கண்ணபிரானது பிரபலமான திருக்கோவில்கள் கேரளா மாநிலத்தில் அமைந்துள்ளன.
குருவாயூர் போன்று மற்றோரு அற்புத ஸ்தலம் அம்பலப்புழா.
Do you know the political
career of this former CM of Kerala. Velikkakathu
Sankaran Achuthanandan was the Chief Minister of Kerala from 2006 to
2011. Achuthanandan was a member of the CPI(M) Politburo from 1985 until July
2009, when he was reverted to the Central Committee of the party owing to his
ideological dispositions. After serving
as Chief Minister, he was Leader of the Opposition in Kerala from 2011 to 2016.
He has been Chairman of the Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission from 2016
to 2021.
God’s own country
has got some great Temples of Lord Krishna – Guruvayur, Ambalapuzha,
Thiruvambady Sri Krishna Temple and more .. .. birth of Lord Sri Krishna is
grandly celebrated in all these
places. Ambalappuzha is a small town in
the Alappuzha district of Kerala.
Legend has it that, one
day when Puradam Tirunal Tamburan and Vilvamangalam Swamiar were travelling in
a canoe on the River Pampa, they could hear the murali ganam from the top of a
banyan tree at the south-east side of the present day temple. They stopped and
searched. Vilvamangalam perceived a blue light, amidst the branches, which
transformed into an adorable boy (blue in colour) with peacock feather on the
‘jada’ with a mellifluous flute and sparkling vanamala. He was lost in ecstasy,
when the form disappeared and he circumambulated the tree with overwhelming
devotion. He told the local people to build a temple and install Gosala Krishna.
A Balagopala idol was made, but while installing it, the tantri Puthumana
Namboodiri said that it cannot be sanctified as the idol did not look perfect –
with a small swelling on the left side. Later, a Parthasarathi idol from Karinakulam
temple at Kurichi was brought and consecrated at a house in Chambakulam. The
king went there in a majestic boat, moving over Pamba like a swan. The stunning
gosalakrishna vigraham was seen at Trivanvandoor. But, the melsanthi refused to
give it. And further, he hid it in a pond and sacrificed his life to save the
idol from being taken away. Many believe that the present vigraham is the same,
but it was confirmed, in a devotee’s dream, that it is still hidden at the
bottom of the pond.
Later, a special
Parthasarathi idol was brought from Kurichi in Changanaserri. The king happily
went in a palliodam (Lord’s regal canoe) accompanied by hundreds of people
singing bhajans to greet the Mayamanusha idol with Panchajanyam in left hand and
thong in the right. All the small canoes accompanied the idol kept in a chundan
vallam. People from all walks of life sang vanchipattu and accompanied to the
sound of Kathinavedis and Kuravais. Every house was decorated with tender
coconut leaves, fruit bunches, Nirapara, Nilavilakku and asthamangalyam. To
commemorate this occasion, every year in the month of Mithunam, a water
festival ‘jalotsavam’ and a feast are held. Now it has become a contest. It is
said that in Kerala, there are three swayambu Vishnu idols Guruvayoorappan,
Purnatrayesan and Ambalapuzha Krishnan.
Ambalapuzha
Sri Krishna temple is one of the seven greatest Vaishnava temples in
Travancore. The inner walls of the chuttambalam of the temple are decorated
with paintings. The idol is of Parthasarathi with a whip in the right hand and
a sankhu in the left. The pratisha and dhyana slokam is that of Gosala Krishnan.
It is believed that Guruvayoorappan visits this place daily during the naivedya
time to taste the palpayasam. There is a legend regarding this. Krishna came in
the guise of a sage to the king’s court to play chess. The prize chosen by the
sage was a few grains of rice determined by placing one grain of rice in the
first square, two in the second, four in the third square, eight in the fouth
i.e., every square carries double the number of the previous square. The sage
naturally won. The king realised the trap as he started to fill the rice grains
in the chess board. By the 20 square, the number had reached one million grains
and by the 40 it became more than that. The king realised that the granaries in
his as well as the adjacent kingdoms will not be enough. By geometrical
progression, 18,446, 744, 073, 700, 551,615 i.e., trillions of rice grains will
only fill a 64 squared chess board. The Lord, in the form of the sage, took his
true form and allowed the king to pay the debt over the years. Accordingly,
palpayasam made of rice, will be freely served in the temple everyday, until
the debt clears.
Ambalapuzha Palpayasam is
a wonder of Kerala and it is believed that it doesn’t taste the same in other
shrines. It is golden in colour. Ambalappuzha
Sri Krishna 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.
Ambalappuzha State assembly constituency is one of the 140 state legislative assembly constituencies at the state Kerala in southern India. It is also one of the 7 state legislative assembly constituencies included in the Alappuzha Lok Sabha constituency. The key candidates contesting in the 2021 Assembly elections from Ambalappuzha constituency are: H. Salam of CPI(M), M. Liju of Cong, Anoop Antony Joseph of BJP. In the 3rd and 4th Assembly elections in 1967 & in 1970, VS Achuthanandan contested and won from here.
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. .. ..
after Ramachandran came ‘Ambalappuzha Vijayakrishnan’ who too was very famous. Sadly
this majestic elephant owned by the
Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), died on
8.4.2021 at the Sree Krishna Swami temple premises recently. According to
devaswom officials, the 51-year-old elephant had been suffering from various
health issues for the past few days. Meanwhile, a group of elephant lovers have
come out with the allegation that the much loved jumbo underwent severe torture
at the hands of its mahouts for several months.
The photos of tusker Ambalapuzha Vijaykrishnan are taken from the FB page of the elephant created by its fans.
17.4.2021.
Nice to read about this temple.
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