Vadakkunnathan Temple
Vadakkumnathan Temple | |
---|---|
Religion | |
Affiliation | Hinduism |
District | Thrissur |
Deity | Shiva Parvati Shankaranarayana Vishnu (As Rama) Ganesha |
Festivals | Thrissur Pooram Maha Shivaratri Navaratri Thiruvathira |
Location | |
Location | Thrissur |
State | Kerala |
Country | India |
Geographic coordinates | 10°31′28″N 76°12′52″E / 10.52444°N 76.21444°E |
Architecture | |
Type | Traditional Kerala style |
Creator | Parashurama |
Completed | Unknown |
Specifications | |
Temple(s) | 3 |
Monument(s) | 1 |
Website | |
sreewadakkunathantemple |
The Vadakkumnathan Temple is an ancient
In 2012, the
Legend
Legends regarding the origins of the Vadakkumnathan Temple are briefly narrated in the Brahmanda Purana and these legends are referenced in some other works as well.[6] Though these accounts differ with respect to certain details, they are all in agreement regarding the central theme that the temple was founded by Parashurama. According to lore, Parashurama requested the Lord of oceans Varuna to bring forth a new piece of land from the waters. Varuna complied and the land created became Kerala.
Parashurama now wanted to consecrate this new land. So he went to
For sometime, the lingam remained at Sri Moola Sthana at the foot of a huge banyan tree. The ruler of
History
The temple was built at the time of
Yogiatiripppads
The
Adi Shankara
Adi Shankara is believed to have been born (509 BC) to Shivaguru and Aryamba of Kalady consequent to their prayers to Lord Vadakkumnathan, as amsavatara of Shiva. The couple devoutly prayed for 41 days at the temple. Legend has it that Shiva appeared to the couple in their dreams and offered them a choice. They could have either a mediocre son who would live a long life or an extraordinary son who would die early. Both Shivaguru and Aryamba chose the latter. In honour of Shiva, they named their son Shankara.[12][13] According to legend, Adi Shankara attained videha mukti ("freedom from embodiment") at the Vadakkunnathan temple. One narrative as expounded by the Keraliya Shankaravijaya, identifies the temple as his place of death.[14] He also established four Mutts at Thrissur, famously known as Edayil Madhom, Naduvil Madhom, Thekke Madhom and Vadakke Madhom
Invasion of Tipu Sultan
During the invasion of Tipu Sultan, the temple was not attacked by Tipu's Army.[15] Even though Tipu Sultan destroyed many temples in Thrissur district at that time, he never touched Vadakkumnathan Temple. According to historical accounts, when Tipu Sultan was marching towards the Travancore lines, known locally as Nedumkotta, he had a short stay at Thrissur city from 14 to 29 December 1789. In order to feed his Army, he had borrowed cooking vessels from Vadakkumnathan Temple. Before leaving Thrissur city, he not only returned the vessels, but presented the temple with a large bronze lamp.[16]
Zamorin of Calicut
During 1750 to 1762, the temple affairs were conducted by
Sakthan Thampuran
When
Architecture
The temple is situated on an elevated hillock in the centre of Thrissur City and is surrounded by a stone wall enclosing an area of nearly 9 acres (36,000 m2). Inside this fortification, there are four gopurams facing four cardinal directions. Between the inner temple and the outer walls, there is a spacious compound, the entrance to which is through gopurams. Of these, the gopurams on the south and north are not open to the public. The public enter either through the east or west gopuram. The inner temple is separated from the outer temple by a broad circular granite wall enclosing a broad corridor called Chuttambalam. Entrance into the inner temple is through a passage through the corridor.
Deities
In the northern side, the main sanctum is a circular structure with main deity of the temple Shiva facing west and behind him, his consort Parvati facing east, denoting their combined form Ardhanarishvara. Shiva, is worshipped in the sanctum as a 16-foot-high (4.9 m) lingam, which is covered entirely by a mound of ghee, formed by the daily abhishekam (ablution) with ghee over the years. The lingam is embellished with thirteen cascading crescents of gold and three serpent hoods on top. According to traditional belief, the ghee-covered lingam represents the snow-clad Mount Kailash, the abode of Shiva. This is the only temple where the lingam is not visible.[citation needed] It is said that the ghee offered here for centuries does not have any foul odour and it does not melt even during summer. But even then, it breaks in parts during some periods. Such periods are considered to be beneficial or harmful depending upon the part and area of the breaking.
Located on the verandah of the Nalambalam is a large white bull
The two important murals - which are more than 350 years old - in the temple, Vasukisayana (reclining Shiva) and Nrithanatha (20-armed Nataraja), are worshipped daily.[18] The temple also houses a museum of ancient wall paintings, wood carvings and art pieces of ancient times.[18]
Ganesha shrine is positioned facing the temple kitchen. The offering of Appam (sweetened rice cake fried in ghee) to him is one of the most important offerings at the temple. Propitiating him here is believed to be a path to prosperity and wealth.
In the outer temple, there are shrines for
Outside the main temple, there are shrines for the two sons of Shiva and Parvati -
Koothambalam
The temple theatre, known as
Festivals
Maha Shivaratri
. The temple is not closed in the night, and there will be special poojas with abhishekam on the day.Aanayoottu
The Aanayoottu of feeding of elephants, is the second biggest festival held in the temple. The devotees refer to elephants as the elephant-headed god Ganesha's incarnation. The festival falls on the first day of the month of Karkkidakam of the Malayalam calendar (July). It has been the regular annual practice at the temple for the last 20 years to conduct a large-scale Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Havana and Aanayoottu on the first day of the Karkidakom month of the Malayalam calendar. It involves a number of unadorned elephants being positioned amid a multitude of people for being worshipped and fed. A large number of people throng the temple to feed the elephants.Gajapooja also is conducted once every four years.
Thrissur Pooram
Thrissur Pooram is called the mother of all Poorams in Kerala. In Malayalam it is called "poorangalude pooram". This is conducted in the Malayalam month of Medam. The deities from Parmekavu and Thiruvambady temple along with other small poorams come engage in festivities in front of Vadakkumanathan. It is a 36 long hour festival which attracts thousands of devotees and tourists. The main attractions of Pooram are Madathilavaravu panchavadhyam, Elanjithara melam, Kudamattam and Vedikettu.
See also
- 108 Shiva Temples
- Temples of Kerala
- Hindu temples in Thrissur Rural
- Guruvayur Temple
References
- ^ a b "Vadakkumnathan Temple". Thrissur District. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ a b "Thrissur Pooram". Kerala Tourism. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ "Vadakkumnathan Temple". DTPC Thrissur. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ "Alphabetical List of Monuments - Kerala". Archaeological Survey of India. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ "Kerala: Vadakkumnathan temple may be UNESCO's world heritage site". ibnlive.in.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
- ^ "Vadakkunnathan Temple – Discovering India.Net". Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ^ "History of Vadakkumnathan Shiva Temple". Hindu Devotional Blog. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Dakshina Kailasam Thrissivaperoor Sree Vadakkunnatha Temple". Vaikhari. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "Temples of Kerala- Vadakkunnathan Temple". New Kerala.com. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ "VADAKKUMNATHAN TEMPLE". Kerala Mural Painting. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ^ V V K Valath (1992). Keralathile Sthalacharithrangal: Thrissur Jilla, p. 217. Kerala Sahithya Akadamy, Thrissur.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Tapasyananda, Swami (2002). Sankara-Dig-Vijaya. p. 14.
- ^ Tapasyananda, Swami (2002). Sankara-Dig-Vijaya. p. 17.
- ^ Tapasyananda, Swami (2002). Sankara-Dig-Vijaya. xxv–xxxv.
- ^ Life-Admin (19 January 2016). "Vadakkumnathan Temple". Life and Living. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
- ISBN 9788187879572. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ [1] Archived 26 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine Kerala-History
- ^ a b "Murals of reclining Shiva, Nataraja with 20 arms found at Thrissur temple". Archaeology Daily. Archived from the original on 28 August 2010. Retrieved 6 October 2010.
- ^ "Sivaratri celebrations at Vadakkumnathan temple". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 6 February 2007. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2011.