Day 3: All temples within 50 kms of Trichur

1. Vadakunathan Temple
2. Paramekkavu Temple
3. Mammiyoor Temple
4. Guruvayoor Temple
5. Thirunaavaya Temple


Vadakunathan Temple:
It was 3.30 am when we reached the temple and they had just opened the temple. One could hear the voice of Yesudas recanting “OM Nama Shivaya”, saluting the destroyer. The madams were all lit and the clear sky shone with stars and the half crescent satellite made it very attractive. I was reminded of the Azhawar paasuram “Thoomani maadathu sutram vilakku” when I saw the lit prakaram.

One of the oldest temples in the state, the vadakkunathan temple is a classical example of the Kerala style of architecture and has many decorative murals and pieces of art. This is the venue of the world famous pooram festival celebrated annually in april - may. It stands on a beautiful hillock at the center of Trichur overlooking the town. The vast maidan around the temple is called Tekkinkadu or forest of teak woods and Trichur town literally revolves round the temple.

The massive stone wall enclosing an area of nearly 9 acres and forming a strong fortification and the fourlofty gopurams overtopping the central shrine and indicating the four directions-North, South, East and West -and above all the dozens of peepal trees scattered on the vast grounds of' the temple gives Vadakkunnathan temple a unique and magnificent appearance.

In the center of this vast enclosure on a level ground is a multi-shrined complex having three principal shrines dedicated to Siva or Vadakkunnathan, Sankaranarayana and Rama
The morning ablutions were just over and there were less than 10 people in the premises. Shiva in this temple doesn’t have a form and is worshipped as a 7 cresented moon mounted on top of each other. There is also a Jyothi that is kept behind to get a better look and feel of his form.

In the northern side, a circular structure, and the deity facing west. The figure of Siva-Parvati is facing east and just back to Siva, situated in the same shrine. At the southern and is located the two-storied shrine of Sri Rama also facing west. Between these two srikolis stands a third one, circular and double storied in shape, dedicated to Sankaranarayana and it also faces west. This shrine has beautiful murals of the seventeenth century delineating graphically the story of Mahabharata. There are mukhamandapams in front of all the three central shrines.
A striking feature of the temple is the Kuttambalam, which one sees on the left side as one enters the temple through the western gopuram. This is the theatre hall for staging kuttu, an ancient dramatic form of art famous in Kerala.

We had a long day ahead of us with Guruvyaoor in the list of temples to be covered in the morning. We left for Paramekkavu temple, 2 kms from heart of the city. Thousands of years ago a mighty goddess resided under a tree that still stands (it is said) in what is now the compound of the Vaddakunathan temple. When Shiva’s devotees decided to enlarge his small shrine into a grand temple they moved the goddess, conceived of as his daughter, eastwards and down a slope to a temple of her own. She is there still, the Paramekkavu Devi. Her elder sister, the Thiruvambady Devi, resides in a temple a few furlongs to the north, the older incumbent of a temple now dedicated to Krishna. These sister goddesses are the main participants of the Trichur Pooram. We visited the last of the three important Devi Shrines in Kerala before we proceeded to to Guruvayoor temple.

Mammiyoor Temple:
A visit to Guruvayoor temple is not complete until we pay our tributes to Shiva at the Mammiyoor temple. There is a tantric ablutions they offer in the mornings before 8.00 am along with the recitation of Sri Rudram to Shiva. This temple encompasses shrines for Vishnu, Karthik and Ganesh. It is believed that Shiva and Parvati were originally in the Guruvayoor temple and due to space constraints they were moved to Mammiyoor. The murals adorning the exterior walls of the temple have vivid descriptions of scenes from Ramayana, Mahabartha, Devi puranam and Siva puranam.

Guruvayoor temple:
We reached Guryvayoor 30 minutes after 9 and the long queue outside the temple was threatening. It was vacation time and was a weekend and the day after the New Year and it explained the long wait time.

This historic temple is shrouded in mystery. According to belief, the temple is the creation of guru, thepreceptor of the goods, and vayu, the god of winds. The eastern nada is the main entrance to the shrine. In the chuttambalam(outer enclosure) is the tall 33.5 m high gold plated wajasthambam (flag post). There is also a 7 m high dipastambham (pillar of lamps), whose thirteen circular receptacles provide a truly gorgeous spectacle when lit. The square sreekovil is the sacred sanctum Sanctorum of the temple, housing the main deity. Within the temple, there are also the images of Ganapathy, Sree Ayyappa and Edathedathy Kavil Bhagavathy. Only Hindus are allowed inside the temple.

The temple dates back to the 16th century is dedicated to Krishna known here as Guruvayurappan or the Lord of Guruvayoor, and the idol is said to have been worshipped by Lord Brahma himself at Dwaraka. It is at this temple that Melpatur Narayan Bhattathiri composed his well-known Sanskrit devotional poem 'Narayaneeyam'. The temple is renowned for its healing powers. Several offerings are made to the deity here from the simple 'Archana' offering of flowers to the expensive and elaborate 'Udayastamana' pooja or 'Thulabharam' where a devotee is weighed against offering of bananas, sugar, jaggery or coconuts.

After a 2 hour wait we got closer to the deity for a nice close darshan. He was standing dressed like a kid wearing an inquiring and innocent smile on his face.The walls of the sanctum sanctorum are inlaid with exquisite mural paintings and carvings. In Kerala, This is probably the only site for several weddings and 'Annaprasanam', the first feeding ceremony of child.

We decided to have our first meal at a vegetarian restaurant after 2 days. Idli’s were available but there were hard as a baseball. We soaked them in sambar and gulped it down and then proceeded towards the next temple.

Pattambi:
A 2 hour drive from Guruvayoor brought us to a small town, Pattambi. We escaped the swooning summers of Kerala in the air conditioned room. We left the room at 3 pm and headed towards the famous Thirunavaya temple on the banks of the river BarathaPuzha in Mallapuram district.

We waited did the evening Sandhi at the river and waited in the premises for 30 minutes for the temple to open.

Thirunaavaya:
The presiding diety here is Navamukundan. There are subshrines to Ganapati on the south west corner and Bhagavati on the north east corner. The base of the temple is built of stone, while the superstructure above is of laterite, stucco and timberwork. The temple is considered to be demonstrative of the evolved Kerala type of architecture, dating back to the 13th -14th centuries although in a comparatively poor state of existence today. There is a separate shrine for Malarmangai Naachiyaar unlike the other Divya Desam temples in Kerala.
Elephants are an integral part of several of the festivities. The Utsavamurthy (representative of the main deity) is usually taken on a procession on top the elephant before the close of the temple at night.

The name Tirunaavaai is said to have stemmed from the legend that nine yogis offered worship here. Legend has it that Lakshmi and Gajendran the king of elephants worshipped Vishnu here with lotus flowers from a lake; with two devotees using flowers from the same source, supply dwindled, and Gajendran appealed to Vishnu, who took Lakshmi by his side on the same throne and accepted worship offered by Gajendran. The name of the theertham Senkamala saras arises from the legend of the lotus filled lake.

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. Another legend has it that a group of nine yogis or siddhas offered worship to Vishnu at this shrine and attained moksham or salvation; hence the name Nava Narayanan.
The Bharatapuzha river, the presence of temples to Bhrahma, Vishnu and Shiva on its banks, accords this temple town a stature equivalent to Benares. As in Benares, cremation of the dead is carried out in ghats along the river.

Legend also has it that Markandeya, fleeing the clutches of Yama appealed to Vishnu for help at this shrine and upon his direction crossed the river Bharatapuzha to worship Shiva, while Vishnu blocked the rear entrance to the temple, to prevent Yama from clutching him.