gold ornaments, flower garlands and diamond diadem the little image shines and

is beautiful to behold. Sri Vilwadri Mahatmya, a Sanskrit text with 18 chapters,

describes the origin of this ancient temple. It is in the form of a conversation

between Uma (Parvati) and Maheswara (Siva). According to this, Bhargava Rama, as

Parasurama is called, prayed to Siva for the liberation of his pitrus. Pleased

with the prayers of Parasurama, Parameswara granted him the image of Vishnu

which He Himself was worshipping. Parasurama, in his search for a suitable place

for the installation of the deity, came across the beautiful Vilwadri, full of

Amala trees. He constructed a temple here, consecrated the deity and laid down

the pooja r> outine. He brought the pirtus and got them liberated as a result of

the darshan of the divine deity. The place he settled down finally is still

known as Bhutan mala. Self born Image The image in the sanctum facing west is

Swayambhu or self born. It is four to five feet tall and is permanently fitted

with a gold plated cover for the protection of the image and hence never

renewed. Once a priest while trying to remove the coverings damaged the idol

slightly. Thereafter it was decided to fit it permanently. The cover is in two

portions one up to the waist and the other above both so dexterously joined

together as not to be visible as separate ones. It is said that there used to be

a hole on the pedestal in front> of the deity.. The. water filled here was

served as tirtha. Once a piece of kadali plantain fell into this. The priest

tried to remove this by piercing the hole with a sharp instrument. He heard a

cracking sound of the stone and the tool fell from his hand. The tirtha also

dried up subsequently. It is believed that below the sanctum there is a cave and

also a golden Vilwa tree. Some say, it is because of this that the place came to

be called Vilwamala.

> According to another legend when the power of the Vishnu deity increased

enormously the asuras foared their end would come soon. To prevent this one

asura assumed the guise of a Brahmin and came to the temple. He mixed freely

with other Brahmins and participated in the temple feast with them. At night he

would haunt the temple, would kill the cows and other animals and eat their

flesh. He throw the bones and horns at one place which became a heap. This is

still called muri kunnu (muri means ox and kunnu means hill.) This aroused the

suspicion of other people who were frightened beyond their wits. They prayed to

God. One dark night in the month of Kumbha when everyone was fast asleep the

asura broke open the sanctum and tried to destroy the idol. Then Mahavishnu

assumed the form of Narasimha (half man and half lion) and tore him to death.

Hearing the asuraÂ> '> swailings people came but were also frightened by the

fierce form of the God. At this juncture Vilwamangalathu Swamiyar appeared and

he praised the Lord with stotras, addressing him as Vilwadrinatha. The Bhagawan

calmed and assumed his benign form. People were overjoyed and started addressing

him as Vilwadrinatha after the sage. Rigorous Tapas The story of the origin of

the Swayambhu deity in the west Nada is also related in the Vilwadri Mahatmya

referred to earlier. According to this, Aamalakan, the son of Kashyapa

Prajapati, started a rigorous tapas to propitiate Mahavishnu. lndra thought his

objective was to conquer Swarga. He, therefore, deputed the celestial beauties

Urvasi, Rambha and Tilottama to interrupt his tapas. But they failed in this.

Therefore he approached Kashyapa himself who explained to lndra that Aamalakan

had no ambition nor was he interested in things transient. He was only

interested in attaining unstinted devotion to God. lndra felt happy and left.

But the asuras became panicky. They thought this severe penance would bring

about their ruin. They decided to end it by adopting various means, by creating

terror in Aamalakan. But the latter opened his eyes which emitted sparks of fire

which ultimately turned into a huge fire. The asuras became breathless and died

on the spot. The heap of the dead was transformed into rock which is even now

known as rakshasapaara (paara meaning rock) to the south east of the present

temple. Sage Aamalakan continued his prayer. Pleased by his perseverance, the

four armed Mahavishnu adorned with conch, etc., accompanied by Lakshmi and

Bhudevi with Adisesha as his canopy, appeared before him. The sage shed tears of

joy and bowed before Bhagawan. Mahavishnu asked devotee to name any boon.

Aamalakan said that he desired nothing in this world, not even heaven. What he

wanted was achanchala bhakti, unstinted devotion. He also requested the Lord to

remain there for the protection of those who suffer in this samsara. Mahavishnu

agreed and transferred his image to the deity. Thus both vigrahas facing east

and west are of Mahavishnu. Aamalaka Maharshi used to chant RamaÂ> '> s names

while doing japas on the west side. Hence people praying here also uttered Rama

nama and worshipped the deity as Sri Rama. Consequently the idol on the east

side came to be regarded as Lakshmana, RamaÂ> '> s brother and life breath

Festivals The important annual festival here is Ekadasi in the Malayalam month

of Kumbha (February - March). On Ashtami, Navami and Ekadasi days there is

vilakku (festival of lights), niramalas (decoration with flower garlands) and

elephant processions, Elaborate feasts used to be held in the past, which like

other temples have been discontinued with the change o> f times. On Ekadasi day,

of course, hundreds of devotees observe fast and forgo their sleep. They spend

their time in temples in prayers and in witnessing a variety of entertainmentÂ>

'> s given freely by famed artistes. Trichur, an abbreviation of 'Tiru

> Shiva Perur', or the town with the name of Lord Shiva, is appropriately named.

The central and most important feature of this, one of the major cities of North

Kerala, is Vadakkunath Kshetram where the reigning deity is Lord Shiva. Situated

on a hillock right in the centre of the city, the spaciously laid out

'kshetram', or temple, attracts thousands of devotees from all over the land.

Tiruvilvamala, located north of Thrissur in Kerala houses the twin temple

complex atop the Vilvadri hill, dedicated to Rama and Lakshmana. As in the case

of Triprayar, Moozhikkalam, Irinjalakuda and Payyamel, the images held in

reverence here are those of Maha Vishnu, worshipped as Rama and Lakshmana

respectively. The name Vilvamala or Vilvadri arises from the belief that there

is a subterranean chamber beneath the temple housing a golden vilva tree. The

Bharatapuzha river About half a mile north of Tiruvilvamala is the Bharatapuzha

river, considered to be the Ganges of Kerala. Tiruvilvamala, Tirunaavai,

Tiruvituvakkode, Tirthala and Tiruchikuzhi are five of the shrines along the

course of the river. It is believed that Tiruvilvamala is to the Bharatapuzha

river what the Manikarnika ghat in Benares is to the Ganges. To the east of the

Tiruvilvamala temple is a cave, known as the Punarjanani. It is believed that

trekking through this cave would end one's cycle of births and deaths. It is

only on the Ekadasi day in the month of Scorpio that this pilgrimage is

undertaken. Architecture The temple complex consists of two sancta with

pyramidal two tiered copper plated roofs with gables. There is no flagstaff here

as in Triprayar. The entire temple complex has ornamental gopuradwaras or entry

tower bases, without the towers. It is believed that the towers that existed

here used to be lit at night and that the lighted towers used to be visible from

as far away as Tirunaavai, and that the towers were struck down by lightning.

The two shrines house images of Mahavishnu. The west facing sanctum houses a

five feet tall gold plated image of chaturbhuja Vishnu. The gold kavacam covers

what is believed to be a svayamvyakta (self created) image. The gold covering is

never removed. The east facing shrine houses a three feet tall stone image of

Mahavishnu and is decorated with fine jewelry and garlands. While the west

facing image is worshipped as Rama, the east facing image which is believed to

be older is worshipped as Lakshmana. Also in this temple are shrines to Ganapati

and Saasta. The current structure is largely a result of renovationions carried

out by the rulers of Cochin in late 19th century after a devastating fire

destroyed much of the temple. Prior to it it had been renovated in mid ninteenth

century, and prior to it it had been attacked by the armies of Tippu Sultan in

the 18th century. Festivals The annual festival here falls on the Ekadasi day in

the month of Pisces (February - March).

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