A visit to Temples in and around Ernakulam and Kottayam

There are some common aspects regarding temples in Kerala which makes visits to temples there a unique, blissful and exhilarating experience.

1) There are no touts or middlemen in any of the temples offering to take you straight to the sanctum sanctorum for a consideration depending on the size of the crowd. Everyone has to take his/her turn in the queue. There is of course a separate entry point (official) for VIPs, but even they are only allowed to join the queue at a particular point. The practice of taking them straight inside is not allowed in any of the temples.

2)All darshans are free and there is no system of special darshan for a fee.(even in major temples like Guruvayoor)

3)Deeparadhanas are performed only at the times fixed by the temple unlike in Tamilnadu where the priest shows Deeparadhana at frequent intervals depending on his perception of the amount that will be placed on his plate by the visitor.

4)Temples are maintained spick and span. The temple Premises as well as the Pooja equipments are cleaned meticulously. Old ladies are specially appointed only for the purpose of cleaning.

5)All temples have a strict dress code. Men have to necessarily wear Veshti(Mundu). Shirts and Pants are not allowed. Similarly, ladies are allowed to wear only sarees or half sarees.

6)Priests keep prasadams like Chandan, flower etc in a plantain leaf and drop it into the hands of the devotees without touching them.

7) People do not talk in loud voices inside the temples and strict decorum is maintained.

8) Flowers are not sold outside the temples. Flowers which grow inside the temples are arranged by temple staff. We can pay them as per our wish and they directly hand over the flowers to the priest.

Another aspect we noticed was that temples open early in the morning like 4 or 5 Am and except major temples like Guruvayoor close between 10 and 11AM.Similarly, temples open by 5PM and close around 8PM .No special dispensation or extended timings for anybody.

All these enhance the devotional aspects of the temples and ‘Sannidhyam’ is felt and experienced by the devotee. Perhaps it is because of this intense devotion that Gods are so pleased and the State generally experience  copious rains and Kerala is called ‘God’s own country’.

Because of this  special attraction to temples of Kerala we undertook a trip to Kottayam and Ernakulam to visit temples in and around these places. We get maximum time in the mornings-almost from around 5 AM to about 11.30 Am. So, it is better to schedule visits to temples in far off places in the mornings. Since the temples are open only for about 21/2 hours in the evenings, it is better to visit nearby temples. Also it is better to avoid visiting famous temples like Guruvayoor, Chottanikkara etc during weekends, festival days, vacations etc since there will be a huge crowd

By arranging like this, we were able to cover maximum number of temples. It is also important to know the geography of the place so that temples in close proximity can be visited together. Luckily, we were able to get a driver who knew both the geography and short cuts so that we could save a lot of time. For those who are planning a trip, his name is Unnikrishnan.mob:9447725478.

Day1: forenoon. Since we could start only after 10AM, only 2 temples could be visited:

1)   Thirunakkara Mahadevar temple in the heart of the city-Main and ancient Siva temple

2)   Thirunakkara Krishnan Temple –very near the above

Day1-afternoon: In and around Changanaserry about 20kms from Kottayam

1)Mahaganapathi kshetram in Puthumana on the way to Changanaserry

2)Vazhapppalli – Mathumoolam –a deviation on the route to Changanassery-Mahadevar temple –famous Mahaganapathi Sannadhi

3) Sri Subramanyaswami temple in Perunnai in Chenganassery

4)Trikkodiththaanam-Vaishnava Divyadesam- 5kms from Changanassery

5)Panachiikaadu Saraswathi temple on the way back to Kottayam –Vishnu temple in the front-No structure for Saraswathi-a creeper in the pond serves as the structure

Day2: Forenoon:

It is considered auspicious to have dharshan of the three Mahadevar temples at Ettumanoor, Vaikom and Kaduthuruthi in the same trip. Accordingly we planned our visits in that direction:

1) Vaikom Mahadevar-about 40kms from Kottayam in the Kottayam- Ernakulam route

2)Kaduthuruthi Mahadevar temple  -about 10 kms from Vaikom towards Kottayam

3)Adityapuram-Suryadevar temple-Just after Kaduthuruthi towards Kottayam

4)Mahaganapathi temple at Malliyoor  in a side road on the highway leading to Kottayam

5)Ettumanoor-Mahadevar temple

6)Kumaranallor Bagavathi temple –in the same road 4kms before Kottayam- This is a Mariamman temple

Day2: Evening: Palai- about 30kms from Kottayam

1)Kadappattor Mahadevar temple – near Valiappalam in the road opposite to Panimala church

.2)Thrikkayil Mahadevar- Palai near Meenachil Taluk NSSunion Office

3)Laalam Mahadevar temple-in the heart of Palai  town-150 metres from Palai Municipal private stand. This is known as Dakshina Kasi

4)Puliyannoor Mahadevar temple-about 500 metres from Ettumanoor-Poonja  State Highway

5) Kidangoor-Subramanyaswami temple on the road from Palai to Kottayam. Ladies are not allowed beyond a certain point.There is also a Vinayagar temple just next to this –very beautiful

Day3:Morning:

1)Chakkulathukkavu Bagavathi-on the road to Ambalapuzha from Kottayam

2)AmBalapuzha-Unnikrishnan temple-famous for Paal  Paayasam-But you have to book for this in advance

3)Haripad-Subramanya swami temple-

4)Mannarsalai-Ngaraja temple-famous as  a benign place of serpent worship- known for the ceremony known as Uruli Kamizhthu  performed by couple with no children. Several couples have benefited by performing this ritual

5) Anjaneyar temple near Mannarsalai- There is a sannadhi for Navagrahas with their counterparts

Day3:Evening:

1)Pallippuraththukkavu-Bagavathi temple, located in the Southern part of Kottayam town

DAY4:Morning:

 There are 5 Divyadesams in and around Chengannur which can be visited at a stretch. The driver Unnikrishnan knew the places thoroughly and took us in the right geographical order:

1)Thiruvallavazh: Divyadesam. Vallaba kshetram: Perumal:Kolappiraan or Thiruvaazhmaarban. Thayar: Selvaththirukkozhunthu Naachiyaar. 22 paasurams by Thirumangai Aazhvaar and Nammaazhvaar

2)Thiruvanvandoor or Thiruvamundoor: 6kms from Chengannur .2kms from ThiruvallavaazhPerumaal: Paambanaiyappan,Thaayaar KAMALAVALLI  Naachiyaar 11 Paasurams sung by Nammaazhvaar

3)Thiruchenkunroor or Thiruchchitrrar. Perumaal: Imayavaramban.Thayaar: Sengamalavalli.11 paasurams sung by Nammaazhvaar

4)Thiruppuliyoor(Kuttanad):Perumaal: Maayappiraan. Thaayaar:Porkodi Naachiyaar. 12paasurams sung by Nammaazhvaar and thirumangaiaazhvaar

5)Thiruvaaranvilai:(AAranmula): Perumaal: Thirukkuralappan. Thaayaar: Padmaasani. 11 paasurams sung by Nammaazhvaar. This is situated on the banks of a lake where boat races are held. The scenery is eyecatching.

Apart from the above 5 Divyadesams, we also visited Mahadevar-Bagavathi Kshetram in Chengannur

Day4: Evening:

About 20 kms from Paalai, in a place called Ramavaram,there are 4 temples devoted to Rama, Lakshmana, Bharathar and Satrugnar called Naalambalam They are in a circular route 4 kms from each other. The temples open only after 5.30 Pm and Satrugnar temple closes by 7PM.The circular route starts with Rama temple and ends there. We have to start the darshan with Rama temple and worship Him once again at the end. It is better to visit these temples in the morning.

DAY5: Morning:Panayannaarkavu Bagavathi near Mannar

2)Thirukkuratti Mahadevan. Krishnan Sannadhi in the same temple. Located in Main Road, Mannar

3)Sri Kunnathur Kulangara: Bagavathi in Mannar-Swayambu-Devi is under the earth . Above that, there is a kodi in arch shape.

4)Krishnaswammy Temple-Mavelikkara

5)Kandiyoor Mahadevar temple: There are beautiful wooden carvings outside the Garbagraha.

6)About 15kms from Kandiyoortemple,there is a Nagaraja temple in a place called Vettikkottur, but by the time we reached there, it was closed. On enquiry, we were told that the temple closes by 11.30 AM.

Day5: Evening: We  left for Ernakulam  in the evening. On the way,we had darshan of Mahadevar temple at a place called Thalayolaparambu near Vaikom.

Day6: Morning:

1)

The famous Chottaanikkara Bagavathi temple. Being a weekday, there was not much crowd and we had repeated darshan to our heart’s content.

2)Keezhakkaavu Bagavathi just opposite to the above. Saalagramam and Hanuman can be found in the Prakaaram.

3)Tripunithura-POORNATHRAYESA Temple-Santhanagopalamurthy.Thursdays are considered auspicious for darshan. Beautiful temple attracting hundreds of devotees.

Day6: Evening:

1)Thrikkakkara on the outskirts of Ernakulam. Divyadesam. Perumal: Kaatkaraiappan. Thayar: Vaathsalyavalli or Perunchelvanaayagi. 11paasurams sung by Nammaazhvaar.

2)Chekkankulangara near Tripunithura-Sivan temple

3)Mukkoottil Bagavathi-just behind Poornathreyaasar temple

4)Pandavathur Sivan temple in Maradu near tripunithura

5) second visit to poornathrayesaa temple. Because of Krishna Jayanthi next day, Uriyadi Utsavam was going on.

Day7: Morning

1)   Kaladi birthplace of Adisankarar near Angamali in the Ernakulam-Thrissur route. Here, there is an exhibition of Adisankara’s history managed by Kanchi Sankara Mutt

2)   Poorna river in Kaladi

3)   Krishna temple very near Poorna river The vigraham is made of a stone called anjanaa made of Copper and iron mainly.

4)   Saradambal Sannadhi,Adisankarar Sannadhi,Bridavana of Aryambal, Mother of Adi  Sankara  maintained by Sringeri Sankara mutt in Kaladi. Rooms are available for stay. Lunch is available at 1pm-stay and lunch to be booked in advance .The phone number is 0484-2462350.

5)   Perumbavoor near Kaladi-Ayyappan temple

6)   Iriangol Bagavathi –situated in a dense forest area near Perumbavur. Very beautiful greenery

7)   Kuruppampadi –Subramanyar near Perum bavoor

8)   Thirukkariyoor-Sivan-Perumbavoor

Day7: Evening:

1)Edappalli-Mahaganapathi-Devotees are allowed near Garbagraha  only in the mornings

2)Ernakulathappan-presiding deity of Ernakulam city

Subramanyaswami-very near the above

3)Anjaneyar temple-Anjaneyar sitting on his own tail

Day8:morning

1)Thirumoozhikkalam : The road just oppaite to the Road leading to Nedumbasseri airpotrt on the way to Angamali has to be taken’ Divyadeam.Perumal:Thirumoozhikkalaththaan. Believed to be temple of Lakshmana.Thayar:Maduraveni nachiyar. 11 pasurams sung by Nammaazhvar

2)Kothakulangara Bagavathi near Angamali

3)Mukkannoor-Kooththala Bagavathi near Angamali

4) Kidangoor near Angamali- Mahavishnu temple

5)Alwaye Mahadevar- no Garbagriham only top is covered Periyar river is running nearby

Alwaye Krishnan temple with Sannadhi for Balaramar

Day8: Evening

1)second visit to Trikkakkara

2)Kurumbukkavu Bagavathi in Edathala near Alwaye

3)Painattu Sri Durga in EdathalA

Day9: Morrning

1)Paravoor: 18kms from Ernakulam- Kothuvallikkavy Bagavathi

2) Sri Krishnaswami-Kannankulangara, Paravoor

3)Dakshina Mookambika kshetram,Paravoor-Being Sunday, there was a large crowd of parents with their children offring for Pooja pens, pencils etc

4)Thiruvanjikkalam-20kms from Paravoor-Sivankoil-Padal Petra Sthalam by Sundaramoorthi Nayanar near Kodungallor

5) Krishnaswami temple (Thiru  Kulasekarapuram-TKS Puram)in Thiruvanjikkalam

6) Kulasekara Perumal temple- Thiruvanjikkalam is the Avatharasthalam of Kulasekara Aazhvar. His ishtadeivam is Sri Ranganathar .Aaradhani Deivam is Ramar. Azhvar is wearing Ranganathar dollar.Temple closes by 10-30 in the morning

7)Famous Bagavathi temple in Kodungalloor

On the evening of 9^th day, we left for Chennai

On the whole, it was an exhilarating experience. All the teples we visited were ancient and historical. Apart from the religious aspect, the travel by road itself was invigorating to the Body and soul. In the entire stretch of our journey, we could see lush greenery and water bodies on both sides of the road. It looked as if God, while creating the Universe poured all the beauty in one place. I strongly recommend to one and all to start visiting these places leaving aside the insipid TV serials.

For the information of devotees good vegetarian Hotels in Kottayam are: Arya bhavan,Ananda Mandiram, Anandha Bhavan.In Ernakulam-Sarovaram near Maradu, Bharat Tourist Home and Dwaraka in the city

 

.

: