Triprayar Sri Rama Swami Temple – Kerala

Address

Triprayar Sri Rama Swami Temple – Temple Road, Valapad PO, Thrissur District, Triprayar, Kerala 680567 Phone: 0487 239 1375

Diety

Sri Ramaswami Amman: Sri Devi, Bhu devi

Introduction

Thriprayar Sri Ramaswami Temple is situated in Triprayar in Thrissur district of Kerala state in India. The deity is Lord Rama, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, with four arms bearing a conch, a disc, a bow and a garland. The temple is situated on the bank of river Theevra. The temple deity is the presiding deity of Arattupuzha Pooram. It is believed that the idol here was worshipped by Lord Krishna, another avatar of Lord Vishnu in Dwarka. Along with Lord Rama, there are shrines for Lord Shiva as Dakshinamoorthy, Lord Ganesha, Lord Sastha and Lord Krishna. It is the first among the four temples housing the four sons of King Dasharatha, popularly known as Nalambalams, the others being Koodalmanikyam Temple in Irinjalakuda housing Bharata, Thirumuzhikoolam temple housing Lakshmana and Payammal housing Shatrughna in that order. It is believed that worshipping these temples on a single day in the Malayalam month of Karkadakam is very auspicious, and thus many devotees visit these temples. Thriprayar temple used to be owned & administered by the 3 famous Nambudiri families namely Cheloor mana, Janappilly Mana and Punnappilly Mana before it was handed over to the Cochin Devaswom Board.

Puranic Significance

The diety Lord Rama in the Triprayar Temple is popularly known as Triprayarappan or Triprayar Thevar. The idol of Lord Rama was initially worshipped by Lord Krishna at Dwaraka. After the swargarohana of Lord Krishna the idol was immnesed in the sea. Later some fisher men got the idol from the sea near Chettuva region of Kerala and the local ruler Vakkayil Kaimal constructed a temple at Triprayar and installed the idol. The image of Rama (Triprayar Thevar) resembles the Chaturbhuja Vishnu form with four arms, bearing a conch(Panchajanya), a disc (Sudarsana), a bow (Kodanda) and a garland respectively. It is believed that the deity worshipped here possesses some of the aspects of Shiva too. It was after killing the asura, Khara that Sri Rama got both the Shaiva and Vaishnava aspects. Thus Triprayar Thevar is also called Khara Samhara Moorthy. It is also believed that the portrayal of Rama with a garland held in the image’s hand is also suggestive of aspects of Bhrahma and hence the deity is said to be a manifestation of the Trimoorthis. The image is adorned with necklaces and other fine jewelry. Images of Sreedevi and Bhudevi are on either side. There is an image of Dakshinamoorthy, in the sanctum facing the south. Dakshinamoorthy is commonly found in Shiva temples. There is also a lamp behind the image which is kept burning all the time. Because of these and also because of the fact that people got relief when troubled by evil spirits chathan-the deity is believed to have a Shiva aspect also. The original idol of Rama was subject to severe wear with the passage of time. Astrological investigations however revealed that the Lord did not desire to have change of the vigraha. Therefore a raiment was made in Panchaloha and the same now covers the original stone image.

Special Features

Triprayar temple is rich in wood carvings. The srikovil is circular in shape with a copper covered conical roof and is surmounted by a golden Thazhikakkudam. The circular sanctum has several sculptural representations of scenes from the Ramayana with a dynamic and lively vitality of design and form a lavish decoration and an integral part of the architectural edifice of the temple. Its walls are decorated with beautiful mural paintings. The namaskara mandapa, which is copper-plated, is profusely sculptured -having 24 panels of woodcarvings representing navagrahas.

Festivals

During the explanation of the route to Kollam from Tripprankode, this place and temple is referred as follows :The Ekadasi festival in the month of Vrichikam (November – December) is the main festival. On Ekadasi day, Sree Rama is taken in procession with around 21 elephants participating. Thousands of people gather here to witness the celebrations. Thriprayar Thevar is the presiding deity of the Arattupuzha Pooram,held at the Arattupuzha Temple in Arattupuzha of Thrissur District. A total of 23 deities of various temples from different temples of Thrissur District participate in the Pooram festival known as Devamela and is considered as one of the oldest temple festival in the Indian subcontinent. On the day of Arattupuzha pooram, Triparayarappan goes there in order to participate in the pooram. The seven day Pooram festival is celebrated in the month of Meenam(March-April,Pankuni or Phalguna).