3/5 Eipy 3 years ago on Google
The
Ambalappuzha
Sri
Krishna
Temple
is
believed
to
have
been
built
during
17th
century
AD
by
the
local
ruler
Chembakasserry
Pooradam
Thirunal-Devanarayanan
Thampuran.
The
idol
at
Ambalapuzha
is
likened
to Parthasarthiform
of Vishnu,
holding
a
whip
in
his
right
hand
and
a
conch
in
his
left.
During
the
raids
of Tipu
Sultan in
1789,
the
idol
of
Sri
Krishna
from
the Guruvayoor
Temple was
brought
to
the
Ambalappuzha
Temple
for
safe
keeping
for
12
years.
Payasam,
a
sweet
pudding
made
of
rice
and
milk
is
served
in
the
temple
and
is
believed
that
the
Lord
Guruvayoorappan
visits
the
temple
daily
to
accept
the
offering.
According
to
the
legend,
God Krishna once
appeared
in
the
form
of
a sage in
the
court
of
the
king
who
ruled
the
region
and
challenged
him
for
a
game
of chess (or chaturanga).
The
king
being
a
chess
enthusiast
himself
gladly
accepted
the
invitation.
The
prize
had
to
be
decided
before
the
game
and
the
king
asked
the
sage
to
choose
his
prize
in
case
he
won.
The
sage
told
the
king
that
he
had
a
very
modest
claim
and
being
a
man
of
few
material
needs,
all
he
wished
was
a
few
grains
of
rice.
The
amount
of
rice
itself
shall
be
determined using
the
chess-board in
the
following
manner.
One
grain
of
rice
shall
be
placed
in
the
first
square,
two
grains
in
the
second
square,
four
in
the
third
square,
eight
in
the
fourth
square,
sixteen
in
5th
square
and
so
on.
Every
square
will
have
double
of
its
predecessor.
The
king
lost
the
game
and
sage
demanded
the
agreed-upon
prize.
As
he
started
adding
grains
of
rice
to
the
chess
board,
the
king
soon
realised
the
true
nature
of
the
sage's
demands.
The
royal
granary
soon
ran
out
of
grains
of
rice.
The
king
realised
that
he
will
never
be
able
to
fulfill
the
promised
reward
as
the
number
of
grains
was increasing as
a geometric
progression and
the
total
amount
of
rice
required
for
a
64-squared
chess
board
is
18,446,744,073,709,551,615
translating
to
trillions
of
tons
of
rice.
Upon
seeing
the
dilemma,
the
sage
appeared
to
the
king
in
his
true-form,
that
of
Lord Krishna and
told
the
king
that
he
did
not
have
to
pay
the
debt
immediately
but
could
pay
him
over
time.
The
king
would
serve paal-payasam (pudding
made
of
rice)
in
the
temple
freely
to
the
pilgrims
every
day
until
the
debt
was
paid
off.
FestivalEdit
The
Amabalapuzha
Temple
Festival
was
established
during
the
fifteenth
century
AD.
At
this
time,
a
part
of
the
Travancore
was
ruled
by
the
Chembakassery
Devanarayana
Dynasty.
The
rulers
of
this
dynasty
were
highly
religious
and
decided
that
an
idol
of
Lord
Krishna
was
to
be
brought
to
the
Amabalapuzha
Sree
Krishna
Swamy
Temple
from
the
Karinkulam
temple.
The
celebration
in
commemoration
of
the
bringing
of
this
idol
of
Lord
Krishna
is
the
origin
of
the
Amabalapuzha
Temple
Festival,
also
referred
to
as
the
Chambakulam
Moolam
water
festival.
This
festival
is
conducted
every
year
on
the
Moolam
day
of
the
Mithunam
month
of
the
Malayalam
era.
The
Aaraattu
festival
takes
place
on
the
Thiruvonam
day
in
March–April.
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