SRI KALAHASTI

Srikalahasti is in Andra pradesh very near to Thiruppati.I visited the temple recently.It is believed as one of the panja bhootas (air),the remaining four are believed to be at thiruvannamali(fire),chidambaram(space),kanchipuram(earth),thiruvannaikaval(water). According to legend the temple itself has got name from sri(spider),kala(serpant),hasti(elephant),these animals attained divinity through worshipping Lord Shiva.The main pooja in this temple is kala sarpa dosha parihara pooja.As per astrology one has kala sarpa dosha if ones rahu and ketu covers entire planets and this is considered to be a big dosha . If one have this dosha the studies may be interruped ,cannot find a secure and permanant job, family life will be disturbed with out any reason and even the children;s life may be affected.In order to get rid from this dosha kala sarpa dosha parihara pooja is done by thousands and thousands of people everyday.Another big pooja held here is Rudrabhishekam, which is believed to get moksha from poorvajanma papa.Also there is one ganapathy temple in underground cell called patala ganapati inside the main gate.We should go to patala ganapti at first before entering the main temple.Also there is one myth that is we shouldnot go to any other temple after going to kalahasthi..means we should go straight to our house .

Nalambalam visit

Triprayar Temple

The four temples of central kerala, thronged by Hindu devotees during the holy month of karkitakam ( also the month of rain. See this) are the Ram temple at Thriprayar, Bharatha temple at Koodal Manikyam, Lakshmana temple at Moozhikulam and Satrughna temple at Payyamal. It was exciting to visit these ancient places of worship which I did on last Saturday along with my wife and son .My parents and my wife’s parents accompanied us.These temples together are called the Nalambalam and the deities here are the four sons of King Dasaratha of Ramayana. Lord Ram, the eldest of them is the eighth avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu, who is the Supreme God of the Hindus. Bharata , second amongst them, is the avatar of the Panchajanya (Conch held by Vishnu) .Lakshmana is the avatar of the Adisesha, the serpent of infinite measures and on whom Lord Vishnu sleeps in the Ocean of Milk. Satrughna (the One who is destroyer of enemies) is the twin bother to Lakshamana and the youngest .He is the avatar of the Sudarshana chakra held by Lord Vishnu.The temples are located in Thrissur and Ernakulam districts in kerala and one needs to travel around 200 kilometeres to cover all these temples in the correct order.We reached Thriprayar around 5 AM in the morning and there was a queue of over a 1000 people and a similar queue existed in all other temples.It took us a good two hours to come out of the temple after darshan.Just right before our darshan, the sri kovil ( the place where the supreme diety of the temple resides) was closed for an intermediate pooja. So that got us standing there chanting the the Ram mantras for an hour and then the darshan happened. It was wonderful feeling of waiting and then getting the chance to see the Lord.The second temple at koodalmanikyam has a important pond ( ambalakulam) said to be the spot where the ancient sage “kuleepani Maharshi” did his Tapas/ Penance. The temple is beautiful for it’s architectural marvel. Bharata ruled the ancient kingdom of Ayodhya while his brother Ram was in exile in the forest. Bharata never ascended the throne of Ayodhya, instead kept the Padukas ( Ancient footwear made of wood ) of Ram on the throne, did Paduka Pooja and ruled on behalf of Ram. Bharata is considered to be a great ruler in the epics.The third temple at Moozhikulam belongs to the Lakshama. He is the closest to Lord Ram and accompanied Lord Ram to the exile in forest. While all people near to Ram wanted to accompany him to the forest, only his wife Sita Devi and Lakshmana were allowed by Ram to accompany him. Adishesha (whose avatar is Lakshmana) incarnates when Lord Vishnu decides to incarnate in the world. They are closely entangled. In one of the esoteric interpretations of Ramayana, Lord Ram is interpreted as the Soul (Atman) and Lakshman as the Mind (Manas). The manas is required to dwell in the material plane perceived by the five senses and incarnation has meaning only when a mind comes to existence and so on the interpretation goes…Payyamal was the last temple we visited and it is dedicated to satrughna. Satrughna being the avatar of sudarshana chakra, one can offer Sudarshana chakra to the diety. The temple does not come under the Governament administration. (Government controls all or most Hindu places of worship in Kerala, through the Devaswom board in the days where we have even profit making PSU’s getting decontrolled).But this temple was the place where the organizers (basically local people) did a great job in crowd control. They also did annadanam ( free food for all people after offering to Lord Satrughna) with discipline considering the space limitations in the temple.My hearty thanks to the organizers at Payyamal.

One feels vitalized from the inner after the pilgrimage to these ancient temples in the month of karkitakam.

Attukal Temple

Kerala,Gods own country is the land of spirituality. Many great saints lived and visited here.Amoung the temples of trivandrum One which is proclaimed to be sabarimala of ladies.It is none other than Attukal Temple .The Goddess in the temple of Attukal is worshipped as the Supreme Mother(AMMA), creator of all living beings and the mighty preserver as well as destroyer of them all .There will be Aiswarya poojas on all Full moon days .The main festival is the pongal of attukal.pongal means a prasadam made before mother goddess,food that cleans all evils.There are many types of pongals Therali,Mandaputtu,Payasam and vella choor.An estimated 10 lakh ladies comes from kerala and tamil nadu to put their pongals.Earthen pots are used for making pongals and its made of rice,jaggery,ghee, etc. One does pongal with proper vridas and always says the mandram

Sarva mangala mangalye shive sarva ardha sadike

saranye triambike gowri narayani namostute

as many times as she can. she looses all papas and will find only good things happening in her life. This time there were 10 lakh people from kerala and neighbouring states includeing delegates from university of california from where americans doing researches in women spirituality, Last time they heard about this pongal and decided to come this time ..and came..so that much famous mother of attukal. They have lots of miracles getting done... attukal pongal converts the whole city of trivandrum a huge yagashala, purifies and spiritualises the enitire environment .The whole festival last for 10 days and during these days there were stage programmes ,special poojas etc there and there will be small small shops contains lots of religious materials ,toys,books,eatables near the temple premises. one should have to wait for hours to get darsan of amma.... On the last day of festival after the pongal there will be floats made like devi killing different evils...daruka vadham.. etc put in different lorries..We can see many children and young people dancing in rhytym..along with the music.This is a unique thing may not seen anywhere else in the world..thats why kerala is seen unique.

SARVA MANGALA MALGALYE SIVE SARVA ARDHA SADHIKE
SARANYE TRIAMBIKE GOUWRI NARAYANI NAMOSTUTHE