Thiruvilwamala Sri Vilwadrinatha Temple- Kerala

Address

Thiruvilwamala Sri Vilwadrinatha Temple- Temple road, Thiruvilwamala, Thirssur District, Kerala 680588

Diety

Vilwadrinatha Amman: Lakshmi Devi, Bhoomadevi

Introduction

Vilwadrinatha Temple is located in Thiruvilwamala, Thrissur district of Kerala. Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, and his brother Lord Lakshmana are the main deities of this temple. This is one of the four major temples in Kerala dedicated to Lord Rama, the other three being Thriprayar, Kadavallur and Thiruvangad temples, and also one of the rarest temples in India itself which houses Lord Lakshmana. The temple is situated on the middle of Thiruvilwamala village, on the top of a hill 100 ft above the sea level. Bharathappuzha, the second largest river in Kerala, flows through the northern side around 3 km away from the temple, and as the temple is situated on the top of a hill, the river can be clearly seen from the temple.

Puranic Significance

Lord Parasurama, the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu, assassinated all Kshatriya clans 21 times with his axe, as a revenge of killing his father, sage Jamadagni (Jamadagni was killed by the sons of the evil kingKartavirya Arjuna, as a revenge to Parasurama who assassinated their father). But after that, he was very sad for doing such act as revenge, and thus he gave all the land he acquired to holy Brahmins. But, some of them were against Parasurama as he massacared thousands of Kshatriyas. After that, he made his own land by throwing his axe to the sea. That land came to be known as Kerala, as it was filled with Kera (Coconut trees. Parasurama gave this land to Brahmins, and made 108 Shiva temples, 108 Durga temples and 5 Sastha temples to them for worship. Later, he went to meditation. But still, he was not happy. One day, while he was meditating, the ghosts of the Kshatriyas, assassinated by Parasurama appeared before him and asked him to grant salvation. They also told that if they will not get salvation, they will cause huge problems to the people. After that, he began to pray Lord Vishnu. While praying, he heard a message, which stated that Lord Shiva has reached Vilwadri (Sanskritised version of Thiruvilwamala) with his full family and guards and he should reach there immediately. Parasurama immediately proceeded to Vilwadri. Lord Shiva presented him and idol of Lord Vishnu, and told that he worshipped that idol in Kailasa. Parasurama found a very suitable place nearby and consecrated the idol there, in a manner of getting darshan for the ghosts. Around the same time, a sage named Amalaka, the son of sage Kashyapa, conducted huge penance praising Lord Vishnu on the same spot. It is believed that Amalaka got this name by eating only amla (gooseburry) fruit. When he was doing penance, the devas (gods) believed that he had wish on taking heaven away from them. They sent heavenly damsels and made blasts near him, but he never woke up. When they complained Kashyapa about this incident, he told that his son was not interested in any worldly pleasure. Then, the asuras (demons) had problem. They all came in a row to break Amalaka’s penance. Amalaka opened his eyes. Fire smashed out of them. The asuras all got burnt and together they became a huge rock, called ‘Rakshasappara’. Amalaka continued his penance and Lord Vishnu appeared before him with his consorts Sri and Bhumi, and his bed Ananta as umbrella. He told his wish that the Lord should remain there for the well-being of the worldly people. Thus, the Lord turned himself into a swayambhu idol, with his consorts and Ananta. After both the idols were consecrated, the power of Lord Vishnu spread throughout the village. Hearing this, the asuras became again furious. They sent one of them to destroy those idols. He went in the form of a holy Brahmin. During those days, Brahmins in the temple were fed twice a day. This asura also joined them. During the daytime, he remained like a normal Brahmin, but during night time, he changed his form. After that, he began to eat the cows donated to the temple and threw their bones northwards. Thus, the place came to be known as ‘moorikkunnu’ (moori means cattle and kunnu means hill in Malayalam). He also ate some sleeping Brahmins. But no one knew the real killer, as there is no any carnivorous creature nearby. People thought it is any ghost who is eating the cows. Finally, the 11th day (Ekadasi) in the dark fortnight of the month of Kumbham (February-March) arrived. The asura considered that time the most suitable to fulfil his task. One midnight, after all poojas were completed and everybody slept, the asura entered the sreekovil by destroying the pillars. Lord Vishnu appeared from one of the pillar in the form of Narasimha, his fourth avatar, and killed the asura in the same manner he killed Hiranyakashipu. After hearing the thundering sound made by the asura, all people woke up and rushed to see what happened. After seeing the ferocious form of the Lord, many people fainted. Some people prostrated on the ground and chanted the names of the Lord. They did not have the courage to look upon the ferocious form of the Lord. At that time, sage Amalaka came there and chanted the names of the Lord. After that, the Lord came back to his original form, and blessed his devotees. To prevent from further attacks, some power of Lord Shiva was also disposed in the idol, thus a concept of Lord Shankaranarayana also appeared. Even on special days associated with Lord Shiva, like Mahashivaratri, Pradosha vrata and Mondays, many people visit Thiruvilwamala Temple. The current temple was built in 1883 by the King of Kochi. Now, the temple is administered by Cochin Devaswom Board.

Beliefs

Devotees visit this temple to seek fulfillment of the following:- • For salvation • To perform rites for ancestors • To pray for timely weddings

Special Features

The main gate to the temple is from the west. There are more than 50 steps to reach the temple. On the west and east sides, there are remains of two huge gopurams, which once got destroyed under mysterious circumstances. There are two idols of Garuda, the mount of Lord Vishnu, on both sides of the main gate. There are many trees on the surroundings of the temple, providing fresh air and lush greenery to the atmosphere. Saraswathikund, the place where sage Amalaka is believed to have did his penance, is to the south of the fleet of steps on the west nada. The place got this name because there is a pit here with presence of Goddess Saraswati. There is a huge peepal tree here, and devotees write ‘Om Harisree Ganapathaye Namah’, the famous mantra chanted during Vidyarambhamceremony, and after that make models of many buildings arranging various stones, bricks, sand and clay. Ramanchira, a small pond, is situated near the entrance to the west nada. Devaswom rest house and cloak room are situated near them. There is no kodimaram (flagstaff) in this temple. The circumbulation path is carved with stone. The idol of Lord Rama in the west facing shrine is a swayambhu (self-born) image, which means no human intervention has ever taken place. This is the only temple in Kerala where Lord Rama has a swayambhu image. It is around 5 ft tall, and made up of a rare kind of stone, called ‘Pathalanjana Sila’. On the top of the idol, Ananta lies as an umbrella. As there is a slight presence of Lord Shiva also in this idol, a lamp is always burnt on the back, thus called ‘Pinvilakku’. The idol of Lord Lakshamana in the east facing shrine is around 3 ft tall. This is one of the rare shrines in India where this brother-cum-companion of Lord Rama is constructed. This idol is around 3 ft tall, and it is also made up of ‘Pathalanjana Sila’. There are no special decorations on this idol, just like that in the west nada. There are two vathilmadams (raised platform) on both sides of the western entrance. On the north-western corner of the nalambalam, there is a store room and a dark room. There was a ‘Koothambalam’ on the south-eastern side, where, as the name suggests, the temple art forms like Koothu and Koodiyattam were conducted in olden days. Unlike many temples, there are three balikkallus (altar stone) here. One is on the west nada, and the other two are on the east nada at different locations. There is balikkalppura on west nada. The balikkallu on the west nada is huge in size. The balikkallu on the east nada was also very huge once. It is said that it lowered itself for getting view for the ‘untouchables’, who were not allowed to enter the temple. The other balikkallu is towards the north of this one, which is believed to have formed itself after the lowering of the original one. Outside the temple complex, on the eastern side, there is a huge peepal tree. It is a wonderful sight for the devotees, as there is no soil on that place, and still this tree grew up. That point of the hill is called ‘Bhoothanmala’, meaning ‘the hill of the ghosts’. The way to the famous Punarjani cave starts from here. This cave is situated 2 km away from the main temple towards the south-east. This is believed to have been built by Vishwakarma, the divine architect, on request of Brihaspati. Humans can enter this cave only on one day in a year – The 11th day (Ekadasi) in the bright fortnight in the month of Vrischikam (November-December), which is Guruvayoor Ekadasi. All other days are meant for ghosts.

Festivals

There are five poojas and three seevelis daily in Thiruvilwamala temple. The temple opens at 4 AM, in a peaceful and auspicious atmosphere made by blowing conch seven times. The first darshan on the day is called ‘Nirmalya Darshanam’, that means the darshan with the decorations of the previous day. After removing those decorations, Shankhabhishekam (A special abhishekam conducted by taking holy water on rightward conch) and other abhishekams are conducted. Then the idols are decorated with new clothes and sandal paste. The temple closes at 12 PM after all rituals. The temple reopens at 5 PM. Deeparadhana is conducted at the dusk according to the sunset of each day. During Deeparadhana, a special act called ‘Sandhyavela’ is also performed by the devotees, who chant the names of the Lord many times. At 7:30 PM, Athazhapooja (Night/dinner pooja) is conducted. Appam, Ada and Betel leaves are offered to the Lords at this time. Later, Athazhaseeveli is also conducted. After this seeveli, the final darshan called ‘Thrippuka’, in which the sreekovil is filled with holy smoke (The name itself has that meaning), is conducted. The temple closes at 8 PM.