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.
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.
