Divya Desams in Kerla - useful tips

[Guest guest]

As you are organising a trip to Divyadesa Yathra -

South, I Thought that this may be of useful to you in

planning for Malai Naattu Tirupatis.

 

Regards,

Venkat

 

Srimate Sri Laksminrisimha Divya Paduka Sevaka

Srivan Satakopa Sri Narayana Yatindra Mahadesikaya

Nama:

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Divya Desams in Kerla

Wed, 06 Apr 2005 09:01:41 -0400

 

Dear all

please accept my humble pranams. Kindly excuse me this

is a very long email.

 

I have a very small knowledge about the Kerala based

divyadESams, which I would like to share with you all.

Kindly pardon me for any mistakes committed.

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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