4/5 Unnikrishnan Panickar. K. 5 years ago on Google
Trichambaram
Temple,
popularly
also
known
as
North
Guruvayur,
is
an
ancient
Krishna
temple.
The
Sanctum
has
carvings
and
murals
that
have
been
dated
to
the
15th
C,
or
earlier.
Lore
has
it
that
the
temple
is
associated
with
Maharishi
Shambara
('Thiru
Shambara'
~
Trichambaram).
The
chief
deity
here
is
Sree
Krishna,
in
a
Raudra
posture,
immediately
after
vanquishing
Kamsa
('Kamsa
Vadham').
A
couple
of
peculiar
customs
observed
here
reinforce
this
connection.
The
first
is
the
practice
of
offering
'naivedyam'
before
pooja.
It
is
rare
that
'naivedyam'
(an
offering
of
food)
is
offered
to
the
deity
immediately
upon
opening
the
sanctum
early
in
the
morning,
before
any
poojas.
The
belief
is
that
Lord
Krishna,
exhausted
after
his
fight
with
Kamsa,
approached
his
mother
Devaki
asking
for
food,
and
the
ritual
of
'naivedyam'
first
and
poojas
next
took
root
from
that.
[
To
my
knowledge
there
is
one
other
Krishna
temple
in
south
Kerala
that
follows
such
a
practice--
the
Thiruvarppu
Sreekrishna
Temple,
located
in
a
scenic
village
about
6-7
km
due
west
of
Kottayam.
What
makes
the
temple
strangely
unique
are
the
rituals
followed
here.
The
Lord
consecrated
here
is
in
the
aspect
immediately
after
the
killing
of
Kamsa.
The
fight
with
the
demon
king
zapped
Him
of
all
His
energy
and
He
is
in
a
hungry
state--
the
reason
why
the
temple
opens
at
2
am,
much
earlier
than
virtually
all
other
temples.
Immediately
after
"abhishekam"
(ritual
ablution),
the
Lord's
head
is
dried
and
then
he
is
offered
"Usha
Payasam",
a
sweet
porridge.
Only
afterwards
is
he
fully
dried
and
clothed
and
poojas
are
done.
His
hunger
pangs
are
so
strong
that
the
temple
stays
open
even
during
eclipses
(a
time
when
temples
all
over
remain
closed)
to
see
that
he
does
not
miss
out
on
his
early
morning
"naivedyam"--
a
practice
that
is
unique
to
the
Thiruvarppu
temple.
Another
feaure
is
that
this
is
perhaps
the
only
temple
where
it
is
permitted
to
offer
"Pithru
Tharpana",
libation
offered
to
dead
ancestors.
This
is
another
feature
that
is
followed
in
the
Trichambaram
temple
too.]
The
second
practice
is
unique
too.
As
we
all
know,
elephants
are
part
and
parcel
of
temple
rituals
all
over
Kerala.
But
at
Trichambaram
there
is
a
prohibition
on
elephants
being
taken
anywhere
near
the
temple.
Lore
tells
how
Kamsa's
royal
elephant
charged
at
Krishna
and
Balarama
as
they
entered
Kamsa's
palace,
intent
on
vanquishing
him,
and
ever
since
the
Lord
had
a
strong
aversion
to
elephants.
Till
this
day
this
prohibition
is
observed
to
the
letter.
The
temple
also
is
famous
among
devotees
as
it
is
believed
that
libations
offered
to
the
departed
souls
('Bali
tharpana')
here
is
the
last
word
in
ensuring
'shanti'
and
'moksha'
for
the
souls.
From
the
East
Gopuram
a
long
flight
of
wide
steps
descend
to
the
temple
courtyard.
In
the
temple
yard
there
is
an
Elanji
tree
with
an
interesting
story
connected
with
it--though
the
tree
regularly
flowers,
fruits
do
not
appear,
the
result,
it
is
believed,
of
the
Lord's
prohibition
to
protect
a
favoured
devotee
who
was
apparently
allergic
to
Elanji
fruits.
While
in
the
courtyard,
the
eye
is
caught
by
the
Durga
Bhagavathy
temple
at
the
north-east,
uniquely
located
in
the
middle
of
a
large
pond.
The
two-storeyed
main
sanctum
has
a
pyramidal
roof
with
gables.
There
is
an
Ayyappa
shrine
in
the
south-west
corner,
while
the
Mulangeswaram
Siva
temple
marks
the
north-west.
At
the
north-east
also
there
is
a
temple
tank
and
traditional
bath-house,
which
has
fallen
into
disrepair.
The
main
temple
tank
is
at
the
south-west,
with
the
Neerkottil
Ganapathy
temple
on
its
south
bank.
The
pond
for
offereing
libations
to
the
departed
souls
('pindakkulam')
is
at
the
south-east.
The
temple
has
been
maintained
rather
well,
though
unfortuntely,
like
in
many
other
ancient
temples,
over-enthusiastic
later
additions
of
concrete
and
steel
have
marred
the
beauty
and
Vaasthu
perfection
of
the
ancient
structures.
It
is
high
time
the
devotees
became
proactive
about
the
preservation
of
these
emblems
of
our
cultural
past.
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