5/5 Anandhu R. 3 years ago on Google
The
Aranmula
Parthasarathy
Temple
is
one
of
the
"Divya
Desams",
the
108
temples
of
Vishnu
revered
by
the
12
poet
saints,
or
Alwars
located
near
Aranmula,
a
village
in
Pathanamthitta
District,
Kerala,
South
India.
Constructed
in
the
Kerala
style
of
architecture,
the
temple
is
glorified
in
the
Divya
Prabandha,
the
early
medieval
Tamil
canon
of
the
Azhwar
saints
from
the
6th–9th
centuries
AD.
It
is
one
of
the
108
Divyadesam
dedicated
to
Krishna,
an
avatar
of
Vishnu,
who
is
worshipped
as
Parthasarathy
(Partha's
charioteer).
The
nearest
railway
station
to
the
temple
is
located
in
Chengannur,
while
the
nearest
airport
is
Trivandrum
International
Airport.Parthasarathy
is
the
other
name
of
Krishna
on
account
of
his
role
as
Arjuna's
Charioteer
in
the
Mahabharata
war.
It
is
one
of
the
most
important
Krishna
temples
in
Kerala,
the
others
being
at
Guruvayur
Temple,
Trichambaram
Temple,
Tiruvarppu
and
Ambalappuzha
Sri
Krishna
Temple.
It
is
one
of
the
five
ancient
shrines
in
the
Chengannur
area
of
Kerala,
connected
with
the
legend
of
Mahabharata,
where
the
five
Pandavas
are
believed
to
have
built
one
temple
each;
Thrichittatt
Maha
Vishnu
Temple
by
Yudhishthira,
Puliyur
Mahavishnu
Temple
by
Bheema,
Aranmula
by
Arjuna,
Thiruvanvandoor
Mahavishnu
Temple
by
Nakula
and
Thrikodithanam
Mahavishnu
Temple
to
Sahadeva.
The
sacred
jewels,
called
Thiruvabharanam
of
Ayyappan
are
taken
in
procession
to
Sabarimala
each
year
from
Pandalam,
and
Aranmula
Temple
is
one
of
the
stops
on
the
way.
Also,
the
Thanka
Anki,
golden
attire
of
Ayyappa,
donated
by
the
king
of
Travancore,
is
stored
here
and
taken
to
Sabarimala
during
the
Mandala
season
of
late
December.
Aranmula
is
also
known
for
snake
boat
race
held
every
year
during
Onam
linked
to
the
legends
of
the
Mahabharata.
The
temple
has
four
towers
over
its
entrances
on
its
outer
wall.
The
Eastern
tower
is
accessed
through
a
flight
of
18
steps
and
the
Northern
tower
entrance
flight
through
57
steps
leads
to
the
Pampa
River.
It
is
believed
that
Dushasana
is
the
guardian
of
the
eastern
Gopuram
of
the
temple.
The
temples
has
paintings
on
its
walls
dating
back
to
early
18
century.