#Neyyattinkara #ShriKrishna Swami #Temple in #Kerala #IncredibleIndia

 

This beautiful temple to Shri Krishna Swami is located just about 20 Km from Thiruvananthapuram at Neyyattinkara on the way to Kanyakumari. We wanted to visit this temple, having heard so much about it being considered as the Guruvayur of Thiruvananthapuram.

Depiction of the Bhagavad Gita on the Entrance Tower 

A divine scene from the Bhagavad Gita with Lord Krishna explaining the Gita to Arjuna, is beautifully depicted on the main entrance to the temple. The temple is built in the typical Kerala style of architecture with sloping tiled roofs amidst vast tracts of green land.

The long corridor leading to the Sanctum

We proceed towards the sanctum where the main deity of UnniKannan (baby Krishna) with butter in both hands is worshipped. 

The main Sanctum

The Lord is also called Navaneetha Krishnan. We were asked if we wanted to make an offering of ‘Thrikaiyyilvenna”. Vennai means butter and this is the most important offering to the deity at this temple.

 Another thing that caught my eye was a huge pazhakola kept in readiness to be offered. We were told that it was the first plantain produce of the season and the farmer wanted to offer it to UnniKannan.

Pazha Kola (plantains) as offering to Shri Krishna

The temple is also said to have historical significance and there is a very interesting story behind the construction of the temple by His Highness Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the erstwhile Prince of Travancore in 1750 to 1755.  The Prince had taken strict action against ‘Ettuveettil Pillaimar’. This turned them against him, and he was being chased and surrounded by his enemies. It is said that when he reached the place where this temple is situated, he was actually looking for a safe place to hide. A small boy appeared there and led the Prince to a huge jackfruit tree which had a hollow trunk. The boy asked the Prince to hide in the hollow space and assured him that no one would find him here. Miraculously that is what actually happened. The enemies left without finding him and his life was saved. The Prince searched for the boy but could not locate him anywhere. The Prince was then told by the astrologer that it was his Lord Unnikrishnan who had come in the guise of the little boy and saved him from his enemies. To express his gratitude to Shri Krishna, he built this temple. The tree where he hid himself is still preserved in the temple premises and protected by an enclosure. It is visible to all devotees who worship Shri Krishna at Neyyattinkara. It is called  ‘Ammachi Plavu’. (Plavu is Jackfruit tree)

The 'Ammachi Plavu' in a protective enclosure

The presiding deity is a west facing, panchaloha idol of Shri Krishna with butter in both hands. According to what we heard there, the original idol was made of wood. But the boat which was carrying the idol got stuck and stopped on the way. To keep the installation in accordance with the auspicious time schedule, the panchaloha idol was installed. This is also believed to be according to Shri Krishna’s wish.

Apart from the main shrine to Shri Krishna Swami, there are shrines to Lord Ganesh and Dharmasastha. There is also a shrine to Nagaraja outside the main complex. The temple is administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board.

Shops outside the Temple selling Puja materials and souvenirs

The main festivals celebrated at the Neyyattinkara Shri Krishna Swami Temple are Janmashtami called Ashtami Rohini, Vishu, Navaratri, Mandala Puja and the main annual temple festival in the Malayalam month of Meenam. As in all Kerala temples, this annual festival starts with the Kodiyettram on the first day and ends with a grand Araattu (a sacred dip of the deity in the river Neyyar) procession on the day of the star Rohini in the month of Meenam. During the festival the jewels and ornaments of the deity, ceremoniously kept at another temple, are brought to the Neyyattinkara temple to adorn Shri Unni Krishna. There is a huge crowd of devotees in the temple on that day waiting to have darshan of their beloved Lord adorned with all the ornaments.

#Neyyattinkara #ShriKrishna #UnniKannan #temple #incredible India #Kerala #Keralatourism #Thiruvananthapuram #Thrikayyilvenna 

The unique Sri Sarvamangala samedha Pallikondeshwara Swami #Templestories 2 at Surutupalli comes alive during Pradosham days

A sleepy little town that comes alive on the two Pradosham days every month, Surutupalli is located approximately 70 Kms from Tirupati on the main Chennai – Puttur road, near the Andhra  - Tamil Nadu border near Uthukotai.

        The Sarvamangala samedha Pallikondeshwara Swami Temple at Surutupalli has so many unique features, that it seems strange that not many people know about it. This is the only Shivasthala where the Lord Shiva presides in the reclining (sayana) position, that too, resting his head on the lap of the Goddess Parvathi. This is the place where the Pradosha Puja was first performed.

Legend: During the Amrutmanthan, when the Devas and Asuras were churning the divine ocean of milk, using the king of serpents, Vasuki, as a rope around the Manthara Mountain, there came a time when Vasuki could not bear the pain and vomited poison. All the Devas and Asuras prayed to Lord Shiva to save them from this terrible halahala poison which would have killed the entire world. The Lord acceded to their pleas and swallowed the poison. The divine Mother Parvathi, who takes care of the whole world, put a hand to stop the poison at the throat itself. The Lord thus came to be known as Sri Neelakantan and the Goddess as Sarvamangala. On their way back to Kailas after this episode, when they reached Surutupalli, the Lord wanted to rest because probably he was feeling dizzy after consuming the poison. So he lay down with his head placed comfortably on the lap of the Goddess. The sculptural depiction of mother Parvathi sitting with the Lord’s head on her lap, trying to hold the neck tight with her two hands, lest the poison burn the worlds inside is unimaginably beautiful. All the Gods, including Lord Ganesh and Karthikeya Swami with his consorts, Valli and Devasena, sages and rishis stand praying to the Lord.

Lord Pallikondeshwarar and Goddess Sarvamangala bless them and all other devotees who come to pray to them.

 As one enters the temple, there is a separate sanctum for Goddess Maragadambika with Kamadenu, the divine cow, to the left and Kalpavriksh, the tree that offers everything that you wish for, to the right. Sage Valmiki, is said to have prayed to the Lord and obtained his blessings here before writing the Ramayana epic. The Lord who appeared before Valmiki as a Swayambhu Linga is known as Valmikeshwarar. All the abhishekams are performed for Lord Valmikeshwarar.

Another feature of this temple is that Lord Dakshinamurthy can be seen in the poorna swarupam with consort Gowri to his left. Nowhere else in the world, can we get this unique darshan of Dambathi samedha Dakshinamurthy.

Nandikeshwarar takes his pride of place in front of the Lord. During the Pradosha puja, devotees clamour to see the abhishekams to Nandikeshwarar and then see the Lord through the space in between the horns of Nandikeshwarar, as the Lord is believed to dance the ananda thandavam with his foot on Nandikeshwarar’s head.

There is a shrine to Sita, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata, Shatrugna and Anjaneya swami. There are separate shrines to Poorna Pushkala samedha Dharmashastha, Sri Nrithya Ganapathi, Sri Subramanian Swami with Valli and Devasena, Sri Vishnu Durga, Sri Kalabhairavar, Sri Kashi Viswanatha Swami with Vishalakshi, Sri Venugopalaswami and Sri Ramalingeshwarar.  A shrine to the Navagrahas is also present.   

Important Festivals: Every Pradhosham, especially Shani-Pradhosham, Maha Shivarathri, Thiruvadhirai, Navarathri and the Tamil and Telugu New Year days.

Temple Timings: 6 am -12 noon and 4 pm – 8 pm.

Tel: 08576 – 278599

Note: On every Shani-Pradosham day and on important festival days, Pallikondeshwara Swami and Sarva Mangala Devi are bedecked with silver kavachams, which was interestingly donated by a devotee from Chennai. There is a huge queue on these days and one has to be prepared to wait his turn for the darshan, but the grand sight of the bejeweled Lord is well worth the wait.

 #Temple, #Pilgrimage #Surutupalli #Pallikondeshwarar #Shiva #Parvati #Sarvamangala #templetales #Pradosh #traveltales #DiscoverIndia