THIRUVARPUSRIKRISHNA TEMPLE, KOTTAYAM DISTRICT, KERALA STATE-Compiled Dear friends,
Thiruvarppu – a small village in Kottayam district and is 8km away from Kottayam town, in the state of Kerala, and is well known forThiruvarppu Sri Krishna Temple, located on the coastal line of the MeenachilRiver (Varppu means the cast used by smiths to make bell-metal vessels).ThiruvarppuSri Krishna Temple is dedicated to Lord Krishna, this is one of the renownedVaishnava temples in Kerala and one of the famous ancient temples of LordKrishna which is at least 1500 years old. The inscription on the templeindicates that the temple was constructed around 850 AD and the temple attractslarge numbers of devotees during an annual festival called Vilakkeduppu which is held inthe month of April for 10 days. Thiruvarppu Krishna Templeis the only temple that opens its door early in the morning i.e., every day at2 A.M. As soon asthe temple is opened, a special offering called Usha Payasam is offered to thedeity. Soon after the Abhishekam, the deity's hair is first dried, Naivedyam(Usha Payasam) is offered to him and then only the rest of the body of thedeity is dried. So that he doesn't remain hungry. It is said that LordKrishna is always hungry in this temple, so unlike other Hindu temples, thisThiruvarpu Krishna temple is not closed even during the eclipse, the reason is once the temple wasclosed at the time of the eclipse but later when the temple was reopened thevery next day, they saw Lord Krishna's waist ornament (Bhagavan's kamarbandh)slipped down. Adi Shankaracharya, who came at that time to the temple, saidthat this happened because Krishna was very hungry. Since it is believed that Lord Krishna cannot toleratehunger, the priest of the temple possesses an axe along with the keys to thetemple to open the Sree Kovil. The priest has theauthority to break down the lock of the temple door if there is any delay inopening the door after a couple of minutes. My late Periamma was from Tiruvarpu. Hope a divine reading. Gopalakrishnan 8-6-2025 Legends about the Thiruvarppu Sri Krishna Temple 1 One of the mostpopular beliefs about the temple is the recovery of the deity of Lord Krishnahaving four hands coming into existence, which was placed in an Uruli, a flatvessel made out of bell metal. Almost all the ancient temples and religioussites have some legend, myths, and stories about them, including ThiruvarppuSri Krishna Temple. According to one legend , the temple relates to the epicMahabharata. It is said that while the Pandavas were in exile for 14 years in theforest, Lord Krishna gave them his statue so that they can worship it daily.When the Pandavas had completed their Vanvasa and wanted to go back, the peopleof that area (said to be people of Cherthala(Sherthalai)) requested that idolbut after some time due to some continuous bad incidents, the people were notable to worship the Lord, Krishna. So, they simply dropped the deity in the sea. After many years, a holy saint (Some say it wasVillwamangalam Swamiyar and others say it was Padmapadacharya) was traveling byboat in these parts, suddenly his boat got stuck at one point. The Sage got outof the boat to find the reason but when he stepped down he found that theportion where he stepped upon became dry and the sage found the idol of Lord Krishna underneath.This divine Sage took the idol with him even though he must travel towards thewest, but the boat and waves took him towards the east via Kunnam andPallikkara and reached the present location of the temple. The holy sage on reaching the shorefound a temple of Dharma Sastha without any idol and hence he consecrated theidol in that temple. Later, the people started worshipping the idol of LordKrishna which is now known as the Thiruvarppu Sri Krishna Temple. 2 Another legend is that the Pandavas after completing their Anjanatha Vasa deposited the deity they wereworshipping along with their Akshaya Pathra in the sea. Sometime later, somefishermen fishing in the Vembanad backwaters at a place near Vechur (calledMangalathu Vila) recovered the deity without the uruli and built a temple in a placecalled Chara Mangalam and consecrated the idol there. Soon, natural calamitiesattacked the place and the idol was washed away by the water, this time theidol fell directly into the vessel itself. As earlier mentioned,the sage Villwamangalam Swamiyar as referred above, recovered the idol whilecrossing the sea. On reachingthe shore, the uruli along with the idol inside was temporarily placed inValiya Madam. During those days, people were able to offer only mangopickles and coconut water to the Lord. Later, the idol was shifted to thepresent place. During the Arattu, the idol is taken to the Valiya Madam and thepractice of offering mango pickles and coconut water is still carried out eventoday. 3 Anotherlegend is that the above holy sage got down from the boat along with the idol but he was unable toproceed any further due to inclement weather. So, he kept the idol in an Uruliand went away. Later when he was returning, he found that the idol had gotfixed to the Uruli and that Uruli belonged to an individual called Kunnan KariMenon. As soon as he heard about this incident, he gave the land for templeconstruction and completed the temple with the help of a saint called Madappurathu Samiyar. Even today, inthis temple a special Pushpanjali (offering of flowers) is done on behalf ofthe Asram of Madappurathu Samiyar. History This is an ancient temple known to be 1500 years old. Aninscription on the temple indicates that the temple was constructed in 850 AD. Architecture The architectural style of the shrine resembles the typicalarchitecture of the temples found in Kerala. Chief Deity The Lord SriKrishna faces west along with his four hands. The temple sanctum usuallyopens very early in the morning like around 2 A.M. andby 3 A.M. a special offering called Usha Payasam is offered to the lord. This Krishna has four hands, the right hand is with food, thebackhands are with conch (shankh) and discus (chakra). It is said that afterkilling Kamsa, Krishna got hungry and angry. Only two temples in Keraladisplays Sree Krishna in this Swaroopa, Thiruvarpu Sri Krishna Temple in theKottayam district & Trichambaram Temple in the Kannur district. Usha Payasam is prepared by using rice, jaggery,ghee, red banana fruit, and dried coconut. This method of preparation is very peculiar in this temple.Soon after the Abhishekam, the deity’s hair is first dried, Naivedyam (UshaPayasa) is offered to him and then only the rest of the body of the deity isdried. Another peculiarity of this temple is that the priest isgiven an axe along with the keys to open the sanctum door in the early morning.People believe that thedeity cannot tolerate hunger (as he is exhausted after killingKamsa) and if there is any delay in opening the sanctum door with the keys, thepriest is permitted to break the door with an axe. Poojas Total five times of pooja is done, but theDeeparadhana is only after the Athazha pooja (the last pooja is carried out at7 PM). Since people believe that the statue came from Cherthalai, thepriest after the Athazha pooja asks “Is there anybody fromCherthalai here who is hungry?”. It is believed thatnobody from Cherthalai in the temple should go hungry. Rituals The Thiruvarppu Temple follows the tradition of other Hindutemples of Kerala and has its own unique set of rituals and festivals depending on sunrise and sun settimings . There are poojas at fivetimes in the Thiruvarppu Temple. Usha Payasam (first pooja) at 3 am-The sweet porridge offeredat Usha Payasam has its own unique method of preparation. The main ingredientsinclude rice, jaggery, ghee, banana, and dried coconut. Once the rice iscooked, the melted jaggery is poured into the rice until the pouring stops byitself. This indicates the amount required by the Lord. Ethirth pooja-PantheeradiPooja-Ucha Pooja Athazha pooja (last pooja)at 7 pm The Thiruvarppu Temple is peculiar in its rituals from otherHindu temples in the southern part of India. Unlike other Hindu temples in thesouth, Deeparadhana, worship with lamps, is done after the Athazha pooja. Also, when all the other temples are closed during theeclipse time, the Thiruvarppu temple remains open. The Thiruvarppu temple is especially thronged by devotees onSundays and Thursdays. Other deities In this Thiruvarppu Temple, the Lord Krishna idol is placedin the center sanctum and all four sides are surrounded by sanctums for other deityidols. To the west of Krishna’s idol lies Ganapathy, Subrahmania, and Sastha idols,and to the south lies Yaksha Gandharva idol. Festivals Festivals The annual festival of the Thiruvarppu Temple is held in theinitial ten days of the Medam, according to the Malyalam calendar, which isduring the period of April-May. On the tenth day of the festival, an elephant race is held similar to theGuruvayur. Pathaam Udayam – At the sunset on the tenth day, when therays of the sun enter the shrine, is marked as the end of the festival. Girl's lamp procession-During the ten-day festival, all thegirl children who are below 10 years of age dress up as Lord Krishna and offerlamp to the Lord both during morning and in the evening. This ritual is knownas Vilakkeduppu by the local crowd. Other important festivals celebrated in the ThiruvarppuTemple are Thiruvonam and Ashtami Rohini. The Thiruvarppu Sri Krishna temple attracts large numbers ofdevotees during an annual festival called Vilakkeduppu which is held in themonth of April for 10 days. During this ten-day festival in the Temple, the girl children who are below 10 years of age dress up as Lord Krishnaand offer lamps to the Lord both during the morning and in the evening. Offerings Milk Payasam, Ghee Payasam, Appam etc are offered to the Lordusully. There is a special offering called Chathurchathadam also. Near by temples Kochambalam, the Devi temple, is situated on the east of LordKrishna idol. The Shiva temple known as Shivan Kovil is situated north of LordKrishna as well as the idol of Narasimha Swamy is established near the ShivanKovil. Bell metal drum The Thiruvarppu temple also has a drum which is made out ofbell metal. It is believedthat Lord Krishna announced to kill the Kamsa on this drum. Thetemple also has a brass lamp which is made of 12 tiers; it was gifted by aChristian devotee. Pithru Tharpanam Pithru Tharpana – a ritual to satisfy the dead ancestors, isusually not performed in other temples. But in this temple, the ritual isperformed under the name of Pullattu Pooja, which has its own story. This pooja is named after a gentleman from the Pullattuhouse. He did not have any children and thus decided to donateall his property to the Thiruvarppu temple, with a request to observe his deathanniversary. On consent of the God, the gentleman entered the templeand surrendered all his assets to the Lord, sought his blessings from the Lordand died immediately. His death anniversary is observed as the Pullattu pooja. Three poojas are performed: one day before his death andfifteen special poojas on his death anniversary are performed till date. Temple timings Unlike the other temples, the Thiruvarppu Temple is opened inthe pre-dawn hours at 2 amand is closed at 1 pm.; is re-opened for devotees from 5 pm till 7.30 pm. Location Thiruvarppu – a small village at 7 kms distance fromKottayam, is known for the Thiruvarppu Krishna Temple. Ample buses are fromKottayam to Tiruvarpu. Nearest Railway station is Kottayam and Airport is Cochi. Address: Thiruvarpu, Kerala 686020 Phone: 1800 425 4747 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/thatha_patty/635227281.692106.1749364871286%40mail.yahoo.com.
