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Amazing Kerala, Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur

 


Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur

The great, Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple is situated in the heart of Thrissur district in Kerala.  Thrissur is famous for its rich culture and heritage.  Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple is one of the most popular Shiva temples in Kerala.  It is believed that Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple is the first Shiva temple dedicated by Lord Parashurama. The temple is also known as Vrishabhachalam or Thenkailasam.      


            The other main deities of the temple is Goddess Parvathi, Lord Shankara Narayana and Lord Rama. Here, Lord Shiva is facing west and his consort Parvathy Devi is facing east indicating oneness of Lord Shiva and Parvathy Devi.

 

                    Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple is one of the oldest temples in Kerala and built in Kerala style of architecture.   The temple received an award of excellence from UNESCO in 2015 for the remarkable conservation effort undertaken at the sacred site which employed age-old rituals and conservation techniques drawn from Vastusastra focusing on architecture and construction. 

Origin of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple

The Linga of Lord Shiva in this temple is believed to be installed by Sree Parasurama. In the ancient time Parasurama went around the Bharatha Khanda and exterminated the Kshatriyas many times. So, to get rid of all the harms and killing he had done to other people, he decided to conduct a yagna and to donate some fresh land to the Bhrahmins participated in it. Parasuraman told, the god of sea, Varuna to part the land for him. So, Lord Varuna told to throw an axe from the top of a hill called Gokarna situated in Karnataka. Parasurama promised that he will be away from the land upto the place where axe falls. The axe ended up in Kanyakumari. This resulted to give the fresh piece of land, which is Kerala. Then Parashurama went to meet Lord Shiva at Kailas to request him to visit the fresh land. Lord Shiva along with Parvathi Devi, Muruga and Ganesha visited the fresh place created by Parasurama and the spot was Thrissur district of Kerala. Lord Shiva suddenly disappeared from there and Parasurama found a Shiva Linga under a huge Banyan tree. Parasurama told the Brahmins to take care of the Shiva linga for their worship. It was under their care for Centuries. Then, the King of Kochi, Sakthan Thampuran decided to build a temple to shift the Linga there. This gave the origin of Sree Vadakunnathan Temple.  The banyan Tree is now known as Sree Moola Sthanam.


 During the Shifting of Linga to the temple, they faced lots of problems and difficulties. The huge branches of banyan tree was about to fall on the linga which will denotes a negative sign. So, one of the Brahmin told that he will stand above the Linga to protect it from those branches so that it may fall on him and not on the Linga. But surprisingly, none of the branches felled on him and the temple was successfully built there. 

Sree Moola Sthanam




The public are allowed to enter either through the east or west gopuram.  Sree Vadakunnathan temple has lots of beautiful architectural works and it is believed that the works were done by Perumthachan. 


There is a famous Mural painting of Nrithanath which denotes the beautiful Nataraja picture which represents a real feeling in the painting. This is made for worship inside the temple. The temple is also having 400 years old of Mural paintings that includes various episodes from Mahabharatha.  

           Anti-social elements have vandalized and destroyed the base wall of the Thekke Gopuram of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple with graffiti.  Then the walls were again renovated by Archaeological Survey of India a few years ago.

             Earlier The surroundings of Sree Vadakunnathan temple was surrounded with dense forest with wild animals, now known as Thekkinkadu Maithanam and people was feared to go there. Due to this, Sakthan Thampuran ordered to cut all the trees and forest around. It is believed that one of the oracle from Sree Paramekkavu Devi Temple came there and told, stop cutting the trees. The powerful and brave Sakthan Thampuran asked about the reason and he told the forest is his father’s beard. There was conversation between them on cutting the forest. The oracle got angry and he started striking his sword on his forehead to signify a power has entered inside. Sakthan Thampuran told that “your sword is not sharp and I will take my sword” and he cut his head into vertical pieces.

Thekkinkadu Maithanam

After making the place perfect and clean, Sakthan Thampuran advised the local people to conduct Pooram every year. Now Thrissur Pooram conducted as a huge festival with people from all over.  



Thrissur Pooram

               The major festivals of Sree Vadakkunnathan temple are Thrissur Pooram the festivals of festival, Aanayoottu and Maha Sivarathri. People from various destination visit the temple to celebrate the grand festival, Thrissur Pooram. 

            The great Thrissur Pooram which is an assembly of God and Godess.  The Pooram is held during the month of April- May (Medam month).  The Pooram is vested in Thekkinkadu Maithanam Ground of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple which is very vast with lots of banyan and peepal trees along with places to rest. 

            The Thrissur Pooram of Sree Vadakunnathan Temple is jointly conducted by Paramekkavu Devi Temple and Thiruvambady Sree Krishna Temple and 8 other temples participate in it.  


The Aanayoottu which is known as feeding of elephants, is the second biggest festival held in the temple. The devotees respects elephants as Lord Ganesh's incarnation. The festival falls on the first day of the month of Karkkidakam , which coincides with the month of July. A large number of people visits the temple to feed the elephants.

The other enchanting and beautiful places to visit near Sree Vadakkunnathan temple to make the trip more memorable are Nehru Park, Sakthan Thampuran Palace, Kerala Kalamandalam, Sree Guruvayurappan Temple, Sobha City, Athirappilly Waterfalls, Chavakkad Beach, Thrissur Zoo and Museum, Charpa Falls etc.


How to Reach 

There are many facilities to reach these temples. It has both Rail as well as Road facilities.

For a great experience and to explore around, visit our website http://www.cabsforme.com  for our Taxi service “CABSFORME” Thrissur,  whose mission is to provide reliable, timely, and safe cab services.

Contact Us on : cabsformethrissur@gmail.com

                            Phone number: +91 85 89 8 000 60,  +91 960 50 9 6083 




Comments

  1. Probably one of the top three places of Thrissur however way you look at and whomsoever view point it might be. A place with rich history and relevance to this date. Who can show you all other than Manish himself at the helm. Go guys Go....

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