A snap shot of the time well spent, a brief write up on the temples along with their history are also put up, coz most of the temples I was visiting for the very first time.
Day 1
We embarked on a holy trip to the Sabarimala on 22.11.09 we set off from Banaswadi Aiyappa Temple at 7:30 am, we were a group of 5 swami’s led by our very own charismatic leader Hari Swami,his close buddy & a seasoned banker Soundararajan Swami (whom we all address as Rajan swami) the very elegant & tech savvy swami Arun Swami and my very own seat mate & true Mumbai manoos Rajesh Swami. Our first temple destination is Guruvayoor, rchd the gates of temple at 7:30 pm a long twelve hour journey with short breaks for breakfast & lunch amazing home made foods neatly packed in ready to eat style. The best part of travelling with Tamil families is u get to eat gud hme pckd food & snacks like chakuli's (thx to Mrs Rajanswami)
Guruvayoor darshan was over in 2 hrs as expected the Q could not be avoided, we had a good dinner at Sri Ramakrishna Lunch home & retired for the day at SBI guest house, one couldn’t ask for more comfort then what was provided to us by SBI at a price for which one will not even get a Xtra blanket in Bangalore (full credit to our ex & present SBI swami’s).
Day –2
We left Guruvayoor at 4:47 am; Hariswami has chalked out our entire day’s plan well in advance with 5 temple visits starting with Thriprayar.
1. Thriprayar -According to legend, idols of Lord Vishnu resembling Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna were washed ashore and were consecrated at Triprayar.Worshipping all the four deities in a single day is considered especially auspicious.The idol is that of a four-armed Vishnu (Chaturbhuja Vishnu) and Rama is depicted as the victor over the demon Kara. The deity is said to contain aspects of Brhama and Shiva too, making it into a Trimurthi.
2.Bhagavathi kshethram at Kodungallur.-The Kodungallur temple is one of the four Devi temples which Bhargava Raman is said to have installed at the four boundaries of Kerala. The popular belief is that in order to save the devotees from the epidemic of chicken pox, the Lokambika was installed in the Kodungallur temple by Bhargava Raman. This is one of the rare temples where the Brahmins are not performing the pooja, since it was originally a Dravidian Temple.
3.Vaikkom ,Ettumanoor & Kaduthuruthy Shiva Temple- Vaikom is one of the most revered Shiva shrines in South India. The temple along with Ettumanoor Siva Temple, Kaduthuruthy Mahadeva Temple is considered a powerful trisome.
Legend goes this way-“Kharasura did severe penance and Tapasya for the attainment of Moksha pleased with his penance Lord Siva granted all the boons he asked, and presented him with three great Siva Lingas drawn out of him. Assuring that He will ever be present in them, Lord Siva disappeared, asking Khara to worship the Lingas to attain Moksha. When Khara was returning south from Himalayas with the three Lingas, one in his right hand, one in left hand and other by the neck, he felt tired and rested awhile. After rest when he tried to pick up the lingas, they wouldn’t budge. the heavens spoke thus, “I shall remain here giving Moksha to whom so ever take refuge in me”. Khara having attained Moksha entrusted the holy Lingas to the custody of Maharshi Vyaghrapada. Belief is that the Siva Linga placed by Khara Asura by his right hand is being worshipped at Vaikom, the one in left hand at Ettumannoor and the one by neck at Kaduthuruthy even to this day. The fact that the distance from Vaikom to Kadathuruthy and from there to Ettumanoor is more or less the same, gives credence to this legend. So the Darsana of all these three Lingas on a same day is considered as good as the Siva Darsana at Kailas – the Abode of the Lord” The belief is that if a devotee worships at these three temples before 'Ucha pooja', all the wishes are fulfilled.
All the temple visits ended at 10:48 am & we carried forward our journey to our final destination,enroute Pamba we has a brief halting at Erumeli & a true Kerala meal of Kappa & Conji(myself &Hari Swami relished the most donno abt other swami’s) reached Pampa at 3:15 & set ourselves for the last leg of our jouney to Sanidhanam.The entire proceedings of what happned at the temple premises & Sanidhanam is still fresh in every swami’s mind so I wont recreate the magical moments of the 4 darshans we had,truly breathtaking experience for me,couldn’t ask for more on my very first visit to the holy shrine.
Day 3-We set our journey back at 8:15 am with a content mind of having seeing the lord in various forms .twice without any alankaram,one with pushpa alankaram & finally neyyi abhishekam.Climbing the hills with erumudi was not a problem but coming down the hills without any much baggage caused few problems (may b this is called maya),reached Pampa at 9:30 am & carried fwd our long journey back to Bangalore.
On our return trip first halt was at the famous Chottanikkara Bhagavathi Kshetram.The sacred doors of the sanctum sanctorum open in the wee hours of the day, at 4.00 a.m. Sree Mookambika Saraswathy is also believed as present in the temple in the morning. That is why Mookambika Temple at kollur opens only after the Goddess Saraswathy returns to there late in the morning. On the eastern side of the temple pond stands the Kizhukkavu temple. Being present here during Valiya guruthy on Fridays permanently cures women suffering from mental abnormalities like schizophrenia. An ancient 'Pala' tree standing on the northeastern side of the sanctum sanctorum is covered with long iron nails hammered on by haunted victims with their foreheads. Next stop was Sree Poornathrayesa Temple at Tripunithura This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu in the form of Santhanagopala; we had decided to halt at Hariswami’s uncle’s place in Palakkad that night.
Day 4-Last day of our journey began on a memorable note; we set off to a nearby stream to take bath, all of us went back to our childhood days playing gleefully in the flowing stream.We set off early from Balamama's place (our route guide & such an adorable person which was evident in the manner he was taking care of our stay) enroute blore we will halt at two more kaav Manapulli Kaav & Pallasenna/ Meenkulathi Temple .The stories attched to these two temples have been told by Hari & Rajan swami,so frm there we set bck on our journey from the lush green paddy fileds of Palakkad to the smoke filled streets of Bangalore,had a brief halt at Tatamangalam bus stop to shop for koorkas's (english name Chinese Potatoes) everybody bought a lot of them I even had them for dinner last night amazing taste. We rchd blore at 6 & by the time I reached hme it ws close to 7 pm. A group of 5 swami's embarked on a holy trail for 4 days are back in Blore..............dnt thnk blore was missin us neither were we .
Al i can say of this trip is " Swamiye Saranam Aiyappa" & a gr8 group with whm i wud luv to visit these places every year.
Day 1
We embarked on a holy trip to the Sabarimala on 22.11.09 we set off from Banaswadi Aiyappa Temple at 7:30 am, we were a group of 5 swami’s led by our very own charismatic leader Hari Swami,his close buddy & a seasoned banker Soundararajan Swami (whom we all address as Rajan swami) the very elegant & tech savvy swami Arun Swami and my very own seat mate & true Mumbai manoos Rajesh Swami. Our first temple destination is Guruvayoor, rchd the gates of temple at 7:30 pm a long twelve hour journey with short breaks for breakfast & lunch amazing home made foods neatly packed in ready to eat style. The best part of travelling with Tamil families is u get to eat gud hme pckd food & snacks like chakuli's (thx to Mrs Rajanswami)
Guruvayoor darshan was over in 2 hrs as expected the Q could not be avoided, we had a good dinner at Sri Ramakrishna Lunch home & retired for the day at SBI guest house, one couldn’t ask for more comfort then what was provided to us by SBI at a price for which one will not even get a Xtra blanket in Bangalore (full credit to our ex & present SBI swami’s).
Day –2
We left Guruvayoor at 4:47 am; Hariswami has chalked out our entire day’s plan well in advance with 5 temple visits starting with Thriprayar.
1. Thriprayar -According to legend, idols of Lord Vishnu resembling Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna were washed ashore and were consecrated at Triprayar.Worshipping all the four deities in a single day is considered especially auspicious.The idol is that of a four-armed Vishnu (Chaturbhuja Vishnu) and Rama is depicted as the victor over the demon Kara. The deity is said to contain aspects of Brhama and Shiva too, making it into a Trimurthi.
2.Bhagavathi kshethram at Kodungallur.-The Kodungallur temple is one of the four Devi temples which Bhargava Raman is said to have installed at the four boundaries of Kerala. The popular belief is that in order to save the devotees from the epidemic of chicken pox, the Lokambika was installed in the Kodungallur temple by Bhargava Raman. This is one of the rare temples where the Brahmins are not performing the pooja, since it was originally a Dravidian Temple.
3.Vaikkom ,Ettumanoor & Kaduthuruthy Shiva Temple- Vaikom is one of the most revered Shiva shrines in South India. The temple along with Ettumanoor Siva Temple, Kaduthuruthy Mahadeva Temple is considered a powerful trisome.
Legend goes this way-“Kharasura did severe penance and Tapasya for the attainment of Moksha pleased with his penance Lord Siva granted all the boons he asked, and presented him with three great Siva Lingas drawn out of him. Assuring that He will ever be present in them, Lord Siva disappeared, asking Khara to worship the Lingas to attain Moksha. When Khara was returning south from Himalayas with the three Lingas, one in his right hand, one in left hand and other by the neck, he felt tired and rested awhile. After rest when he tried to pick up the lingas, they wouldn’t budge. the heavens spoke thus, “I shall remain here giving Moksha to whom so ever take refuge in me”. Khara having attained Moksha entrusted the holy Lingas to the custody of Maharshi Vyaghrapada. Belief is that the Siva Linga placed by Khara Asura by his right hand is being worshipped at Vaikom, the one in left hand at Ettumannoor and the one by neck at Kaduthuruthy even to this day. The fact that the distance from Vaikom to Kadathuruthy and from there to Ettumanoor is more or less the same, gives credence to this legend. So the Darsana of all these three Lingas on a same day is considered as good as the Siva Darsana at Kailas – the Abode of the Lord” The belief is that if a devotee worships at these three temples before 'Ucha pooja', all the wishes are fulfilled.
All the temple visits ended at 10:48 am & we carried forward our journey to our final destination,enroute Pamba we has a brief halting at Erumeli & a true Kerala meal of Kappa & Conji(myself &Hari Swami relished the most donno abt other swami’s) reached Pampa at 3:15 & set ourselves for the last leg of our jouney to Sanidhanam.The entire proceedings of what happned at the temple premises & Sanidhanam is still fresh in every swami’s mind so I wont recreate the magical moments of the 4 darshans we had,truly breathtaking experience for me,couldn’t ask for more on my very first visit to the holy shrine.
Day 3-We set our journey back at 8:15 am with a content mind of having seeing the lord in various forms .twice without any alankaram,one with pushpa alankaram & finally neyyi abhishekam.Climbing the hills with erumudi was not a problem but coming down the hills without any much baggage caused few problems (may b this is called maya),reached Pampa at 9:30 am & carried fwd our long journey back to Bangalore.
On our return trip first halt was at the famous Chottanikkara Bhagavathi Kshetram.The sacred doors of the sanctum sanctorum open in the wee hours of the day, at 4.00 a.m. Sree Mookambika Saraswathy is also believed as present in the temple in the morning. That is why Mookambika Temple at kollur opens only after the Goddess Saraswathy returns to there late in the morning. On the eastern side of the temple pond stands the Kizhukkavu temple. Being present here during Valiya guruthy on Fridays permanently cures women suffering from mental abnormalities like schizophrenia. An ancient 'Pala' tree standing on the northeastern side of the sanctum sanctorum is covered with long iron nails hammered on by haunted victims with their foreheads. Next stop was Sree Poornathrayesa Temple at Tripunithura This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu in the form of Santhanagopala; we had decided to halt at Hariswami’s uncle’s place in Palakkad that night.
Day 4-Last day of our journey began on a memorable note; we set off to a nearby stream to take bath, all of us went back to our childhood days playing gleefully in the flowing stream.We set off early from Balamama's place (our route guide & such an adorable person which was evident in the manner he was taking care of our stay) enroute blore we will halt at two more kaav Manapulli Kaav & Pallasenna/ Meenkulathi Temple .The stories attched to these two temples have been told by Hari & Rajan swami,so frm there we set bck on our journey from the lush green paddy fileds of Palakkad to the smoke filled streets of Bangalore,had a brief halt at Tatamangalam bus stop to shop for koorkas's (english name Chinese Potatoes) everybody bought a lot of them I even had them for dinner last night amazing taste. We rchd blore at 6 & by the time I reached hme it ws close to 7 pm. A group of 5 swami's embarked on a holy trail for 4 days are back in Blore..............dnt thnk blore was missin us neither were we .
Al i can say of this trip is " Swamiye Saranam Aiyappa" & a gr8 group with whm i wud luv to visit these places every year.
