Chiravarambath Kavu Bhagavathy Temple.

kerala is popularly known as God'sown country.Spread over an area of 15005 Sq Miles ,there are approximately over 10,000 Hindu Temples in Kerala.A major portion of it is in Thrissu District. There are annual festivals in every Temple in Kerala.In Thrissur District ,I have heard a common saying from Kottappadi,{near]Guruvayur that "Aalukkal ninneduthal Palakkal vare".This implies that the first Pooram/Vela begins in Kottapadi Aalukkal Temple and ends with Kattakampal Pooram/Vela.Please dont ask me who is responsible and who made this saying.May be me, you,or any one else.What is meant by it is that the first Temple festival begins at Aalukkal Temple in Kottapadi and the last in the Kattakampal Temple in the month of Medam.There was another popular saying "Chendpurathu Kolu Vechidathellam Pokuka" means Visit every Temple where drumming Melams starts.Dont ask me again who is responsible for this saying.Mostly our dearest Mother. Let us come back to the Temples of Chiravarambathukavu Bhagavathy at Aruvayi. In Aruvayi ,Pazhanji,{near}Kunnamkulam therer is one Temple called Cheruvarambathu Kavu Bhagavathy Temple.The Temple festival this year falls on 26th and 27th of Februay 2018. THE SPECIALITY OF THIS TEMPLE AS COMPARED TO OTHER TEMPLES IS THAT THE NUMBER OF CAPRISONED ELEPHANTS IS MORE THAN 50 AND IT IS A SIGHT ONE SHOULD ENJOY AT LEAST ONCE IN A LIFE TIME!!! Like all other Temples in Kerala Cheruvarambathu kavu Temple also bears history and Legends. According to the Asthamangala vidhi of the Temple,the temple is as much old as 800 years.There are no autoritative writings or books about this Temple.However as heard from old generation approximately 15 Km from Aruvayi there is one place called AYINURKUNNU.This place was important for commerce and shops of Marchants.Most of the Merchants were Paradesi bhrahmins known as Iyers.When a Financial cricis occured to the business of the merchants in general most of the Iyers left business and returned home.One Bhramin Iyer out of the remaining iyer inAyinur Kunnu was a Devotee of Devi.He instead of returning home went to Guruvayur wearing an Olakkuda(An umbrella made of Cococonut tree leaves()The present location of the Cheruvarambathu Bhagavathy Temple was a forest place,On the both sides of Aruvayi field there were Two Chiras(Water resorce like a river but a called "Thoduu".)Our devotee Iyer was walking through the Varambu(A roadlike path to walk along)").Our Iyer thought of taking bath in the thodu and doing Sandhyavandanam(An evening ritual observed by Brahmins who wear Holy Thread) on the Varambu.Iyer sat on the Varambu ,kept his umbrella on the varambu and did the ritual.When he got up and was about to take the Umbbrella kept on the Varambu,he found that it was stuck on the Varambu and was unable to take out of there.Kepping the Umbrella there he went to Guruvayur.On return aso Iyer tried to take the umbrella but was unable to remove it from the varambu.Stunned with this experience,the iyer called all other iyers remaining in th area and performed a Deva Prasnam(A devotional method to decide the reason behind any unusual occurence ) ,The result of the Deva Prasnam indicated that the iyer was a true devotee of Devi and pleased with the iyer ,the Devi herself entered into the Umbrella .The Devaprasnam also indicated that the spot where the umbrella was kept had Devi Chaitanyam and so a Temple should be constructed at the place for the devi and the Devi installed there.Hence the Devi Temple was constructed at the place and Devi prathshta performed.Thereafter the Temple was called Cheravarambathu Bhagavathy Kshetram.Iyer after a few days entrusted the ownership of the temple to Four prominent Tharavadus(Family)&left for his native place..Out of this just one tharavadu remained there.They are called Payyazhi Tharavadu who are carrying out the management of the Temple today.Another Devaprasnam performed later on according to the resu of which a Naveekarana Kalasam(Renovation process) was performed and Devi Bhagavathy was reinstalled in the present Sreekovil on th Makayiram Star day of Meenam Month.Since then Devi bhagavathy is living comfortably in the new abode spreading Her Chaitanya all over the place to keep the people of the area peaceful and happy.Every year on the Makayiram day of Meenam monthprasadaoottu(Annadanam) is performed for which thousands of people gather here to enjoy the Prasada oottu. The other Upadevathas in this Temple to enhance the chaitanya of the Temple are Ganapathy,Dharmasastha,Shree Hanuman,Rakshas,,Karukulam Ayyappan&Karineeli.People visiting this Temple are pleased with main Diety and Upadevathas equally and the Devi And Upadevathas look after people eqally . As told earlier ,there is no other Temple in Kerala who use more than 50 Elephants to honour the Devi in the procession And Ezhunnallippu.Similarly in Melam also veteran specialists are invited to take part.Besides ,before the Pooram is commenced the ritual of Parayeduppu from 53 Desams are regularly performed to please the Devi. in a nut shell, the Para,Pooram,Melam,Vela and all remaining programs in a Temple is system,aticcally performed in Cheruvarambathu Kavu Kshetram. Ma God almighty help conducting the Pooram and Vela in future also ,if not better than the present system.Improvement and renovation always help to perform things more usefully not only in Temples but all fields of business as well.All the best wishes for the conduct of Pooram and safe fireworks in Cheruvarambathu Bhagavathy Temple. SreedharanMundanat , 24th of January,2018, Thrissur

Kattakampal Shivakshetram and Bhagavathy Kshetram

Kattakampal Kshetram is considered to be a Temple as old as 2000 years according to legends.It is said the Temple is one of the 108 Temples created by lORD pARASURAMA in Kerala. The speciality of this Temple is that in the Morning it is said to assume the role of Dakshinamoorthi who provides Education,at noon as Ferocious Ghoramurthy who provides ways and means for Sathrusamhara and in Evening as Ardhanareeswara who provides wealth Besides,in the gateway,DeviBhadrakali &DeviKanyakumari shining as a Santha mooorthy as well as Roudramoorthy sometimes are available. As said earlier ,jhis Temple is one of the 108 Temples created byLord Parasurama.It is stronly believed that Parasurama retrieved Kerala Bhumi from Sea and made it equal to heaven .One day Parasurama started from Mhahendra Mountains in South to North with a view to visiting His Punyabhumi created by Him.There was just dense forest towards north while He was walking because there was no rulers of Kerala those days.While travelling through the Dense Forest he saw Sasthavu was playing by hunting .Parasu Rama being an Avtar of Vishnu and devotee of Shiva when he reached Kattakampal he sat for meditation.He using his Parasu{an Axe) digged a Well for water and this well still exist here which is covered by rock for reasons unknown.As divine sage Himself He installed a Temple here for Him to worship Shiva. So goes the Legend how the Siva Temple existed in Kattakampal. It is also said the sage employed a Bhootha to tell prpeople about His intention to instal a Temple atKattakampal where he felt the presence of Shiva chaitanyam.The Bhootham assumed the role as a hunter and spread the news among the village people. People started coming to the Temple in groups and individually, Just like moonlight enhancing light day by day the chaitanyam and number of devotees increased.Those days were the period of ruling by Perumalkkanmar.One of the Local ruler lost his property and also felt lack of children in their family worrying him & inorder to get children he decided to pray the Kattakampal Thevar in the newly constructed Temple by Parasurama. One day Lord Shiva appeared in front of him and told all his prayers would be heard favorably if he goes to Kanya Kumari Temple and perform Bhajana there for a full Mandalam season.Lord Shiva also told that Devi Kanyakumari (Bhagavathy)would grant all his wishes. So according to the advice of Lord Shiva the Local ruler {King} departed to Kanyakumari for praying the Kanyakumari Devi(Bhagavathy)with meditation for 41 days(a mandalam period). In Kanyakumari Temple when the prayer for 41 days was in progress,after observing his devotion and his dedication to Devi,the Devi in her Soumya moorthy form appeared before the King to grant his wishes and told"Now I am pleased with your devotion.On the day of your ending Bhajan here come with a pot containing Pooja Flowers,Gold&Akshatham{Punyaha theertham} and I shall make my presence felt in the pot myself & you can return with the pot to the place where from you have come.Later on when you reach the place everthing would happen as pure as needed(Mangalam).Soit be" As the Devi appeared to be in the maximum Santha moorthy form (Soumya devatha}.The kind had doubt whether the Santhamoorthy Devi would be able to perform The Sathru samharam(Destroyal of Enemies).The Devi realising his innerthought appeared again as Roudra Moorthy as Bhadrakali to clear the doubts in the mind of the King. Satisfied with the two forms of Bhagavathy as Durga &Bhadrakali, When his Penance was over, the King came to the Devi Temple with a Pot containing what Devi had said.He performed all offerings required and with humlblest prayer allowed the Devi to enter the Pot(Avahikkal).Early Morning started his journey back to Kattakampal & entered the Shiva Temple at Kattakampal fron the Southern side of agrahara of the the Temple and Installed the Devi facing from Est to west with the permission of Lord Shiva. Thus the installation of Bhagavathy with dual form of Devi(Durga} and Bhadrakali was Completed on the south side of the Agrasala facing from East to west.Thus the Kattakampal Bhagavathy with the Blessings of Lord Shiva came into existence long ago.The Thanthri Karma for the installation of the Bhagavathy was performed by Thantrys from Thekkedam and Vadakkedam Namboodiri illams at Porkkulam by using Pieces of Daru Trees for making Shivalinga shaped Moola bimbam and rockmade Shilabimbam for archana were installed by them according to Vedic methods.By installing the Bhagavathy the sanctity of the Temple was enhanced as though it would later help eradicate darkness of the sufferings from the devotees.The Kanyakumari Devi always spread the divine qualities expected from a Goddess and still remains as a medium to help all devotees including poor and downtrodden who seek help from the Devi.In this context if one likes to recite the song "Kudajadriyil Kudi kollum Maheswari ,Gunadayini.............Aadi parashakthi neeye" The song written by Shri K.Jayakumar for malayalam movie "Neela Kadambu" which was never released, is eqally applicable to Kattakampal Bhagavathy also known as Jagathambika. PACHA NIVEDYAM: There was a command from Devi Jagathambika that a Mahanivedyam made of 1001 Nazhi rice (a measure in Temples)should be made for worship while the Prathishta was in progress .However before the Ada could be allowed to get boiled the Prathishta was over with the result that the ADA making process was not completed.Hence the Mahanivedyam had to be restricted to Pacha Ada(WetAda)Later on this became a regular feature of offering to the Jagathamba(Bhagavathy} of Kattakampal. In KaTTAKAMPAL tEMPLE tHE MAIN DIETY IS lORD sIVA ccreated by Parasurama.Lord Siva is almost lilke Lord Vadakkumnathan who observes the pooram without taking part Himself The Temple is one of the 108 Temples created by Lord Parasurama.First Lord Siva was Installed by Prasurama Later on Devi Kanyakumari was installed as Soumya moorthy of Jagadambika or Bhagavathy As mentioned earlier the Bhagavathy can assume the Roudra Bhavam of Bhadra Kali also,So there is Pooram and Thalappoli in big style here togetherr for Jagathambika. Nowadays,the great Pooram is followed by the Kali and Darikan encounter. Starting accompanied by Drums Melam from a place called Palakkal Parambu which is situated at north east side of Kattakampal Temple. The old Bhadrakali Temple was under a Pala tree .Kali after disappearing from Asoka Vanam reached under this Pala Tree, says the legend.In those days the place was a thick forest of Pala Trees.The Bhadrakali with an assumed name of" Asokaranya Rakshnini" was giving Darshan from West to East.The Pooram also used to be held there.However, in view of the Ferocious form of the Bhadrakali,people began to move away from the place.In times of Pooja rituals alone people used to go there. There was a person who used to take the role of Darikan similar to the role of Kathi in Katakali and others who had taken part in the Kali Darika encounter were supposed have undertaken Vritha for long time before taking part in the fight.This kind of rituals continued for long time unabated.However, it is said the person who did role of Darikanis no more now.During After Noon Pooja(Uchapooja on the day of Pooram The Devi Vigraham is to be kept in Nalambalam after due Ezhunnallippu is performed.It is believed that then the Devi in Ugra roopam is ready for the Darka vadham.Thereafter there is also a ritual performed for Lord Ganapathy before the actual encounter begins.The Kuruppanmar of the Temple (who have taken perfect vritha)would come in front of the RoudraDevi in a procession of caprisoned Elephants by disguising themselves as Kali and Darika.After exchange of Hot words between Kali and Darika,Kali tells Darika to get lost for a day and come back again next day.That night there wil not be any pooja other than the one after Aarattu. The next day Darikan who is supposed to have lost the war comes face to face with Kali and pleads for his life and not to kill him.Although Devi was pleased with Darika in view of remembering her destined role to kill Darika, Devi again assumes her Ugra roopam and shouts atDarika breaks apart his chest ,drink his blood and wears his "Kudal mala"in maximum anger mood and cuts his head away to finally Kill him.Then blessing the devotees returns to Kailasa ceremoniously. Then comes the ritual of Utram Pirannal.Thereafter the devi vigraha is taken to Sreelakam to unite with the Moolabimbam.Next day the ritual of 25 Kalasam is performed.THIS MARKS THE END OF THE POORAM FOR THE YEAR. In olden days the Pooram was being held in the western Nada.But the Komaram who was performing the role of Kali got extremely emotional and virtually killed the person who was performing the role of Darika.This incident resulted in changing the Pooram from West Nada to East Nada and is being held in East Nada every year. This is the Kattakampal Pooram in brief. {Courtsey:Shri Sankaran Nambidy of thekkootn Madham of Kattakampal who is fondly called by every one Guruvayurammaman as he was a devotee of Lord Vishnu of Guruvayur Temple & also to Kunnamkalath Radharishnan Nambidi who was kind enough to part with the vital information on the history of the Great Temple} Sreedharan mundanat , 23rd of January 2018 at Thrissur. oHM.NAMA:SIVAYA AMME nARAYANA,DEVI NARAYANA,BHADRE NARAYANA

Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple

The Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple is one of the most famous Templs in Kerala,Besides this is also one of the 108 most celebrated Vishnu Temples.This Temple is in the newly formed Pathanamthitta District of Kerala.An airport also planned here .But in relation to the existence and controversies arose out of it the Airport is stilln hanging in balance. This Great Temple ids dedicated to Parthasarathy a role of Mahavishnu as the Charioteer in the Mahabharath war according to legends.The temple is on the bank of Pampa river which is also famous in relation to Sabarimala Temple.The sacred jwels of Lord Sastha taken from Panthalam passes through the Parthsarathy Temple.Similarly Thanka Angiis also sated to be storedv here every year in the month of December which is known as Mandalam season beginning.Aranmula is also famous for Aranmula mirror,which serves as medium of gift offered to VIPs visiting the state of Kerala. Aranmula is even oterwise famous for Water Sports known as Aranmula Vallam kali which involves Snake boats or Palloyodams.Guruvayur,Ambalapuzha,Thrichambaram,Thiruvarppu,ShriPadmanabha swamy Temple ,Trivadrum,P)oornathreyasi Templer,ThripuniyhuraAnd Vamanamoorthy Temple at Thrikkakkara are the other famous Vishnu Temples in Kerala and neighbouring plces.Aranmula is a small village but has been recognized by the Discovery Channel.Pathasarathy Temples all over Kerala has a dual role toplay beingba Visnu T%emple aswell as a Pachapandave Templse known as those at THRICHTAT,THIRUPULIYOOR,THIRUVARNMULA,THIRUVANVANDUR &THRIKKODITHANAM.dedicated respectively to Yudhishtira,Bheema,Arjuna,Nakula and Sahadeva.It is also said that Arjuna built a Temple at Nilkkal near Sabarimala in order to get relieved from the Sin of Killing his own brother Karna who was in the enemy side but unarmed. ARANMULA GRAMAM is one of the 64 Bhramin Gammas in which Parthasarathy Temples exist.Aranmul is the biggest Grama Temple among all Grama Temples.There is one dedicated to Parthasarathy at Guruvayur which was forcibly taken over Kerala Government recently against strong agitations staged by people.They while doing so even forgot the basis for the Constitution of India which proclaims OF THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE..Alll those who forget this would appear to be sinners against the Constitution of India. The Aranmula Temple has Golden Flagstaffand has four towers over the four entrances on the outer wallsThe huge and beautiful Eastern tower is accessed through a flight of 18 steps.Descending 57 steps through northern tower,one can reach the Pampa river.Aranmula Temple is a perfect example of Kerala Temple Architecture and most similar tob the EttumanurMahadeva Temple.Parthasarathy is supposed to be owner of 39 villages in and around Aranmula.People living in these villages consider Parthsarathy as their protector.Very wise people indeed! There are many legends in association with Prthasarathy Temple at Aranmula.Some of them are associated with the famous Uthrttathi vallam Kali{Snake boat race}nd THIRUVONATHONI The idol of The idol of Lord Parthasarathy was brought to this place from Nilakkal in a raft made of six pieces of Bamboo.Several Chundanvallams{ snake boats}accompanies the procession through Pampa River.The idol was installed in the Temple on Uthrattathi day of Malayalam month Chingam{August-September}.Uthrattathi in Chingam is the birthday of Arjuna.Tocelebrate tese events people of Aranmula started the famous snakeboatrace called Utthrattathi Vallamkali. Festivals in the Aranmula Temple are vallamkali,Khandavana dahanam and Aarattu . The water carnival is during Onam festival.There is a tradition of sending an offering of rice and other material required for a feast from a nearby village on a water boat.The legendelating to the sending rice by boats relates to a story.It says a devotee once fed a hungry Pilgrim who directed the devotee to send food to Aranmula and disappeared.It is believed that the devotee was none other than Lord Visnu . Snake boats accompany the sacred boat.The snake boats are from Chennithala to Ranni in the east participate in the water sport called Vallamkali.These boats assemble at dawn and sail in pairs for about 2 hours.A snake boat is about 103 feet in length. Each boat has about 4 helmsmen 100 rowers and 25 singers.After the water sport there is anelaborate feast in the Aranmula Temple. Another festival celebrated in Aranmula Temple is known as Khandavanadahanam in the malayalam month of Dhanu.For this Festival a model of a forest is made in front of the Temple with dried out plants,leaves and twigs.Thus a Bonfire is lit as a representation of the original Khandavanam forest fire mentioned in Mahabharatha.The malayalam month of /Meenamwitnesses a festival where Aranmula Parthasarathy is takenin a grand procession on the Garudamount to the Pampa river bank. where the image of Bhagavathy from nearby Punnamthode Temple is brought in procession for the aarattu festival. The offerings in the Temple:The main offering in the Temple is Vallasadya.The village which is offered the commitment of sadya will conduct a boatb race in Pampa river and will have a feast in the TempleThe feast will have Hundreds of items also including sweets.The particular feature of this Sadya when originally performed was that it was not meant for Bhraminc and Nair community alone was supposed to take part in the feast But along with Time ,this condition would appear to have changed and all people are taking part in the feast. Incidentally , recentally as a challenge to this Feast in relation to the number of dishes involved a Sadya was conducted in a college in Irinjalakkuda by certain cultural and educational organization in plantain leaf as in Aranmula.This ,however,did not become a controversian issue for which all should be grateful to Aranmula lord Parthasarathy. In fact nowadays th Aranmula Valla sadya is virtually a ritual feast.This is so because it lasts sixty days and contain morethan sixty exclusive and Exquisite dishes to relish.This is a unique mass feast with strong devotional basis offered to the crew of Palliyodams which devotees consider as a divine vessel of Lord Krishna.This sadya is dedicated to any of the Snake boat{Palliyodam} taking part in the sadya on the day of valla sadyaThe oarsmen (the crew} will come to the Temple through the riverin the boatThey come to thev Nadapandal of the presiding Diety Parthasarathy to offer Nirapara.They perform the Pradakshina of the Temple by singing and chanting Krishbhajans known generally as Vanchipattu.This is highly rhythmic in praise of Lord Krishna. Ont he Ashtami Rohini day the birthday of Lord Krishna also the divine sadya is offered to more than one lakh of devotees from all part of the nations.This also serves the purpose of Annadanams and Oottu in other Temples of Kerala. No doubt to raise water in mouth the main sweet dishes, besides all other vegiterian Dishe, are Adapradhaman, Aravana payasam,Aval mixed with jaggery,Ellunda,Kadalipazham payasam,,Kalkkandam,Parippu pradhaman,Pazhapradhaman,Palpayasam(the most favourite dish of Lord Krishna in Guruvayur and Ambala puzha),Unniyappam are generally served in Plaintain leaves with utmost devotion.In order to complete the taste of the sadya and with a view to filling watwer in mouth the other dishes served in Aranmula sadya areBanana Chips,Sarkkara upperi,Chammanthi,curd,friebanana,curry,Ginger curry,Ghee,Kalan,olan,erisseri(Elisseri)Pulisseri,Pachamoru,Pulisseri kari,Rasan,Sambar,Red cheera Thoran,Thakarathoran,Holy water from Pampa,Chukkuvellam,fried pappadam and many more addedattrractions of modern cookery are served here to relish and get themselves satisfied .Now let us all take rest after a magnificent feast which one would get rarely an opportunity to enjoy such divine taste of feast before announcing that the AArattu of Aranmula Temple falls on 18th January 2018 (Thursday next)! OHM!NAMO NARAYANAYA! Sreedharan Mundanat, 16th of January2018 at Thrissur

Kakkad Mahaganapathy Temple ,Kunnamkulam

Eka dantham Mahakaayam Thapthakanchana Sannibham Lambodaram Visalaksham Vandeham GanaNayakam If someone asks me which is the most worshipped Hindu God I would say Lord Ganapathy. In every Hindu Temple Ganapathy is a Upadevatha.Acording to hindu customs Ganapathy Homam is a must before one indulges into any new venture or before housewarming Ceremony .For everything good to come one has to remember Lord Ganesha first as the Lord is known as Vigheswara whose power is to remove obstacle in your path. More significantly ,which is not known to many people being a new discovery in USA THAT PULLING EAR LOBES INCREASES ABILITY OF BRAIN TO REMEMBER MORE.The punishment children gets from teachers is therefore very signficant today. Why I mention this here is due to the custom of Hindus to perform Thppikkaranam {Ethamidal}in front of Lord Ganapathy helps to enhance Brain power. There are enormous numbers of Ganapathy Kshetrams in India.The most visited Temple in India for Lord Ganesha is Siddhhi Vinayaka Temple at Worli{Prabhavathy} in Mumbai In Thrissur also there a very famous Temple of Ganapathy Temple at Kakkad in Kunnamkulam, This great Temple is historically significant.ThisKshetra has the diety Mahaganapathy besides Lord Siv in the form of Vettkku oru Haran.The speciality here for Lord Ganapathy is that the trunk of the Lord is like the trunk of SiddhhiVinayaka in Mumbai.It is also significant that the Flaghoising called Dhwajaprathishta was performed in the year 2002.In the year 2003 the subdieties{Upadevathas}like Navagraha ,Durga,Nagas and Dampathy rakshak and Bhadrakali were installed.Here Friday oottu{Annadanam}ceremony is also performed on first Friday ofv every month after offering Naivedyam to the m,ain diety.The Auspecious occasion of Vinayaka Chathurthy is celebrted in the month of Chingam. On the first saturday of January every year the most attractive and expert performance of breaking 12008 coconuts in relation to Vettekkaran pattu as an offering to Lord siva is also held here.Why I said expertedness is because 12008 coconuts are broken in 3hours and 30 minutes approximately.This performance is worth showing to children.Besides the 8 days Utsavam is also held on the Thiruvathira star day of the Malayalam month of Meenam.The Utsavam also involves programs of artistic talents like Chakyar Koothu,Ottam Thullal,Dance,Bhajan etc .The Aarattu is held on the final day as in th case of any Temple in Kerala. THESE PERFORMANCES MENTIONED ABOVE INVOLVES LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY . SO ALL DEVOTEES VISITING THE TEMPLE SHOULD GRACEFULLY CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS THIS NOBLE CAUSE OF MAINTAINING A GREAT TEMPLE OF KUNNAMKULAM Sreedharan Mundanat 14 th of January 2018 at Thrissur,Kerala.

SreeKrishna Temple Ambalapuzha.

Ambalapuzha SreeKrishna Temple exists in the Alapuzha District of Kerala State. This Sreekrishna Temple has many a similarities to the Guruvayur Temple.Tha\e main feature that it is related to Guruvayur Temple ,however,is that Lord Sree Krishna of Guruvayur is believed tovisit Ambalapuzha Temple to accept and relish the famous Palpayasam offered to the Diety every day.This Great Temple is built in the traditional Kerala style of Temples. It is believed that the Temple The Historical Temple was built sometimes between 15th and 17th Century AD.It is believed that in 1789 Tipu Sultan planned raid of Guruvayur Temple and in order to keep the idol of Guruvayurappan in tact without any damage,presumably Chembakasseri sree Pooradam Thirunal Devanarayanan Thampuran broughtb the idol to Ambalapuzha and kept here for some time safely!. There is a beautiful and believable legend about Ambalapuzha Temple whis is as follows: Oneday Pooradam Thirunal Thampuran And famous Villwamangalam Swamiyar were walking along the backwaters when Villwamangalam Swamiyar heard melodious sound from playing flute and with his inner vision realised it was Unnikrishnan playing it from a nearby Peepul tree.When Pooradam Thampuran knew this he decided instantly to build a Temple there and thus the Ambalapuzha Templecame into existence here.Unnikannan is believed to have visit to this Temple at noon time in Ambalapuzha to relish the Palpayasam appears to be a true belief. There is yet another most interesting Legend about the Ambalapuzha Palpayasam which is not only brilliant but one throwing light on Mathematics and Chess combines as well. Acording to the Legend ,Lord Krishna himself disguised as a Sage and appeared in front of the King whoruled theregion of Ambalapuzha for a game of chees and challenged the King.The price for the winner was to be decided prior to the game and the King told the sage to choose the price if the sage had won.The sage told his price was a modest one relating to a few grains from the king.The king was surprised why the sage had such a moderate demand instead of Gold ,diamond or such costly items.The sage explained the conditions further as under: The sage determined the the amount of grains by placing grains placing in the Chess board in such a way as the 64 columns were filled with grain. It was in mathematical order of 2 TO THE POWER OF SIXTYFOUR MINUS ONE The amount arrived at was an astronomical 18,446,744073709551615 The numbsr of rice thus amounted to Trillions of Tons of rice. On seeng the Kingb struggling the king to pass through the horns of the Dilemma in which he was ,the sage assumed His original form {LORD KRISHNA}& assured the king that there was no need for the King to pay the grains immeadiately and instead could pay over a period of time by serving Palpayasam in the Temple free to the devotees at noon after Uchapooja{Noon pooja} until the debt is paid off. It would appear to me alone if Unnikrishnan is a regular visitor to Ambalapuzha from Guruvayur at noon ,it would be not merely to taste Palpayasam alone but with a view to supervising whether the practice of giving free palpayasam to devotees is, in fact, continued or not as well. But inspite of what all mentioned above it is ensured that the Palpayasam at Ambalapuzha Sreekrishna Temple is available only on the following conditions: If one reaches the Temple 2 days in advance and booked direct 90 people can get coupons for one litre[liter] each for Rs160/-.If it is Thursday or Sunday 110 people would get Palpayasam on the same conditions. For those who can not book also there is provision to prepare 35 litres daily for 70 people. So every day 70 people get Palpayasam to satisfy the conditions put forward by the sage[Lord Krishna]. So let us all believe that the Lord Guruvayurappan visits Ambalapuzha Temple also at noon daly to relish the Palpayasan as well to ensure that his longlasting conditions are fulfilled in toto¬ like usual "Conditions Apply" we view everywhere!! Coming back to the Great Ambalapuzha Sreekrishna Temple,there are festivals at Ambalapuzha also. The rulers of the Chembakasseri Devanarayana Dynasty were highly religious. So the idol of Lord Krishna in Ambalapuzha is understood to have brought from Karinkulam Temple.Thev bringing of this idol to Ambalapuzha also marked as and referred to by calling it CHAMBAKKULAM MOOLAM WATER FESTIVAL.This festival is conducted every year on MOOLAM star day of the month of Midhunam of Malayalam calendar. The Aarattu Festival as usual in all Kerala Temple begin with flag hoisting ritual on the Atham starday in Meenam {in March-April} & the virtual Aarattu is held on the Thiruvonam in Meenam month No harm done if we call it Ambalpuzha Onam in Meenam month unlike usual Onam at Thrikkakkara Temple and all over Kerala. Sreedharan Mundanat Friday January 12 ,2018 at Thrissur Town

Shri Kurumba Bhagavathy Temple ,Kodungalloor

Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple orSri Kurumbadevi Temple ,Kodungallur is an ancient Temple located atKodungallur in Thrissur District,Kerala.The Goddess is dedicated to Bhadrakali and is popularly knownbas Kodungalluramma by devotees and is one of the four famous Devi Temples besides Chottanikkara Temple,at Ernakulam District,Attukal Bhagavathy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram,Kadampuzha Bhagavathy Temple,in Malappuram District,and Kodungalluramma. On the southern side of Kerala is the Kanyakumari Devi Temple in Tamil naadu, and on the northern side,the Kollur Mookambika Temple,in Karnataka all dedicated to Devi Mahamaya. The devi Idol is usually carved in wood of Jackfruit tree and has eight hands carrying various weapons and Symbols The Historical legends are many in relation to Bhagavathy Temple at Kodungallur out of which the most popular two are 1)The Kali devi Temple is known as that of Kannaki. It is believed the Temple originally belonged to Lord Shiva which was later on replaced by Kannaki or Kali at a later stage. The Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple is believed to have installed by Bhargava Raman who had also installed more Devi Temples in and around Kerala. The popular belief is that the idol of Kodungalluramma Temple was installed withb a view to saving the devotees from Chicken Pox epidemic. The glaring peculiarity of Pooja rituals in KodungallurBhagavathy Temple is that the same is notb performed by Brahmins as this was originally a Dravidian Temple.This Temple is also famous for removingv cast restrictions prevailed in old time Temples in Kerala. The Kodungalloor Bhagavathy Temple is existing in an area of around 10 acres .The Temple is sorrounded by Banian and Peepal trees.The sreekovil of ther Temple is facing north which is considered as auspeceous and wealthier sidea according to Hindu Mythology and the western chamber of the Temple is vthe abode of b seven Mothers.This is knowjn as Saptamathrukas and is also facing northern side. The western chamber also consists of Ganapathy Idol & Veerabhadra Idol.These idols are facing East and West side respectively.The Idolm of Lord Shiva is facing the Eastern side.It is believed that the offerings should be first given to Lord Shiva and then Goddess Devi.It is strangely believed that the Poojas in this Temple are prescribed by Devi herself.Similarly another typical belief is that Adi Sankara had installed five chakkras from which the Devi assumes super Powers.On the left side of the Temple there is "Samadhi of Vysoori".This is a walled enshrine and it is believed to bring miraclous cure for certain ailments like smallpox,chickenpox,mumps and other cpntageous diseases.The devotees offer Turmeric Powder here to get cure. Fifty meters left to the Samadhi Vysoori there is a Pushkarini or Sacred pond where the devotees take bath before entering the Temple.The belief is that Devi herself constucted the pond using her sacred Sword. FESTIVALS OF KODUNGALLUR BHAGAVATHY TEMPLE: ********************************************* The Kodungallor Bhagavathy Temple is famous for Festivals.The first is Kodungallor Bharani in the month of Kumbha(February-March)and the most important Festival is the THALAPPOLI in the Malayalam month of Makara(December-January) BHARANI is one of the stars in Indian Astrology and is considered as the star of DeviKali and is respected as Goddess of Success. The major Festival of Of Kodungalloor Temple is called "Kodungallur Bharani" which bears a festival look of the entire town.Many people from all over Kerala as well as India assemble here on the Bharani day &sometimes from abroad also. Pagentry&special songs well known for their fun and double meanings known as Bharanipattu is sung by various groups on the roads. There would be several such groups.Earlier various groups from all over Kerala used to arrive here singing such songs all along their way from their native place to the Temple here. But nowadays such groups are lesser but still exists in some parts of Kerala. Kurumba Bhagavathy Temple is worth visiting by all who believe in Durga and Bhadrakali Godesses. On Bharani day one can have a darshan of Bhagavathy Diety with a majestic look withb Angi. So why wait longer?.Plan a visit to this Temple this year itself to make year 2018 a year of Success and Glory. Sreedharan Mundanat Tuesday the 9th January 2018 Thrissur ,Kerala