In the current scenario, Long weekend without travel will be hard to find in any family, if you spend long weekend at home then you will be g(R)azed down by your own family and friends as if you are an Alien.
To elude from these controversies, planned a short trip during one of the long weekends that followed Diwali, Nov1st being a local holiday in Karnataka. These kind of short travels helps to de-stress your mind since more time is spent with family when compared with routine day. If we are able to pick right place then it also rejuvenates you mentally and physically.
Picked a place so that it can be removed from our pending list which has occupied top of the list for a decade. When I suggested this place it was readily accepted by all and as usual planning and preparation completed. During the planning process thought of accomplishing yet another promise made to Prathiba some couple of years ago. The vow was to take her to Kaladay, where me and Ananya went to that place few years back and on that occasion both Prathiba and Amma were not able to join us. Finally the itinerary was finalized with Guruvayur and Kalady and was able to include Nalaambalam.
Guruvayoor
The Krishna temple in the town of Guruvayoor in Kerala is one of the famous Vishnu temples in India. Even though the idol in Guruvayoor is that of Vishnu it is still known as a Krishna temple since the boy Krishna is always said to be running around in the temple premises. The presiding deity is MahaVishnu, in standing posture with four hands carrying Sankhu Panchajanya, Sudarshana chakram,lotus and gada.
The presiding deity in the Garbhagraha is Mahavishnu, worshipped according to the pooja routines laid down by Adhi Sankaracharya.
Guruvayur has its own glory and greatness, mainly because of the divinity enshrined in the Sanctum - Sanctorum of the temple and the unique charm of the idol installed in it.
The idol of Guruvayur temple is unique and considered to be extremely sacred since it is carved out of "Paathalanjana” stone. This idol was once worshipped by Mahavishnu in Vaikunta and finally reached Krishna himself where he worshipped this idol in Dwaraka. At the time of Krishna's ascension to Vaikunta, he instructed Udhava to entrust Brahaspathi (the Guru of Devas) with the task of taking the idol to a suitable place where people could worship it, so as to get salvation in Kaliyuga. A deluge had closed in on Dwaraka, but Guru salvaged the idol with the help of his prime disciple Vayu. Guru and Vayu went around in search of an ideal place. They came to this place of lush green spot with a beautiful lotus tank where they felt the presence of Lord Siva. This is the place where Lord Shiva imparted the Rudrageetham and allowed to install the idol and HE left to the opposite bank, at Mammiyur. Since Guru and Vayu consecrated the idol in this place henceforth it was known as GURUVAYUR.
As the idol was once worshiped by the Lord Mahavishnu himself in Vaikunta, Guruvayur is considered to be "Bhooloka Vaikunta" - the heaven on earth.
The day of the lord begins with Vakacharthu and it is the preparation for his holy bath. The garlands, the flowers of the previous night are removed after the Nirmalyadarsanam and gingelly oil is poured over the idol. This oil collected thereafter, is considered to be very sacred.It is believe that it acquires medicinal and spiritual value.
Crowds throng the temple at 3 A.M in order to see this charming sight. Then water from the temple, consecrated with mantras is poured over the idol for his ritual bath. This holy water is then eagerly drunk by the devotees since it is said to contain a little of the miraculous properties of the stone of which the idol is made.
We landed early morning at Thrissur station and took a bus to Guruvayur, reached the home stay that was booked. Will share more details about the place of stay later.As soon as we checked in we all got refreshed and proceeded towards the temple, Mr Gopinath the owner of the property offered us to drop near the temple since we are new to the place, even though it was less than 500 mts from temple.
Being holiday the crowd was mammoth and unique to this temple we do not have any special darshan and everyone has to follow the queue to enter the temple. I asked the other 3 to wait near the gate and I stood close to 4 hours in queue where they joined me. We had a blissful darshan and after getting the Milk Kheer and butter the prasadam that was offered we headed towards the Mammiyur Shivan temple on the opposite side of the tank.
Around noon returned to our place of stay and all of us rested till evening.
Guruvayur means Nirmalaya Darshan, later on realized why it is so? We all want to experience the Nirmalaya darshan so checked with some people about the process and we were told that we need to do join the queue around 10.00 pm for a darshan at 03.00 am next day. We marked a plan, come what may, we will go to the place around 02.30 am and let us take it from there and if HE wishes we will have one. Ananya resisted for getting up early for second day consecutively, so we advised she can stay back and we will lock from outside and will be back ASAP, this was agreed.
To elude from these controversies, planned a short trip during one of the long weekends that followed Diwali, Nov1st being a local holiday in Karnataka. These kind of short travels helps to de-stress your mind since more time is spent with family when compared with routine day. If we are able to pick right place then it also rejuvenates you mentally and physically.
Guruvayoor
The Krishna temple in the town of Guruvayoor in Kerala is one of the famous Vishnu temples in India. Even though the idol in Guruvayoor is that of Vishnu it is still known as a Krishna temple since the boy Krishna is always said to be running around in the temple premises. The presiding deity is MahaVishnu, in standing posture with four hands carrying Sankhu Panchajanya, Sudarshana chakram,lotus and gada.
The presiding deity in the Garbhagraha is Mahavishnu, worshipped according to the pooja routines laid down by Adhi Sankaracharya.
Guruvayur has its own glory and greatness, mainly because of the divinity enshrined in the Sanctum - Sanctorum of the temple and the unique charm of the idol installed in it.
The idol of Guruvayur temple is unique and considered to be extremely sacred since it is carved out of "Paathalanjana” stone. This idol was once worshipped by Mahavishnu in Vaikunta and finally reached Krishna himself where he worshipped this idol in Dwaraka. At the time of Krishna's ascension to Vaikunta, he instructed Udhava to entrust Brahaspathi (the Guru of Devas) with the task of taking the idol to a suitable place where people could worship it, so as to get salvation in Kaliyuga. A deluge had closed in on Dwaraka, but Guru salvaged the idol with the help of his prime disciple Vayu. Guru and Vayu went around in search of an ideal place. They came to this place of lush green spot with a beautiful lotus tank where they felt the presence of Lord Siva. This is the place where Lord Shiva imparted the Rudrageetham and allowed to install the idol and HE left to the opposite bank, at Mammiyur. Since Guru and Vayu consecrated the idol in this place henceforth it was known as GURUVAYUR.
As the idol was once worshiped by the Lord Mahavishnu himself in Vaikunta, Guruvayur is considered to be "Bhooloka Vaikunta" - the heaven on earth.
The day of the lord begins with Vakacharthu and it is the preparation for his holy bath. The garlands, the flowers of the previous night are removed after the Nirmalyadarsanam and gingelly oil is poured over the idol. This oil collected thereafter, is considered to be very sacred.It is believe that it acquires medicinal and spiritual value.
Crowds throng the temple at 3 A.M in order to see this charming sight. Then water from the temple, consecrated with mantras is poured over the idol for his ritual bath. This holy water is then eagerly drunk by the devotees since it is said to contain a little of the miraculous properties of the stone of which the idol is made.
Being holiday the crowd was mammoth and unique to this temple we do not have any special darshan and everyone has to follow the queue to enter the temple. I asked the other 3 to wait near the gate and I stood close to 4 hours in queue where they joined me. We had a blissful darshan and after getting the Milk Kheer and butter the prasadam that was offered we headed towards the Mammiyur Shivan temple on the opposite side of the tank.
Around noon returned to our place of stay and all of us rested till evening.
As per the plan Me, Amma and Prathiba were ready by 2.30 am and again this time there was an offer from Mr Gopinath to drop us which was seized since it was drizzling and this will save time.
We were among the first 100 and had a heavenly darshan, even while writing this after couple days able to recollect the darshan in front of me. Since the crowd was less Amma and Prathiba want to have another whereas I headed towards the place of stay to take care of Ananya. We were able to see Nirmalya darshan and after that Abhishegam and the Gingely oil was offered as Prasadam.
I was able to return around 4.00 am whereas they returned around 4,30 and we checked out around 6.00 am with immense fulfillment of a long pending desire.
I was able to return around 4.00 am whereas they returned around 4,30 and we checked out around 6.00 am with immense fulfillment of a long pending desire.
Sri Anandan Residency
This one is a home stay and you will get top rating in almost all travel related portal like Tripadvisor etc., Mr and Mrs Gopinath are very friendly in their services, though the property is huge they have built only 4 units. Both of them were working in Middle East and returned in the year 2014 and ventured to make use of their ancestral property. The rates are highly competitive with breakfast as part of the deal and flexible check in time. Our first home-stay too was a pleasant one.
Will share about Kalady and Nalaambalam along with pictures in my final edition that will follow soon.....
Very crisp and informative as usual.. more importantly, I have the itinerary for my trip ready :-)
ReplyDeleteWaiting for the next part!
Let me know if you need any help...
DeleteNice reporting. Waiting for the details of full trip
ReplyDeleteGuruvayur- I never get tired listening to the stories of Guruvayur. It is awesome that you got the vagacharthe and nirmalaya darshan. Awesome! Waiting for the next part!
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