Krishna
Avathar is unique in very many ways.
Lord Krishna was born in a prison, the same night was moved to another
place as it was raining very heavily and flood waters were running. He grew up as cowherd tendering cattle, in
between thwarted attempts by various Asuras, saved people from the wrath of
Indira by lifting the Govardhana giri – and this Bala Krishna has so many
temples in Chera Nadu.
Lord Krishna was
born in Mathura ~ the centre of what is fondly referred as Braj bhoomi. Remember Lord was born in a prison cell at
Mathura, the capital of Surasena kingdom ruled by Kamsa, the maternal uncle of
the Lord. This is a very old place
dating back to Ramayana days. At the
place where Lord Krishna was born now exists a Temple popularly known as
‘Janmasthan temple’ - Kesava Deo Temple considered most sacred for
all Hindus. There is a huge complex
comprising of a small temple, the Janmasthan, gallery, a huge temple later
built by Dalmiyas – the prison cell – the exact place where Lord Krishna was
born is under a doom – all heavily fortified and guarded these days. At the Janmasthan is the most beautiful Kehsav Dev(Krishna), the worshipped deity of this temple. According to traditions
the original deity was installed by the
great-grandson of Krishna.
Lord Krishna was
thus born with parents incarcerated and being moved under heavy showers
crossing Yamuna river in spates, being protected by Adi Sesha – to grow up in
Gokul with cowherds. Those there had the
fortune of watching Krishna grow up – every now and then revealing glimpses of
His identity. As can be understood from
the words of Periyalwar – ‘ the grand
ladies of Gokulam, chased the child with Yasodha chiding Him for eating the earthen
sand; when He opened the mouth, they realised and exclaimed with glee ‘ He is
no ordinary cowherd child; but the blessed Lord Himself – fully imbued with all
auspicious qualities”.
குன்றெடுத்து ஆநிரை காத்த பிரான் கோவல னாய்க் குழலூதியூதி
கன்றுகள் மேய்த்துத் தன்தோழரோடு
கலந்துடன் வருவானைத் தெருவில் கண்டு
வடமதுரையில்
ஆயர் குலத்தவனாய் வந்து தோன்றிய கண்ணபிரான், இந்திரன் கோபம் கொண்டு விடாது மழை பொழிந்தபோது, கோவர்த்தனமலையை தூக்கி தனது விரலினால் நிறுத்தி குடையாக பிடித்து, ஆநிரைகளையும்,
அங்குள்ள மக்களையும் ரக்ஷித்தருளினவன்.
ஆனால் கண்ணன் தன பால்ய பருவத்திலே மிக சாதாரணனாய் குழல் ஊதிக்கொண்டு பசுக்கூட்டங்களை
மேய்த்துக்கொண்டு, தன்னையொத்த சிறுவர்களோடு விளையாடி வந்தான். வட இந்தியாவில் பிறந்த கண்ணபிரானது பிரபலமான திருக்கோவில்கள் கேரளா மாநிலத்தில் அமைந்துள்ளன.
குருவாயூர் போன்று மற்றோரு அற்புத ஸ்தலம் அம்பலப்புழா.
Ambalappuzha is a
small town in the Alappuzha district of Kerala.
Ambalapuzha is divided into the two panchayats of Ambalapuzha North and
Ambalapuzha South.
Ambalappuzha Sri
Krishna Temple famous temple here. 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 temple is a model of
traditional Kerala architectural style. It has white-washed walls and a sloping
copper-clad roof. The Sreekovil (Sanctum Sanctorum) has no windows and only the
priests can enter. The Sreekovil is within the four walls of the Nalambalam. The outer structure within
the temple walls is known as Chuttuambalam. The priests use the well near the
temple exclusively for pooja rituals.
The idol at
Ambalapuzha is Sri Parthasarathi (the charioteer of Arjuna), 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 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
9,223,372,036,854,775,809 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.
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.
Like Thrissur,
Guruvayur, and many other temples, this temple too has a famous elephant. Temple festivals in Kerala are perhaps
incomplete without caparisoned elephants. The elephant Ambalapuzha Ramachandran
was famous. Inside the temple there is a
mammoth life-size statue of this famous elephant. The lively elephant that was in the temple
complex at the time of my visit in 2013 was equally magnificent.
Ottan Thullal is a dance and poetic performance form of Kerala,
India. It was introduced in the eighteenth century by Kunchan Nambiar, one of
the Prachina Kavithrayam (three famous Malayalam language poets). It is
accompanied by a mridangam or an idakka (drum and cymbal). The temple at Ambalapuzha is associated with the birth of famous
performing art form of Kerala – Ottamthullal. It is believed that legendary
Malayalam poet Kalakkaththu Kunchan Nambiar gave birth to this unique art form
in the Ambalappuzha Temple premises. The Mizhavu (a big copper drum used as a
percussion instrument in performing arts) used by Kunjan Nambiar is still
preserved in an enclosure in the temple.
Kalakkathu Kunchan
Nambiar was an early Malayalam poet, performer,
satirist and the inventor of local art form of Ottamthullal. Along with
Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan and Cherusseri Namboothiri, Nambiar completes the
ancient triumvirate of Malayalam poetry. He is considered by many as the master
of Malayalam satirist poetry.
Ambalapuzhe
unnikannanodu nee
Enthu
paribhavam melleyothi vannuvo
The song
"Ambalappuzhe" reportedly composed at Woodlands Hotel in Chennai was
a great hit. The music was by MG
Radhakrishnan and the lyrics were writtenby Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri. It was from the 1992 movie directed by
Priyadarsyhan ‘Adwaitham’ starring Mohanlal, Jayaram. A couple of years back, there was wave in the
internet with MS Dhoni’s toddler daughter Ziva rendering this song.
Adiyen dhasan – S.
Sampathkumar
20.5.2020.
Pics
taken by me have watermark : © Kairavini Karaiyinile; couple of photos credit
Mr Ashwin Sampathkumar and couple courtesy Temple FB page.
No comments:
Post a Comment