Bhoologa Vaikuntam - 2

The travel we undertake should encapsulate your feelings and vitalize from inner and should never drain your energies, in that aspect this was refreshing due to the magnitude of these ancient temples. At the same time, attention should be provided to all in the group so that the travel is made interesting. I want Ananya to enjoy the holidays so the story of Adi Shankara and the significance of these temples were shared during our journey. Also promises like bathing in the same river where Shankara faced the crocidle and Athirappilly falls excited her and kept her in high energy.

Soon after our Nirmalaya darshan checked out and started for a long day travel to cover the places as per the plan. 

Nalaambalam

Nalambalam pilgrimage is gaining more and more popularity. Nalambalam, means four temples, which are in different locations of Thrissur district.

Nalambala Darsanam involves offering prayers at the shrines of Lord Rama (Triprayar), Bharatha (Koodalmanikyam at Irinjalakuda), Lakshmana (Moozhikulam) and Shatrugana (Payammal), the celebrated quartet of the epic Ramayana respectively, on a single day. In India you will find temples for the brothers of Ram only at these places.

It is believed that the idols of Rama, Bharatha, Lakshmana and Shathrughna were the pooja idols of Lord Krishna. He worshipped these 4 idols in Dwaraka. At the end of Dwapara Yuga, Dwaraka was swallowed by the sea. These four idols floated over the sea water all together and at last reached the Cheetuva region of Kerala shore. They were duly installed in four temples at these places by Vakkayil Kaimal as directed in his dream by HIM.

It is believed, Bharata , second amongst them, is the avatar of the Panchajanya (Conch held by Vishnu) .Lakshmana is the avatar of the Adisesha, Satrughna is the avatar of the Sudarshana chakra held by Lord Vishnu.

Triprayar Temple(Temple for Ram) houses a 6 ft tall idol of the Lord, holding Shankha, Sudarsanachakra, Stick and Garland, in a very ferocious form in standing posture. When we entered we saw a grand ceremony where the Utsavar is being taken around on a Gajaraja, we followed the procession till the Garbagrha.

Koodalmanikyam Temple( Bharatha's) houses another 6 ft tall idol of the Lord,seen in ferocious form in standing posture holding the same things as seen at Triprayar. This is one of the rare temples where only one idol is there in the entire temple complex which is huge.

Moozhikkulam is the only one among the four temples which belong to the 108 Divya Desams. The temple houses another 6 ft tall idol, similar to the idol at Guruvayoor, holding Shankha, Sudarsana chakra, Mace and Lotus, in standing posture.

Payammal is the smallest temple of the four, having the smallest idol, also similar to that at Guruvayoor.

We were fortunate enough to cover all these before noon but not in the prescribed order due to the proximity of Satrughna and Bhartha, so Lakshmana was the last one we visited(Refer the map in my first part). Probably they are closer since the other two left for forest.

When we refer Adi Shankara and Lord Ram, there should be a mention about "Sri Rama Bhujanga" the great work by Shankara on Lord Ram. I love the 15th Verse for its absolute eloquence.

Shilapi thwadamgrikshama sangirenu,

Prsadhadhi chaithanya madhatha Rama,

Namasthwath pada dwandwa seva vidhanath,

                                       Suchathanya metheethi kim chithramathra?

Adi Sankara says he offers his salutations at the feet of Rama, His feet are the ones that brought Ahalya back to life. In fact, Adi Sankara says it is the dust on Rama’s feet which rid Ahalya of her curse.If even the dust on His feet can do this, is it any surprise that worshipping His feet grants salvationn?

Kalady

Kalady is the birthplace of the man responsible for the resurgence of Hindusim, AdiSankaracharya, the great Indian Philosopher who is considered responsible for rescuing Hinduism from its deteriorated state. 

There are couple of stories which I would like share before providing the details of the temple. One such story is, Little Shankara’s mother found great difficulty in walking towards the river for her daily bath, this made Shankara to request Lord Krishna to help his mother. Krishna blessed Shankara that the river will follow his footmarks thus Shankara marked a place in the soil from the main river. You can find the river bends at this place as a tributary and flows near this place.

Another story that is worth mentioning is how Sankara got his mother’s permission for Sanyasa. While bathing in the river Poorna one day, a crocodile caught hold of his leg. Shankara appealed to his mother for permission to become a sanyasi. His mother finally gave consent, only to have the crocodile let go of young Shankara.

There are two main temples on the banks of the river, one is Sringeri Mutt and another one is Sri Krishna Temple.

In the Sringeri Mutt temple premises you will find the Samadhi of Sri Shankara's mother, Aryamba. Also there is a small shrine to Lord Ganesha where Shankara used to pray daily and a shrine dedicated to Sri Shankaracharya and the other to Goddess Saradamba. The pooja rituals in these temples are done by Tamil or Kannada Smartha Brahmins, and not by Namboothiris as is the custom in Kerala.

Whereas the other temple is dedicated to Sri Krishna. This temple is known as the ancestral deity (Kula deivam)of Sri Shankaracharya, you can find this being mentioned in one of his verse in Prabodha Sudhakaram. This idol of Lord Krishna is made of Anjana stone that has high properties of iron and copper. Only Guruvayur and Kaladi temple have this idol of Krishna made of this stone.
The temple is under two Namboothiri families who had close associations with the life of Shankara. It is also the only surviving structure from the time of Shankara. The pooja rituals in this temple are conducted by Namboothiris as is the custom of Kerala. Other significant is the Crocodile Ghat.

Athirappilly falls

As mentioned earlier to make the travel a memorable picked this place and Ananya was not willing to come out even after 1 hour.   CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

Finally some observations I made during the travel which will pave way for a good debate

1. Though the people of Kerala should have some lineage to either Aryan or Dravidian races similar to other southern states of India, but the discipline I saw was awesome especially the self-managed queue system.
   
2. Couple of years ago when I visited Ananthapadmanabaswamy temple in Trivandrum, I was not pleased when I was asked to surrender my shirt in the locker cabin even though I was not wearing. I was not able to get the reason, whereas in this visit I observed most of the men especially Keralite were wearing shirt with one hand inside the sleeve (Please refer the attached photo).When the instruction was not to wear why this innovation? Now I got the reason why in Trivandrum they practice that policy.

While we do utmost planning there might be some slip due to time constraint, we also had some like Vadakkunnathan temple, Annakotta Elephant Sanctuary and Chavakkad Beach. Probably this could be the reason to visit again this wonderful place.