SRIVALLABHATEMPLE –THIRUVALLA- PART 2 CONTINUEDFROM PART 1
Worship customs At Sreevallabha Temple, Vishnu is worshipped in his cosmic,original and transcendental form (purusha). In the sanctum sanctorum, the topand bottom of the deity cannot be seen because purusha has no beginning or end.Clothing the deity in white or saffron suggests the eternity of purusha.Sreevallabha Temple follows the unique Pancharaathra Vidhaanam school ofworship, which has been unchanged since 59 BC, DICTATED BY SAGE DURVASA. Pancharaathra Vidhaanam Pancharaathra Vidhaanam originated in 4 BC. Durvasa Samhitha(based on Pancharaathra Vidhaanam) by the sage Durvasa explains the ritualsperformed. The book Yajanavali is followed for worshipping Vishnu .Five uniquepujas are performed, when the deity is adorned like Brahmachari, Grihastha andSanyasi in several forms. Pujas Five pujas are performed daily. The deity is awakened andbathed with holy water. This is followed by a naivedyam (offering). The idol isthen dressed like a brahmachari in an 18-foot-long white mundu with two flowergarlands. After the mainoffering, the deity is dressed in a saffron-yellow mundu with a garland. At noon, the deity isworshipped as a grihastha (householder). In the fifth (evening) puja, the deityis worshipped as Parabrahma and dressed in a saffron-coloured mundu with atulasi garland. After the sleeping ceremony, the sanctum sanctorum is closed. Temple customs Sreevallabha Temple is known for its orthodoxcustoms. Poet and high priest Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri was temporarilyremoved from his post in 1997 after he crossed the sea to address theMillennium Conference on Integration on Science and Consciousness in Britain,violating temple customs. The chief priest should be 50 years old and married. Everythree years, priests can be changed. Devotees should never use sacred ash (vibhuti) inside thetemple wall. Ritual walk Four clockwise circumambulations (Parikramas) are advised inthe temple: one outside and three inside. Enter through the east gate, turn left and worshipGanapathy, Shiva and Ayyappan on the southern side. Aftercircumambulating the sacred-fig and mango trees, proceed to SankaramangalathIllam outside the western gate. Return to the temple and take the northerncircumambulation path. Salute Kali at the northern gate. Visit Jalavanthy andsalute Vedavyasa and Durvasa on its east bank. Turn right and worship Garuda before entering the temple.In the sanctum, worship Sreevallabha, Lakshmi, Bhudevi, Varaha andDakshinamurthy through the eastern door and Sudarshana Chakra through thewestern door. Festivals The temple observes two major festivals. One, for ten days,is celebrated in the month of kumbham in the Malayalam calendar(February–March). Uthra Sreebali, the temple's largest festival, is celebratedin the Malayalam month of minam (March–April). It is the festival of threegoddesses. Before their holy bath on the eighth day, the goddesses proceed toSreevallabha Temple. Ashtapadi hymns are played, followed by dancing amonglamps. Other festival observed is Vishu . Temple timings The temple opens from 4 a.m. to noon and 5:00 to 8:00 p.m.Timings of major events are as follows. At 4 a.m. the deity is awakened. Thedeity is viewed at 4:30, and bathed at 5:00 a.m.] The first puja is at 6:30,and the first outside procession (sreebali) is at 8:00.] The second puja is at9:00, followed by a third at 10:45 a.m. Another procession is at 11:30, beforethe temple closes at noon. It reopens at 5:00 p.m. There is a fourth puja at 7:00, and afifth at 7:30. The third and final procession is at 8:00, before the templecloses. Offerings The four main daily offerings are Paala Namaskaaram,Kathakali, Pantheerayiram and the Kesadipaadam garland. The popular PaalaNamaskaaram, part of the third puja, is the serving of food to the deity and the Brahmins in areca nutpalm leaves. Kathakali is performed each evening. Pantheerayiram isthe offering of 12,001 bananas in a special ritual, usually made at thePantheeradi (second) puja. The Kesaadipaadam garland is a flower garland,measuring about 15 feet, which adorns the deity during the third and fourthpujas. Other offerings are made during specific pujas. Sudarsana chakra The Thiruvalla inscriptions say the temple for SudarshanaChakra was built in 2998 BC. The temple for Sudarshana Chakra was built bySreedevi Antherjanam of Sankramangalathu Illam and it was elaborately rebuiltby Queen Cherumthevi in 59 BC. Temple flourishing Sreevallabha temple flourished to a major spiritual andeducational centre by AD 1100. The temple had governed a Vedic school(thiruvalla sala) with around 1500 students and 150 teachers. Veda, Vedanta,Tarka, Mimamsa, Jyotisha, Ayurveda, and Kalaripayattu were taught there. The temple also ownedan Ayurveda hospital with facilities to admit and treat 100 patients at a time.The first ever prose work in Malayalam is the Thiruvalla inscriptions dated tothe first half of the 12th century AD, which was obtained from the templeduring 1915. The Unnuneeli Sandesam of the 13th century AD highlighted thegrandeur, beauty, serenity, fame and status of the temple during its time.Other works that glorified the temple are Sreevallabha Ksethra Mahathmyam ofthe 10th century AD, Sreevallabha Charitham kavyam, Thukalasura VadhamKathakali, Sreevallabha Charitham Kathakali, Sreevallabha Vijayam Kathakali,Sreevallabha Suprabhatham, Sreevallabha Karnamritha Sthothram, YajanavaliSangrham etc. >From the date built, the temple was under control ofThiruvalla Pattillathil >Pottimar (Brahmins of ten families) till 1752-1753.Sreevallabha Temple emerged >out as a major spiritual destination for devoteesall over India centuries >before. It had 15 major priests (melsanthi) and 180sub-ordinate priests >(keezhsanthis) all the time and another 108 for only dailynoon pooja. Temple >provided staying and food facilities for all visitors,students, teachers etc. >and also used to conduct annadanam (serving food to thepoor) daily. Naivedyam >of LordSreevallabhan for a single time used to be made from 45 para (one para >can feedapproximately 100 persons) rice. In all these years, temple >acquiredenormous amount of wealth, so much, that it even used to serve food in >goldenbanana leaves and throw them considering as the leavings. It also had >thousandsof acres of land too which are lost now. During 1752-1753 Marthanda Varma of Travancore captured thetemple from Pathillathil Pottimar, and it is believed that Ramayyan Dalawa lootedwhole temple assets to Thiruvananthapuram. Up to 1968, ladies and elephants were notallowed in the temple. The temple used to be opened for ladies onlyduring Thiruvathira of dhanu month and Vishu of medam till then. Anyhow now this custom is not in practise. These facts clearly say thathow popular and wealthy the temple was in those days. Legends have their ownspace in relation with the history of a temple, but they should never be mixedup. While going through the legends related to Sreevallabha temple it is clearthat even though Sreevallabhan’s idol is older, it was the temple forSudarshana built first. How To Reach By Bus-Thiruvalla Market Bus Station, about 600 m away By Train-Thiruvalla Railway Station, about 3 km Administration The temple, administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board, isa major temple in the Thiruvalla group. Address: Sree Vallabha Temple, Road, Kizhakummuri, Thiruvalla, Kerala689102 -- 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/440277951.2354749.1753626436909%40mail.yahoo.com.
