It is said that Lord Narayana has left many forms he had assumed on this earth for us to see and realize his presence within us. Out of them 106 are very significant. I took 27 years to realize their significance and hence set out to see them all as soon as I could before time batter my body. Here is an account of each of the place I had visited by the Lord’s grace.
Of these 106, I had already visited four of them, many a times; they are
- Parthasarathy Perumal, Chennai,
- Sri Ranganathar at Srirangam, near Trichy,
- Srinivasar at Thirupati and
- Padmanabhaswamy at Thiruvananthapuram.
Malai Nadu Divyadesam
I had found from my mom that there are 13 forms of the Lord here in this state and given the opportunity to work here for the next one month. I had a desire to visit them all. Accordingly, I studied about each of these places from various books and articles from the Internet. Finally, I had my plans drawn to visit my Lord at all of them.
Day 1 – July 2, 2006
Chenganur, is a place in the Alapuzha district of Kerala. Around this town lie 4 of the 13 temples. These 4 temples hold the Lord’s images as worshipped by 4 of the 5 Pandava Kings. After the Great War at Kurukshetra between brothers to establish that the truth alone shall prevail in the world, the Pandava brothers traveled south. Each of them installed temples for Lord Krishna and worshipped him till they attained the feet of the Lord. Chengannur and its adjoining areas house 4 of these temples. The 5th Pandava brother built the temple near another town called Chenganasherry further north to Chengannur. In between these two towns of Chengannur and Chenganasherry is a small town called Thiruvalla where the well known Sri Vallabha Shketram is present. These 6 temples were my first destinations.
Before I began, I prayed to the Lord for making this happen since it had been raining the previous day. On the morning of July 2, 2006, I set out to the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) Bus depot at Thiruvananthapuram at 3:00 am. I took the bus to Thrissur 3:30 am at Platform 4. There were two options here a Fast Passesnger and a Super Fast bus, I chose the Super Fast since it skips most of the intermediate stops thereby saving almost 30 min of travel time. It was not until 3:45 am that the bus started off towards Chengannur. I reached Chenannur at 6:30 am. The bus fare was Rs. 66. I immediately engaged the services of an autorickshaw driver and negotiated to see all the 4 temples for Rs. 250 in the next few hours.
The four temples I visited were distributed around Chengannur. First of them was Aranmula about 10 Kms to the west of Chengannur Bus Stand. This temple is well-known for its boat races. The Lord here is called Parthasarathy and his statue was in a standing posture. This statue of the Lord was installed by the Pandava king, Arjuna to whom the Lord had served as a charioteer during the Kurukshetra war. Arjuna worshipped the lord after his retirement for years before he finally attained his feet. The temple was made well, and it drew quite some attention from the people of the town at 7 am. The Lord was covered with chandanam (sandalwood paste). The prasad here was chandanam and some flowers from the feet of the Lord in a small piece of banana leaf. I tried to get some photos of the Lord in the nearby shops, but they were not selling any.
One other thing I wanted to mention is, in Kerala men must be preferably wearing a dhoti and bare chest before the Lord. It’s a customary practice throughout. Hence I carried my dhoti and uttriyam which I wore in each temple.
My next stop was Thirupuliyur. This temple is around 4 kms to the west of Chengannur, The temple drew quite some visitors in the early morning hours. The temple was neat and wonderful. The statue of the Lord here was in a standing posture. The Lord had a brass muha (face). The Pandava king, Bhima installed this form of Lord Krishna and worshipped him till he attained the feet of the Lord. The temples prakaram (surrounding the sanctum) was well made with stones. The prasad which was given to me was chandanam and some flowers from the feet of the Lord on a small piece of banana leaf.
From Thirupuliyur, we went a bit north to Thiruchitharkarai (Thiruchenkkur). Here the statue of the lord seemed smaller compared to those at Aranmula and Thirupuliyur. The Lord was in a standing posture. This statue was installed here by Yudhistra the eldest of the Pandava kings known for his virtue of upholding the dharma. He prayed the Lord here for his sins he had committed during the war, until he was pardoned and taken as refuge at the feet of the Lord. The temple was quite empty and I had a long and wonderful time praying to him all by myself. The temple’s prakaram needs improvement as it was made of small pebbles and sand and lots of improvements are possible here. I wanted to help do this and prayed for the Lord’s blessing to bring me back here so that I could do what I want to. Here too I got chandanam and flowers from the feet of the Lord as prasad.
Further north is the temple whose statue was installed by Nakula, the fourth of the Pandava king. This place is called Thiruvamundur. The Lord here too was in a standing posture. The statue seemed to be made of granite and was very big. I liked him a lot. There was not much crowd here as well and I enjoyed praying to him for a longer time. I got some photos of the lord over here. I was given some prasad in the form of chandanam and flowers. This temple had quite some people visiting it.
I was dropped back near the Chegannur bus stand at around 10:00 am. I had food at a hotel and went to the Bus Stand to take a bus to Thiruvalla. Usually the temples in Kerala close by 11:00 am and I was not sure whether I would really be in a position to see Lord Vallabha in the morning. Miraculously, I got a bus to Thiruvalla immediately. Once I got down there after a 15 min drive, I enquired at the office for any bus to Sri Vallabha Skhetram. The person I had asked immediately came out, and asked me to follow him. I followed him quickly as he ran towards a bus that was about to depart. He asked the conductor to help me get down at the Market bus stop near to the Temple. In about 5 min I was getting down at the designated location. As I got down, a lady from the same bus asked me to follow her since she was heading to the same place. After about 10 min walk, I reached the temple at 10:45 am. Nothing can be said of all the help I got despite me not knowing the local language. I could clearly see that it was His wish that I see Him.
This temple drew lots of people. There were functions being organized here. It had a hugh prakaram as well. I also saw an elephant at this temple. I went to the sanctum where the Lord was housed. The Lord was in a standing posture. He had four hands. Two of which carried the discus and the conch. One was carrying a lotus and the other was on his hips. I had time to pray to him and thanked him for all this mercy in bringing me to the place with ease. I got chandanam and flowers from the Lord and left for my final destination near Chenganaserry.
I walked back to the bus stand and took a bus back to the Thiruvalla bus stand. Here, I got another bus to Chenganaserry almost without any wait time. I reached Chenganasherry in 20 min, had some snacks and searched for an internet café so that I could spend the next 4 hours there.
My next temple was at Thirukodittaanam about 2-3 kms from Chenganasherry in the East. This temple was built by Sahadeva, the youngest of the Pandava brothers. The temple opened at 5 pm. I waited outside for about 30 minutes. During this time met a local boy named Ajeesh. Ajeesh was an Economics graduate. He explained me a lot about the temple thereby answering all my queries. The temple had a pillar in front where laid in horizontal a granite statue of a figure like man. He had a crown like that of a king and a conch in his left hand with a sacred thread. It is believed that the temple witnessed a time where feudal warfare was at his heights. During one such time, a neighboring king wanted to annihilate the region becoming jealous of its prosperity. He was cursed and hence attained a form of the figure. Since then normalcy returned to the region. Another significant thing about this temple which is very much noticeable is its fort like walls which curved to the top. The wall was erected in one night and was believed to be the work of demons protecting the temple from damage due to invasions. The wall looked unique made of bricks and no cement.
At 5pm, the temple opened and I went ahead to seek the blessings of the Lord in the form that Sahadeva had workshipped. He was magnificent with a brass covered face. I was told by the priest of a Yoga Narashimhar behind the Lord. I went in pradhakshanam and found the figure of Lord Narasimha glittering in the lights of the oil lamps lit inside. He was looking really awesome. This temple had lot of unique identity to it and is a must see. I performed archana here and obtained the prasadam. Here the chandnam was pink in color.
In this temple I met a person from Bangalore along with his mom. After my dharshan of the Lord I found that they had left already. Hence I walked back and picked an autorickshaw to head back to Chenganasherry Bus Stand. On the way I saw them, standing at another bus stand. I wanted to pick them up. But the auto moved fast and I did not say anything so as to avoid an argument with the driver. But, I felt I had made a mistake. I got a bus back to home at 6:00 pm and reached the Thiruvananthapuram Bus Depot at 10:00 pm.
Day 2 – July 3, 2006
It had been raining heavily in the morning hence I decided to buy an umbrella before I set out today. I had made up my mind to visit Adi Kesava Perumal and Venkatachalapathy.
Adi Kesava Perumal Temple was at a small village called Thiruvattar. This town is around 7 kms east from the Marthandam bus stand in between Thiruvananthapuram and Nagerkoil bus route. Venkatachalapathy Shrine is at Tirupatisaaram about 4 kms from Nagerkoil’s Vadachery bus stand where the KSRTC buses stop.
At around 3:20 pm, I took a bus from the Thiruvananthapuram Bus Depot towards Nagerkoil. The bus frequency is pretty good in this route with one Fast Passenger bus every 10 minutes. It was unfortunate that the bus’ tire was giving fumes out due to heat. I could not afford to waste time. Hence I prayed to the Lord for his help. The conductor got all the passengers into another KSRTC bus which was heading to the same destination. I got down at Marthandam bus stop and engaged an auto rickshaw to visit Thiruvattar and get me back to the Marthandam bus stop for Rs. 80. I reached the temple at 5:05 pm.
I was shown into the temple and I was amazed to see how much this temple resembled the one at Thiruvananthapuram. The entrance to the sanctum was from the rear of the temple. The Lord here was also similar to the one at Thiruvananthapuram. He was lying on the king of all serpents, Adi Sheshan. His head was towards from right unlike that of Padmanabhaswamy whose face was to my left. I had a good dharshan of the Lord. I prayed for his wishes to help me return to this wonderful temple. The temple was empty and I had spent time seeing the Lord in his magnificent form. Its believed that Lord Narayana rested here on Adi Sheshan after banishing the demons Kesa and Kesi.
I went back to Marthandam, took a bus to Nagerkoil. I had to enquire a bit here to find the way to get to Tirupatisaaram. A mini bus was to leave every 30 minutes. I waited and took the bus. It was around 7:15 pm when I reached the village. I enquired about the direction to the temple and I was informed that the temple was just a few meters ahead and that it would close soon. I rushed to the temple hoping to see Him. I quickly changed to traditional clothes and went in; I was shocked to see the doors of the sanctum closed. I asked a girl in the temple whether the doors would open again and to my relief she said it would for the deepa aradhanai.
As the doors flung open, I realized that was looking at one of His most magnificent forms. It seemed to me as if the Lord was looking at me with his bug eyes. His form was hugh and very beautiful at first sight and much more as the moments passed. I had not seen him this way before; He was in a sitting posture with the sudharsana chakra (discus) in one hand and the conch in the other. After delivering justice to Hiranya Kasipu, Lord Narisimha was in a rage that terrified Goddess Lakshmi. She came over to this place and meditated upon him. After He had calmed down, the Lord came over to Tirupatisaaram and took his wife back into his heart. There is a sanctum for Lord Rama along with his brother Lakshmana and wife, Sita. Along with them is Hanuman’s statue as well. In the same sanctum are statues of sage Agathiar, Vibhishana and Namalwar. Thirupatisaaram is supposed to be the hometown of Namalwar’s mother. This temple at Tirupatisaaram is also significant for the fact that, Vibhishana while returning to Lanka from Ayodhya was given the divine vision to witness Lord Rama’s crowning ceremony that was taking place in Ayodhya.
I met a person here, named Ramesh who sold me some drawings of the Lord. I came back to Vadacherry bus stand at 8:30 pm with the help of one of temple priest in an auto rickshaw. I immediately boarded a bus to Thiruvananthapuram which reached its destination at 10:40 pm.
Day 3, July 15, 2006
I wanted to go to the Padmanabha Swamy temple today. I took a auto rickshaw from my place of stay (Vazthacaud) and reached the temple which is located at East Fort around 7:30 pm. It was a Saturday and there was special pooja as usual. I stayed at the temple for almost an hour. During this time I also sat with a group of people listening to a discourse from an old man. He was talking of Mahabharatha. While in this temple, I was amazed recollecting the similarities with the Aadi Kesava Perumal temple, that I had been to a while back.
At around 8:15 pm, the Lord came out in a palanquin. He was followed by Goddess Lakshmi. There were 4 bearers for each of the palanquin. The Lord’s idol was small and made of Gold, that’s the specialty of this temple. After three pradakshanam, the Lord went back to his sanctum.
I followed the Lord and took a special dharshan ticket to see him for the last aarathi. The moolavar, was splendid as always. I had a great view of the Lord through the first door. I always liked this temple. I hope I will get a chance few years later to visit my Lord over here again.
The next day, I took a trip to the temple of my first Guru, Lord Parasurama. The significance of this temple is that it’s the only temple for Lord Parasurama in India. The temple is not far from the Padmanabha Swamy Temple. In fact one should take a bus towards Kovalam Beach from East Fort Bus stand (opposite Padmanabha Swami Temple). The temple is at a place called Thiruvallam and is just a few minutes walk from the Thiruvallam bus stand.
Day 4, July 22, 2006
I reached RC Uncle’s home at Ernakulum in the morning. Mom had arrived few days before from Chennai. I had made my plan to visit the next 4 temples. Uncle made some changes and a mini van was rented. In the evening, Uncle, Leela aunty, Moli aunty, mom and I headed to the Trikkakkara. This place boasts of a temple of Vamanamurthy and is situated in Ernakulum. It is this place where the Lord had made Emperor Mahabali realize his true self. Mahabali is the grandson of Prahalada (Narasimha Avatar).
Trikkakkara temple opens at 5 pm. Since we had reached the temple early, we headed to the Lakshmana Perumal temple at Moozhikkalam. The Lakshmana Perumal temple is situated at 8 kms from a small town called Athaani near Angamali. This temple is said to be devoted to Lord Narayana and Lakshmana had offered prayers to the Lord over here to be forgiven for his attempt to kill his brother Bharata who came to meet Lord Rama in exile.
There was some rush here at the temple. We came know that it is considered auspicious to visit 4 temples associated with Ramayana here during this month. After few minutes the rush was gone and I was delighted to spend some time with the lord.
From here we went back to Trikkakara, The Vamanmurty was in the form of Thiruvikrama (conqueror of the three worlds). The Lord was beautiful here. I could not see the Vamana form here with a umbrella, but the Lord was wearing a crown indicating the Thiruvikrama form which he had taken while accepting Mahabali’s offering of three steps of land – Heaven, Earth and himself. There is a Kapila kulam (pond) which Mahabali had used to give out the three wishes of Vamana.
Day 5, July 23, 2006
This day was the longest, and we started out at 5 am. A student of RC Uncle and her daughter joined us for this trip. We headed north towards Malapuram district. Here we went to a town called Pattambi in Palakkad district. From Pattambi we traveled towards Guruvayoor for 5 kms and came to a place called Kootupathai.
The anju moorthy temple is situated around 3 kms from Kootupathai in a village called Thirummittakode. Thirummittakode is situated on the banks of the Bharatha river (puzha is the Malayalam word for River). As we reached the temple, the rain began. It was nice to walk between the sanctums in the rain.
The temple has 4 sanctums for Lord Vishnu and one for Lord Shiva. The Pandava brothers had installed the idols and had worshipped Lord Narayana over here. The main temple entrance is 3 feet high. Upon entering it we find the Shiva lingam. Behind this sanctum is Lord Vishnu as worshipped by Arjuna. On the right of these two sanctums is the temple of the Lord where Bhima had offered prayers. On the left is the one where Yudhishtra had prayed to the Lord. Further to the left, is the sanctum where Nakula and Sahadeva had offered worship to Lord Narayana. The temple was beautiful and the atmosphere was very serene with the river running beside it.
Next, we traveled further North West towards Kuttipuram. Thirunavai. This temple too lies on the banks of Bharata puzha. The temple is well known among the locals for performing the rites of their deceased forefathers.
The temple is that of Nava Mukundan. It got the name Nava from the nine sages who had worshipped here and had attained salvation. It is also believed that here Goddess Lakshmi and Gajendran the king of Elephants had offered worship to the Lord. Due to this the supply of lotus flowers in the river dwindled. When Gajendran prayed to the lord, The lord took Lakshmi as his wife and gave moksha to Gajendran.
The idol of the Lord is visible only above the waist. It is said that behind the idle there is a very deep pit which is unexplored. The Lord was beautiful here and I spent sometime over here praying to him.
Our next halt was Guruvayoor. We had to stand in a long queu, but surprisingly the queue got reduced very quickly and we got a dharshan of Lord Krishna though just for a few seconds.
From Guruvayoor, we traveled to Triprayar, near Irinjalakuda. A well known temple. There are customs here to feed the fishes and burst crackers. There was hugh crowd and it took us a while to see the Lord. Rama here was in the form of Vishnu with four hands bearing the discus, conch, a bow and a garland. The temple was small but beautiful.
We headed to the Bharata’s temple of Lord Narayana at Koodalmaanikkam. Here my Lord was looking great. There was no rush when I entered the gates, I had few minutes for myself with the Lord right ahead of me. Prayed silently for sometime. Then we got back to the last of the temples from Ramayana at Payammel. We reached the place at 8 pm. There was a big traffic jam about 1 km from the temple. Hence we decided to get back home.
