Chowallore Shiva temple

 Chowallore  Shiva  temple

 

Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander

 

This  famous Shiva  Temple  which is 1000  years old is  , 3 Km from the famous Guruvayur temple

 

The lord Presiding the temple is Lord Shiva   who faces the west,It is believed  that  it was consecrated by  Saint Parasurama.The scenes from Maha bharatha are drawn  on the walls of the sanctum  sanctorum. The bali peedam  opposite God Shiva is 10 feet tall and so this God is not visible from outside

 

There is a separate  temple for Goddess  Parvathi here,In 2001 a small temple for Lord Subrahmanya  was also built inside the temple

The  Story of the temple says that one man used to daily walk from this place to Trichur to have darshan of Vadakkunathan. When he became aged   and not able to walk , It seems God came To chowallore , so that his devotee  can see him daily

 

There are  festivals in this temple  during Shiva rathri as well  as thiruvathira

People whose marriage is in trouble visit this temple and present Mangalya and silk dres  to Goddess  Parvathi.Devotees believe that their life becomes all right

 

There are buses from Guruvayur to this place    and auto is also available.

The timings of temple are

 

4.30  to 11 Am and

5 pm to 8 pm

 

The temple can be  contacted by phone 04885 238 166

And the various poojas during this time are

 

4.30 AM Temple Open
4.40 AM Nirmalya Darshanam
4.50 AM Abhishekam
5.00 AM Malar Nivedhyam
5.30 AM Usha Nivedhyam
5.45 AM Ganapathy Homam
6.30 AM Nivedhyam for Sree paarvathy, Pooja
6.45 AM Nivedhyam for Sree Mahadevan, Ethiretta Pooja
7.30 AM to 8.00 AM Pooja for Upadevas (Maha Ganapathy, Ayyappan, Subhrahmanian
8.15 AM Navaka Pooja
8.30 AM Dhara for Mahadevan
8.45 AM Pandheeradi Pooja
10.00 AM Ucha Pooja of Sree Parvathy
10.30 AM Navakaabhishekam
11.00 AM Ucha Pooja of Sree Mahadvan
11.30 AM Temple Closed
5.00 PM Temple Open
Evening – Deeparadhana for Mahadevan, Sree Parvathy and Hanuman
7.30 PM Sree Parvathy Devi’s Athazha Pooja
7.45 PM Athazha Pooja for Mahadevan
8.00 PM Thrupuka

 

 

 

 

 

Read about all these temples

 Read about all these temples

https://www.hindupedia.com/en/File:Particulars_of_some_temples_of_Kerala.pdf

THirumoozhikulam Lakshmana temple

THirumoozhikulam  Lakshmana temple

 

Compiled  by

P.R.Ramachander

 

Namaazhvar and thirumangai azhvar  have visted  and sung anbout this temple and hence  it is classified as a Dhivya  desam

Stories  of its origin

1,In Ramayana BHaratha  after performing the  funeral ceremonies  of his father , goes to forest to invite  Rama to be the king.He  takes with him the huge army  .Hearing the sound  of army , Lakshmana  thinks that  Bharatha has  come  to kill Rama  and shouts harsh words.Later  when he come to know  that Bharatha  has come  with good intentions, Both of them offered  worship in Thirumoozhikulam (thiru mozhi kalam-the place  where  divine words were  uttered).and hence the place   was called  Thirumoozhikulam,

2.Another story is that  one sage Haritha did thapas to lord Vishnu in the banks  of Chalakkudy river(Poorna river.Lord Vishnu appeared  before him and adviced  him divine words(Thiru mozhi) to get over  problems of Kali yuga.This thiru mozhi later  became Thirumoozhi Kalam

  3. Yet another story is that the  Rama, Lakdshmana, Bharatha , and Sathrugna idols were  worshipped by Lord Krishna in dwaraka   and when sea swallowed the city, the idols reached  this place by sea. Some fishermen fished them out and gave it the ruler of the place  called one Kaimal who was told by a mysterious person to build foy ur temples  for them .The temple for Lakshmana was  constructed here

 

Architecture

  The temple has been built  in Kerala Architecture, with no gopurams  and Vimanams  .There is a flagpole(KOdi maram) at entrance and once t you cross the gate , you reach the  Namaskara  mandampam and then the garbha  Griham(sanctum sanctorum) housing the temple  of Lord Lakshmana  .Besides the main temple, there are sub temples for Shiva, dakshinamurthy, Krishna  , Bhagawathy and Ayyappa

It is believed that during invasion of Tipu Sultan, the temple   was set on fire and it was renovated   the  Travancore kings   Sri Moolam Thirunal   and Sri Chithirai thirunal

 

Timings

  The temple  is open  between 4 Am to 10 Am   and 4 PM to 8 Pm

The following are  timings of individual pooja

Abhishekam  5.00 AM , usha pooja 7.00 AM, usha  sreeveli  7.30 AM, Ucha pooja  10.30 AM  Ucha  Sheeveli 10.30 AM Deparadhana 6.30 Pm   , Athazha  pooja 7.30 PM  , Athazha  sheeveli   7.30 Pm

Festivals

Vaikunta ekadasi and thiruonam are the two  festivals celebrated  in this temple,During thironam festival devotees desiring tohave child perform special pooja  and this has to be booked one year in advance 

 

Phone  +91 4842473996

 

Approach

The temple is located about 25 km from Ernakulam. The nearest railway stations are Aluva and Angamaly; the nearest airports are Cochin International Airport, and Nedumbassery Airport. The temple is in fact located less than 12 km from Nedumbassery airport. For travelling pilgrims, it is recommended that they stay at Angamaly or Nedumbassery and commute to the temple for Perumal Darshan, as the place has limited facilities for stay.

 

More information

 

The temple is under the administration of the Travancore Devaswom Board. Lakshmana Perumal temple is revered in Nalayira Divya Prabhandam, the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, by Nammalvar and Thirumangai Alvar. The temple is classified as a Dhivya Desam, one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the temple finds mention in several works like 108 Tirupathi Anthathi by Divya Kavi Pillai Perumal Aiyangar.

 

Hymns in dhivya  prabandham

The following two hymns written by the Alvars are associated with this site:

தகவன்று என்று உரையீர்கள் தடம் புனல் வாயிரை தேர்ந்து
மிகவின்பம் படமேவும் மென்னடைய வன்னங்காள்
மிகமேனி மெலிவெய்தி மேகலையும் ஈடழிந்து என்
அகமேனி யொழியாமே திரு மூழிக் களத்தார்க்கே 9-7-10 Tiruvaymoli (Nammalvar)

Slow moving Swans, who search of happy meal in wide water sources, I have thinned in his (Thirumoozhikalam Lord) thought that my clothes no more fit me and fall down while the soul still dwells in body. Tell my lord of Thirumoozhikalam that it is not fair to desert me without moksha.

பொன்னானாய் பொழிலேழும் காவல் பூண்ட புகழானாய் இகழ்வாய தொண்ட னேன்நான்,
என்னானாய்? என்னானாய்? என்னல் அல்லால் என்னறிவ னேழையேன், உலக மேத்தும்
தென்னானாய் வடவானாய் குடபா லானாய் குணபால மத யானாய் இமையோர்க் கென்றும்
முன்னானாய் பின்னானார் வணங்கும் சோதி திருமூழிக் களத்தானாய் முதலா னாயே 2061 - (Tirumangai Alvar)

O First Lord! O Golden Lord, sentinel of the seven worlds! Other than exclaiming, "What happened to you? Where are you?", this despicable lowly devotee-self knows nothing. O Lord of the South, Lord of the North, Lord of East and west! O Rutted elephant! O First Lord of the celestials! You are the radiant Lord of Tirumoozhikalam, where later generations will worship you forever.

Sri Narayana puram , thrukayyil Maha Vishnu temple, Ezhuppana

 Sri Narayana puram  , thrukayyil    Maha Vishnu  temple, Ezhuppana

 

Compiled  by

P.R.Ramachander

 

      This temple is that  of Baby  Krishna  , holding SAnkhu  , CHakram, Gadha  Padmam in his hands .It is believed  it is from of Lord  Vishnu  when he was  born to Devaki

       It is situated in a place called Ezhuppana, near  Chengannoor. It is  1.5 Km from NH 47 between Eramalloor and Chandiroor

     It is believed that Deity in the temple is at least  1500 years old.  God Vishnu’s statue  is facing east. . Other deities here  are Ganapathi, Subrahmanya, Shiva, Sasta, Bhadrakali, Nagayakshi and Sarppam. Within the Nalambalam lies the shrine of Ganapathi at the south-west corner. Nagayakshi, Sarppadivangal shrines are  in NE corner.The Sasta and Shiva shrines are at the SW corner outside the Nalambalam.  Bhadrakali shrine is on the left side.  The Srikovil is round-shaped so the roof is conical and the roof of Nalambalam is copper plated. The other Kerala temple features  Balikkalpura, Chembu dhwajam (flag pole) and Anappanthal are very much here.
   The annual festival is held in Makaram month(January-February) and lasts for 8 days.  The God is taken in a  procession  to the river for immersion(aaattu)   and return.Ashtami Rohini,Navarathri , thiruonam, Deepavali aaannnd Vishu   are  also celeberated in the temple.

     There is a laksharchana   and deepa Kazhcha   festival , which is held once  in 12 years in this temple. The last Deepa Kaazhcha was in 2012 . The next such festival is in 2024

      Eroor Pulayannoor Mana has the supreme authority over this temple. The Trust is formed in 1979 it has the right to select  9 members who serve as Devaswam members for the temple. functionalities.

Address

Sri  Narayana puram temple

Ezhupunna-688537

Kerala 

+91 476 2875991

 

Timings    up to 8 pm  (detail  timings  not known to me)

 

Azhimala Mahadeva temple

 Azhimala  Mahadeva temple

 

Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander

 

    Azhimala means  , the mountain near  the ocean .The original  name  of the temple  is Azhi mala pulinkudi  Mahadeva kshethram and  it is about  25 km from  Trivandrum town,It is believed   that once upon a  time  Pandavas   were  hiding there.It seems one day  Panchali  felt thirsty   and Bheemasena   broke a rock and created a stream there.This is called Kanneerkuzhy( pit of tears)

 

     Pulinkudi is near Vizhinjam harbor. It seems a great  Vedic pundit  named Neelaniyeru   was  living there ,Impressed by his knowledge, the king had presented him large   area of land there. It seems he fel in love with grand daughter  of the wrestler of the king and was expelled by his family,.He got married to girl and started   doing pooja to this pulinkudi Mahadeva    temple.Later he attained  Samadhi there, Swami  Narayana guru later  visited that  place  and felt the vibtations of God  in that place   and he consecrated a shiva statue there  .Later   the present temple was built  by the people  living in this area. The temple   has been maintained well  , with frequent    ashta bandha kumbabhishekams

   Recently a 58 feet tall gangadhareswara  concrete statue was  sculpted there  by  Sri P.S.Devanathan .He took 6 years  to complete this difficult task.It was  made  in such a way   that  it does not affect  the beauty of the sea .

 

     The temple is open fro   5 am to  9 Am  and 5pm to 8 pm

The address of the temple is

Aazhimala Siva Temple
Pulinkudi, Mulloor PO,
Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala – 695521

Phone  +91 4712268422

aazhimalamahadevatemple@gmail.com

 

Azhimala Shiva Temple is roughly at about a distance of 20 km from Trivandrum on the way to Balaramapuram through Kovalam. You can avail local modes of transport to reach here from any corner of the city.

Karamana Sathya Vageeswarar temple, Trivandrum

 Karamana   Sathya Vageeswarar  temple, Trivandrum

 Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander

 

 The Karamana Temple is situated in the middle  of Karamana  Agraharam of Trivandrum. It is  believed   that sage Khara  consecrated the Shiva idol on the Karamana   river bank( once called Vanamala river) facing south  and worshipped it, he called it  SAthya  Vagheeswaran (God  who protects  truth) .Since it was place where  Khara lived , it was called  “khara mana”   and later it became kara mana

    Over years  the place attracted  lot of Vedic Scholars   who started living around the temple . They were once attacked  by epidemics and  “deva prasna(questioning god)  “ revealed that they   have  to consecrate  a goddess  also in this temple. One of them got a dream that  the  statue of the Goddess  is available in the Madhura temple pond. The villagers   went to Madhura Temple and searched in the pond and got a devi statute.It seems it was  a rejected  statute of Madurai temple   and they called it  “aavudai amman” . That  Devi Idol was brought in palanquin on the shoulders of devout bhakthas (the palanquin bamboo is still kept at the temple).This  goddess was consecrated in the same room as Lord Shiva., towards  his left side  This is extremely rare  phenomena .In most  of the Shiva temples  , if Amman is there  she is consecrated in  a separate  temple

.Though the goddesx is referred to as Avudayamman , she is also called  Madhura Meenakshi as well    as Gomathi Amman and the temple is known as   Sri Gomathyamba  SAmedha   Sathya  Vagheeswara  temple.

       After the consecration of the Goddess , the village became prosperous and the Travancore king of thise days  presented land around the temple to Tamil speaking Brahmins

       The temple also has huge Nandi made of one stone  as well as    sub temples for Lord subrahmanya , Lord Ganesa and Lord Ayyappa. There is a trange practice  of ringing bells  before opening   the temple

 The most  important festival in the Temple  is Thai posam (12 days) During which  there  is procession of Amman  and Theethavari), Nava Rathri  , Akshaya  trithiya, Skanda sashti , Vinaya chathurthi etc. There  is puspabhishekam to the God Shiva in month of Makaram

The temple is open from 5.15 Am   to  11.30 Am,  and 5.30 Pm to 8.45 Pm

The temple can be contacted  by  telephone 0471-2345667

Ayilur Akhileswaran (Shiva) and Sri Krishna temples

Ayilur  Akhileswaran (Shiva)  and  Sri  Krishna temples

 

Compiled by

P.R.Ramachander

 

   Ayilur  also called  as Ayalur or ayiloor by some people  is a village  in Palakkad  district of Kerala  . It is referred as Nemmara  Ayilur , because, the nearest  small town is Nemmara   and the high way passes only through  Nemmara .Before 1947   it was in Cochin   state  .It is 30 km   from  Palakkad town and is 4 km from Nemmara and is on the shores  of Ayilur  Puzha. There  is a very big Shiva  temple  in this village   and  the God is called Akhileswaran (The God of  all people) . Many people   claim  it is very old , some say  even thousand years o;ld.There is a theory  that  this  area was thickly populated by  Akhil (cup-calyxed white cedar) trees and so the God   was called   Akhileswaran and  that the original name  of the village was Akhileswara puram, which got modified in to Akhiloor  and later to ayilur or ayalur 

    There is a legend prevailing that    the  prathishta   was done by Kharasura, who  at the same  time   did prathishta  of  Thrippalur and  Pallavur temples also ( He is also supposed to have made  Prathishta of Vaikkom , Kaduthuruthy, Ethumannor).

       It seems this temple   was owned  by Kodakara  Nair and  his commander Kulangaattu nair  was managing the temple.Later  it seems the temple came under control  of  some Nambudiri families   and at present it has been taken over  by Cochin devaswam  board.

         There are  upadevathas  of  Ganapathi  ,  Subrahmanyan   and ayyappan in side the temple on the south west  Also there is a Chandikeswara  prathishta  .There  is a nandikeswara  which is not in the front  of Lord Shiva but  to  the south of   the sreekovil( Sanctum)  facing east  On the right side  of Nandikeswaran along   the pradakshina path are  located the saptha mathrukas

     There is a belief that that  our worship is accepted by   Lord Shiva  doing thapas  and he is  accompanied  by   Gioddess Parvathi . On the southern  wall facing east there is a prathishta of lOrd Shiva  wth Goddess Parvathi .and a lamp is  lit before her.  Near Nandikeswara there are carving of Saptha mathrukas    as well as Dakshinamurthy.

   Like most of the Shiva temples there  is only half pradakshinam   in this temple also .Pradosham is celebrated  with pooja and  abishekam  to the Nandi , possibly  it might  have  been started  by  Tamil  speaking Brahmins  of the village

        There is a Ratham(Theru)  on Thiruvathira   day (dhanu masam)  . This is was possibly arranged  by the   tamil Brahmins   who have  settled there because  kerala  the custom is to have a sriveli

        The aarattu Grama Chaitanya Ratholsavam is conducted on Karuthavaau(new moon day)  in the Malayalam month of thulaam. The festival is conducted by Kulangattu Nair and aarattu is conducted in the Ayiloor river. Near the river side wher Aarattu festival is conducted ( aarattu kadavu) thers is a banyan tree , a temple and a pratishta of lord Ganesha.

 Ayiloor ratholsavam or car festival is conducted in Malayalam month of Dhanu (Thiruvathira star-on arudra  darsanam day).

Ratholsavam is celebrated for three days. First day Udayasthamana Pooja is performed to Lord Parthasarathy, second day Udayasthamana Pooja to Lord Akhileswara followed by in the night Makeera Vilakku and third day is Ratholsavam (Thiruvathira) day. Most of the people who have left Ayalur  assemble  to have dharshan of their Gods (Grama Devathai) and also to meet their old friends.

Procession by five caparisoned  elephants with Panchari Melam,Pandi Melam,Panchavadhyam, Thayambaka and special programs like Kathakali, Music etc. are held on this   important on this day apart from Radham Ezhunnallippu. On Thiruvathira day, Arudhra Dharisanam is an important one. Poornabhishekam to Lord Akhileswara starts early morning at 3.00 am and concludes at 7.00 am with japam viz. Mahanyasam, Rudram, Chamakam, Suktham etc. Arudhra Dharisanam (Jothi Dharisanam-Maha Deeparadhana) will be around 5.30 a.m. Since the chariot is very big   they take the help of elephants to push it . Some experts help to turn the chariot  in corners  by keeping  Chenni (A huge piece of wood with handle)  At present this festival is conducting by Ayalur Grama Janam. This festival shows tamil-malayalam culture

The Krishnan (Partha  Sarathy)  temple, which was built by the Iyers  , more than  100 years back, was built in the same compound as the Siva Temple , to its left . There is an interesting story of exchange of idols that is told even today. It seems the idols for the Nemmara Krishnan temple (Parthasarathy) and Ayalore Krishnan(navaneetha Krishnan)  temple were made by the same Sculpture. But there was a mix up while delivering and the Parthasarathy reached Ayalore instead of Navaneetha Krishnan and they decided to install it in their temple. The Pooja for the Krishnan temple is by Kerala Iyers. Navarathri is celebrated in this temple. With great pomp  The Lamp around the temple will be  lit by iyers from a particular street every day of the Navarathri and the streets also got the name from this practice. Onnam Vilakku Theru (First lamp street) and so on till Eighth Lamp Street. .Unlike distributing  Prasadam  at the temple  , People   with prasadam   go to each street . It is called as Panku ie share by them

There was a custom of consecrating bulls to the Siva Temple earlier. These bulls used to majestically roam round the village. But this has now been discontinued.

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Qzkd24byQ

 

The timings

 

A,.Shiva Temple 

 

Open. Morning. 5.30am

Close 9.00am

 

Open Evening. 5.30 pm

Close. 7.15pm.

 

B.Parthasarathy Temple 

 

Open Morning. 5am

Close. 9am

 

Open Evening. 5pm

Close. 7.15pm

 

Buses   run from Palghat and Trichur  to Ayilur  .

Sri  APS  Mani  who is   from Ayilur  has commented

Good narration. Suva temple is more than 1000 years and Parthasarathy temple 500 years old. Earlier the roof of the temple was with palm leaf instead tiles. After a fire incident, roof was replaced with Thrissivaperur tiles along with the construction of reading room in thalavattampara. Ganapathy Ranaswzmy Iyer was the representative of Cochin Maharaja at that time when the roof was replaced. After namboodiris, the temple was under the control of Cichin Maharaja.Sanscrit scholars also occupied in zmaharaja's Veda Sadas. My Great Great grandfather Subramania Vadyar was titled as Tharka Siromani by Maharaja of Cochin after winning the Sancrit comprtiyion. Maharaja appointed hin as Grana Vadhyar of Ayalur and in charge of all vaideeka rituals during ratholsavam in Akhileswaea temple. Those days were golden period.Ayalur Parameswaran Subramanian.