Vamanamurthy Temple-Thrikkakkara Mahakshetram

There are five Mahakshetrams(Prominent Temples) in Kerala.Four of them are Vishnu Temples and one belongs to Lord Shiva They are 1)Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple,Thiruvananthapuram,2)Shri Poornathreyasi Temple,Thripunithura,3)Shri Vamana Moorthy Temple Thrikkakkara and4)Shrikrishna Temple Guruvayur.Allthese Temples are Vishnu Temples .The fifth one is5)Shri Vadakkumnathan Temple,Thrissur pertaining to Lord Shiva In the first of these series of Temples,the Vamanamoorthy Temple (Thrikkakkarappan Kshetram)at Thrikkakkara near Edappally&Kakkanad around 10 KM from Ernakulam City is being discussed. The name THRIKKAKKARA came into existence over a legend when Lord Vishnu in His 5th incartnation as Vamana Murthy came to this place to drive Mahabali,an Asura King away from there to restore the Authority of Indra. With this motive in mind Vishnu in His 5th incarnation as Vamana,a Brahmin Boy approached the King Mahabali for just 3 feet of Land.Mahabali being a generous King loved by everyone,readily agreed to the request much against the advice from his trusted Shukracharya. As soon as consent was granted Lord Vishnu assumed his real Giant form of Thrivikrama measured the first feet from heaven to Earth,the second within the Earth resulting in nonavailability of space for the third feet/ step. Mahabali ,with all his humbleness allowed the Vamana to keep his feet on his head&bowed in front of Vamana. Lord Vishnu was highly pleased with the humble nature of the King & liked to grant him Immortality by pushing him down to the netherworld(The Patahalam).Incidentally there is a place near Ernakulam called Pathalam but does not appear to have any relation to the legend. Lord Vishnu also granted permission to the King to visit his Prajas(People ruled by him)every year during the festival of ONAM between August&September during the month of Vernacular Month of Chingam. Thus as a result of the three feet of the Lord ,the place was called "Thiru""Kaal""Kara"{Land of Three feet}. This gave the name Thrikkakkara to the Place in the Fifth Century.So goes the Legend on Thrikkakkara. Since then every year during the festival period of Onam,the people all over Kerala make Clay vigrahas called Thrikkarappan to perform Poojas in order to Welcome their beloved King Mahabali. During this 10 Days festival of Onam from Atham (a Star) to Thiruvonam(another Malayalam AStar),the people of Kerala collectively recite the popular Malayalam Song"Maveli Naadu Vaanidum Kalam Manusharellarumonnu pole" the meaning of which is "during the rule of the King Mahabali the people of Kerala were equal in Status &Happy" The Great Mahakshetra of Thrikkakkara is believed to be 13 centuries old& built by Chera King Kulasekhara Varma The Temple is believed to have constructed in the rare mode of Temple Architecture There is also one Shiva Temple nearby outside the Thrikkakkara Temple.It is very interesting to note that though the Thrikkarappan or Vamana Is worshipped for 10 days of Onam during August- September,the Lord Shiva is also being worshipped with equal Fervor. In the Lord Shiva Temple Complex ,LordGanapathy,lord Dharmasastha,Goddess Bhagavathy,Goddess Durga,Goddess Parvathy,Lord Goplakrishna,Lord Subrahmanya are also being worshipped with equal geity along with Lord Vamana& Lord Shiva. The Equal status of Different Hindu God& Goddesses are being Demonstrated in Thrikkakkara Very clearly visible by providing different Temple complexes inside one compound. Thus this place is worth visiting by Hindu Devotees. The Temple Pond Is called Kapila Thertham on the north side of thr main shrine& is being considered Holy.The Temple Priests alone are allowed to enter the Kapila Theertha Complex. There is one seat also provided to King Mahabali inside the Sreekovil of Mahadeva The prominent¶mount Festival of the Thrikkakkara Temple is the ONAM FESTIVAL being celebrated between star ATHAM to THIRUVONAM in the Vernacular(Malayalam)month of Chingam. In the olden days the celebrations began under the personal supervision of the Kochi Maharaja &is called ATHACHAMAYAM being taken as a Military Procession in colorful &traditional robes from Thrippunithura to Thrikkakkara. Nowadays,however,the Athachamayam is symbolic &restricted to Thrippunithura alone.The Festival ends with welcome to the great Asura king Mahabali on the tenth day of the Celebrations. Besides the usual Temple rituals &Poojas,the Onam Fesival for 10 days is being highlighted by staging specialities of KERALA like KATHAKALI,CHAKYAR KOOTH,OTTAMTHULLAL ,PATAKAM &similar artistic programmes including dances&dramas. Apart from this,Musical&drum performances from famous artists populary known as PANCHAVAADYAM&THAYAMPOKA are also being staged here daily during the ten days of Onam Celebrations.These performance lasts for hours as is being held at THRISSUR Pooram.The style of Poojas&Temple rites are similar to those performed in yet another highly famous Vishnu Temple GURUVAYOOR in the district of Thrissur. The Onam Festival ends on the tenth day with Aarat a bathing to the idol of Vamana The peculiarity of Thrikkakara is that All Gods&Goddesses in the Temple Complex mainly the MAHADEVA are participating in the Festival with Equal Status as Vamana. The present day Temple complex looks a bit different froom the traditional&conventional existence a few days ago. The reason is the outside Temple Complex is being renovayed without keeping the old Glory in tact.Under whose advice this kind of change is being made to the design of the Famous Tem,ple is unknown. In every Temple the devotees perform the Pradakshina(Going around the Temple in clockwise direction) once or thrice or as many times as they prefer. In a Mahadeva Temple,however,this Pradakshina is terminated after half distance &the devotee retuns in the anti- clockwise direction to complete the Pradakshina.While performing this,at the end of first half distance the devotee looks up at the Tip of the Temple Where the Thazhikakkudam exists &salutes the Thazhikakkudam.(The pictures above denotes this) Unfortunately due to the Renovation process the Thazhikakkudam cease to Exist much to the disgust of the devotees. It is hoped the Thazhikakkudam would be back in the renovated Temple wherefrom many of the Gods&Goddesses have been driven out of the original place .The new temples including that of the Great GANESHA is under construction. The newlook Temple looks like the ghost of the Original.Whether the Sanctity of the original Temple Complex would be kept in tact after the renovation is a matter of concern to the Public& is to be seen&experienced. There is yet another Vamanamoorthy Temple in Ernakulam District near Perumbavoor called Chelamattom Sreekrishna swamyTemple. The Festival of the Vamana moorthy Temple is being held in the Malayalam month of Chingam but with a slight difference from Thrikkakkara.The Kodiyettum of the Festival here begins on the Malayalam star CHOTHI instead of ATHAM at Thrikkakkara.However,like Thrikkakkara the festival ends on Thiruvonam day.In other words,the festival is restricted to 8 days instead of 10 days.In the month of DHANU, however,there is another famous event here called "Dasavatharam Charthal".Again in the month of KUMBHA the Temple Festval is being held from the star day CHOTHI to end after 10 Days. The speciality of the Festival is The LAKSHADEEPRCHANA on the VISAKHAM star day early morning/Night. Thousands of Devotees visit this Temple during Festival. Besides,The Mahadeva Temple in the Ernakulam Town facing the Ernakulam Kayal(river)is yet another added attaraction in Ernakulam. SreedharanMundanat 30th May2014 07-26HRS(IST)

A Rare Gesture of Love from a mother to her beloved son-A story of Love with tears

This is a heart-touching story gathered from media "Life Style"of Manorama. The Story briefly narrated below: A 5 year old boy from Indiana state,USA died of Cancer. He was a fan of the cartoon heroes of kids Spiderman,Superman,Batman,Iron man &so on. This was the novel way adopted by the loving mother to bid farewell to his son to make him happy even in his death. in order to give this rarest farewell,perhaps,the first ever happened ,the mother invited their friends &relatives to take part in the funeral wearing the costumes of the superheroes of the boy.The reason the mother put forward with unending tears in her eyes was that the Boy&she had together seen all the Movies of the superheroes in Movie houses. She thought there can not be a a better way to say good bye for the boy for ever. The relatives&friends obliged her promptly&attended the funeral the way she desired to have it. All gathered at the funeral left the funeral place with tears in their eyes SreedharanMundanat 25th May 2014 16-47hrs(IST)

T Sunami called Modi strikes India

In what it would appear to be the strangest happening in the History of the Democratic World,a TSunami called Modi has struck the Political arena of India.the epicenter of the quake which produced the TSunami is a place called Gujrat. The Most affected party in the impact of the resulting strong wave is CPM whose survival is being traced by rescue operators. Most of the leading latkes headed by strong women as well as the main rival party called Congress are searching in darkness for a clue as to how such a disaster surrounded them.At the moment they are all stunned and without words coming out of their mouth.All their plans were spoiled beyond repair as a result of the TSunami. Further developments in relation to this is awaited . SreedharanMundanat 16th May 2014 15-59 hrs( IST)

Mullaperyar Dam -An unending dispute

The Mullaperiyar Dam is becoming an Unending Dispute hanging like a Democle's Sword over Kerala State. The arguments leading to the safety put forward by Tamil Naadu as approved by Court appears to be silly &a meaningless challenge to the Nature for which neither the Court nor the Government has any kind of control.No one can predict the safety of a dam more than 100 yeras old A natural Calamity resulting in the collapse of the Dam any time can not be ruled out in the future,So the prime importance should have been afforded to the anxiety of the innocent people residing around the Dam than to the Technical view based on which the decision was accorded by the Court ignoring the arguments put forward by the kerala state regarding the danger to the life & property of the people residing around the Dam. A brief history of how the dam came into existence & how the TN assumed control over it is narrated below: The 155 feet high& 1200 feet long Mullaperiyar Dam was constructed by the British Soldiers of the British Corps of Royal Engineers in the year 1895 in order to fecilitate Irrigation to certain districts of the then Presidency of Madras & now being called Tamil Naadu. The places for which irrigation was necessary ,according to the Britishers,were Madurai,sivagangai, Ramanathapuram& Theni.The intention was to make the lands in these places into fertile lands by providing Water The Periyar river is a Westflowing river of the Kerala State.The river flows her full course Entirely through Kerala.She derives her Water exclusively from catchment area inside the state. The Dam Mullaperiyar stops the Westflowing River to form a Reservo(IDUKKI RESERVOIR) which also exclusively located in Kerala.From this Reservoir Tamil Naadu collects water to the Eastern side of the Western ghats via a Tunnel. On the 29thOctober 1886,a written Lease agreement was concluded between the Maharaja of Travancore and the Secretary of States for India for irrigation works. This agreement was made for 999 years. Col.John Pennnnycuick, a Brtish Engineer was theson who decided to change the course of flow of Periyar River from West to East by making Reservoir at Idukki.He also decided to Construct the Dam to fertilise the land in the presidency of Madras(Now Tamil Naadu).He also empowered the Presidency to constuct&maintain the dam. This is how T%amil Naadu started climing the right for the ownership of the Da

After the Independence for India,when the Kerala State was formed based on Linguistic basis,the Kerala Government had a Golden Opportunity to cancel the Contract as it's validity ceased to exist. But it appears that that since Kerala never felt any scarcity for water with plenty of Rivers&other water resources and also in view of the fact that the Political parties were more interested in securing Power to rule,the importance of the Mullaperiyar dam was ignored. The Britishers had fixed nominal rates of taxes for Land& surcharges for generating Electicity. On November 1956 the Kerala State was formed&later on a Poolitical party Government came into existence. The Government so formed announced that the Agreement cocluded by the British Govt&Travancore Raj has become invalid on getting Independence &needed renewal. This announcement,instead of insisting on cacellation of the Agreement was a grave Mistake which hunts Kerala today by the TN Government. Several attempts were made by The Government of Kerala in 1958,1960&1969 but could not be renewed duev to disagreement on various points raised. Finally,in 1970 thethen Chief Minister Shri.C.Achuthamenon renewed the agreement surprisingly again for 999 years. In other words, the agreement would remain in force untilthe year 2969(Two Thousand Nine Hundred andsixty nine) This would not only would appear to be a Blunder but the revised rates fixed to be paid by Tamil Nadu Govt for Land&Surcharges on Electicity Generation at Rs 2.5 Lakhs &7.5 Lakhs .This meagre amounts are being paid to Kerala by TN besides dictating terms regarding the bOwnership. Many Arguments&Technical views were presented to the Court with a view to strengthening the views of Kerala to the effect that the 116years old Dam was in Danger for the peopleresiding around the Dam .In order to ensuring the safety of life&Property of the people, retaining the level of water at 136 feet without increasing to 142 feet suggested by the TN was put forward to the Apex Court recently but unfortunately everything fell into deaf years&the Court has now finally approved the Blunder of Tamiol Nadu to challenge the Nature by raising the level to 142.feet. It is said that the approval by the Apex Court is likely to have the effect of immersing 7158 Hectres of Forest land in water. Besides,Calamities in the form of Earth quake& Flood are looming over the Head of Kerala like a Democle's Sword. Now,Kerala has no option but to pray Nature& to the Apex court to review the case of the Dam again more elaborately to save the life of crores of innocent people . SreedharanMundanat 11th May 2014, 12-57 Hrs(IST)

Live Fortunate Frog in the throat of a Fish

Here is one amusing but true story happened in Townsville,Queensland.believe it or not the Frog remained live in the throat of a fish after it was swallowed by the Fish.Very lucky Frog which later on jumped out of the throat Of the Fish& jumped again to the water. Angus James was just Pulling the lure out of a Jungle perch he had caught to release it back into the water when he found a FunnyTree Frog in the throat of the Fish staring at him with it's prominent eyes focussing on him. James always used to carry a camera with him which he made use of to take the rare photograph of the fortunate frog.By the time refinished taking the photograph,the Frog jumped over his head on to an adjoining Tree& later on Into the water.A remarkable escape from death for the Frog. Later on James said that it seemed to him as though the Frog was smiling at him& indeed he would have too smiled , if he was in the place of the Frog. SreedharanMundanat 6th May 2014 10-50 Hrs(IST))

Cheera& Muringayila

This Blog is in continuation of my Blog dt 27thJuly 2012 regarding "Muringayila Mahatmyam". There is an old saying in Malayalam " Cheerayundengil Chora Nannavum"&"Muringayundengil Marunnu Venda". This highlights the medicinal value of the two leaf vegetables CHEERA& MURINGAYILA. Let us see what Smt Komala Sanath ,a retired Proessor of Botany from Gurruvayurappan College has to say. According to the Professor,If we can afford to get Cheerayila & include it in our food habits we could keep our Blood pure.This is an accepted version since a long time. Now let us see how Cheera can be cultivated in our Terrace or land.Preferably Land. First we have to get good variety of Cheera seeds of 250 Grams.The best source as far as I know is Mannuthi near Thrissur.These seeds are to be covered in a pure white cloth .Make it into a convenient package dip it in water and keep it as such for a couple of days.we could seethe seeds becoming ready for cultivation when the seeds start showing white projections at one tip of the seed.Soon after this we should dig & stir the field with a tool Called " Kaikkot"sprinkle water on the resultant sand and dip the seeds in the sand.Within 10 to 15 days the seeds turn into small plants.Thereafter,these small plants should be shifted in the field & replanted at an approximate Distance of 6 to 8 inches from each other. Now comes the vital part of Cheera cultivation.Plenty of Water& manure are absolutely required for healthy growth Of Cheera.The best feed for Cheera is Cowdung Powder& dry decay of leaves of other plants.One plant needs approximately 1 Kg of the mix for it's healthy growth.Though water is required constantly ,no water should be allowed to accumulate heavily around the plant. In a months time the cheer will be ready to give leaves in Plenty.We have to just collect them on an as required b basis & cook in the kitchen adding all usual ingredients required to cook according to the process prevailing in different places. MURINGA CULTIVATION:. This is practically an easier job to cultivate MURINGA. We have to get good variety of small trunks of MURINGA preferably from the best source known to us cut it into Pieces of 2 feets and then plant them deep in watered land at a distance of 10 feet each other. 2 Kg of Cowdung after a few days is the manure required. The MURINGA would grow itself without much care into big trees. It takes just one year to get leaf,flowers& Kaaya(DRUM STICK) All those are equally good & has medicinal effects. The need to run for medicines & searching for Medical shops could be avoided if one has the Cheera& MURINGA at home The commercial value also for these products are high in the market if you are ready to sell ignoring your own Need to maintain your Heath in order to earn a few easy bucks. Sreedharan Mundanat Sunday May4th 2014 06-15Hrs(IST)

DIGNITY OF LABOUR

This blog is a borrowed one.Indebted to Deepika for the Picture& the matter. The matter being one relating to the Dignity of Labour regarding a person who worshipped Work he did.this made a big impact in me to observe the principle maintained by an Autoriksha Driver & the Trust he has given to the Dignity of Labour.This person stands as a symbol to proclaim to the world that The work one do to earn a living by considering it as a worship with ultimate devotion is the one quality Everyone should have.This again tells the world there is no big or small in work so long as one does it sincerely and with devotion. For this matter,the Prime Minister of a country is also a worker who should show sincerity & devotion to it. There is no meaning in considering oneself as sitting on a Golden Throne so long as the position he achieved does not fall under the category of one which earned with Hard work & devotion. Mr.Samson Velayudhan is an Autoriksha driver in the city of Kochi since last 20 years.He got elected as a Gramapanchayath member also. Since then he is living in this dual capacity.He is of the firm belief that Work is Workship& also believes in wearing his traditional Khaki dress unlike other Pachayat members who wear pure white ironed Dress. White is indeed a symbol of Purity.But this does not mean that by wearing white dress makes a person pure in his heart. Samson believes in righteousness in heart which is an indication of a Noble mind & reflects the true Character Of a person.Wearing a white ironed Shirt does not make a person pure in Heart irrespective of whether he is a panchayat member,MLA,Minister or even Prime minister of a Nation. In the defense Forcelevel& Police Force Level most of the personnel respect the Uniform& Cap they wear. Samson Velayudhan also says Wearing Khaki dress does not prevent him from discharging his duel function Of Panchayat Member& serving the Public by transporting them.He also says being the owner of an Autoriksha enables him to reach places to carry out his duties entrusted by the Panchayath& he is proud of being an Autoriksha driver.Even if becomes a MLA ,he would continue to wear the Khaki dress & has no intention to leave his work which he considers as a worship. Samson Velayudhan is very keen to serve the public by taking them to Hospital,their place of work,their home and so on.He derives immense pleasure in helping needy people. Samson's words are so vital & noble and points out to the Dignity of Labour in which he firmly believes. Sreedharan Mundanat 3rd May2014, 09-10Hrs(IST)

NASA takes SELFIE of Opration.

NASA has started drilling operations on the red planet Mars forth third time according to the discovery News. Currently located at a Geologically Interesting location nicknamed as " The Kimberley",the rover Curiosity also used the opportunity To photograph itself and the surrounding Landscape in some Martian " selfless" .in this scene it so happened that appears to be leaning it's "head"..a suite of instruments including the chemcam(the Laser eye) and Mastcam cameras..to the side ,including 5 KM Aeolis Mons ie ( a.K.A Mount Sharp)On the Horizon. The self portrait has been Stitched together by Discovery News'Jason Major from a series of raw photographs( taken on sol 613,April 28 of the Mission)By Curisity's robotic arm mounted Mars Hand Lens Imager(MAHLI)Instrument. Nowadays it appears to be days of " SELFIES" There was a report in the media that a candidate in the General Election made a SELFIE outside the booth where he Voted & landed in trouble of being framed with a FIR. Any how ,in Mars there is no system existing to book for taking selfies.On the other hand,such ventures are being encouraged by NASA SreedharanMundanat 2nd May 2014 18-45 Hrs(IST)