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Thodupuzha Sreekrishna Swamy Temple (തൊടുപുഴ ശ്രീകൃഷ്ണ സ്വാമി കോവില്‍) Thodupuzha

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Thodupuzha Sreekrishna Swamy Temple

Location : Thodupuzha

About The Temple :

Thodupuzha Sreekrishna Swamy Temple northside of river and western side of main road and main civil station. Main deity is Chathubahu Sreekrishna with butter in one hand. Bhagavathy, Sivan, Sastha, Ganapathy and Nagaraja are other deities. Festival in Meenam ( thiruvonam Arattu) for 10 days is celebrated with great pomp. This riverside temple has excellent bathing that and is an ideal place for Sabarimala Pilgrims.

This temple is located in the holy land which was a very big beautiful garden in the ancient times. Thodupuzha river which flows through the Southern side as a procession makes the temple and its surroundings more aesthetic and beautiful. Even before the emergence of Sree Sankaracharya, Lakshmi Gramam ( a village called Lakshmi) which situated at North Malabar was rich and famous for the very eminent personalities, vedic scholars and artists and was specially famous as a cultural centre. A famous Brahmin family, named Puliyappadambu Mana who occupied prime place in prestige and excellence lived in Lakshmi village. There lived a holy man whose name in unknown in the beginning of Kollavarsha (Malayalam Calendar) and after gaining abundant knowledge in all the Vedas at a very early age he received Sanyasa. While travelling all around the world as Sanyasi (monk) he meditated upon the Lord Krishna in the place where the temple exists and during the meditation he had the vision of Krishna who was splitting the peck of an owl which tried to swallow him and after that Balagopalan came home and was asking food from his loving mother. After waking up from his meditation the Sage could also see the Lord in all His glory by his own eyes.

After Uris vision of the Lord Krishna the Monk lit a lamp, meditating the scene of Lord splitting the peck of an owl, where he saw the Lord and prepared offerings and offered it to the Lord with great piety. This incident happened on a Chothi star day during the Malayalam month of Meenam and hence this day was treated as the consecration day in the olden days. Devotees coming to the temple in that day is fed and it was called Chothi Ootu. As a name sake it is observed now also.In order to enhance the spiritual strength of the Lord which benefits the land and its people, during the Malayalam calendar year of 1153, on the 26th day of the1fionth of Kumbham, on an Uthrattathi star day a Naveekarana Kalasam and leevakalasabhishekam along with re-installation were performed. This was considered as the Installation day of the temple and in every year on the star day of Uthrattathi during the month of Kumbham is observed as the consecration day of the temple.

According to the epic during the period when the sage who got the vision of Lord Krishna was regularly performing poojas and offerings to the Lord, the Keezhmalanadu King visited this place and collected first hand information about what was going on here and the King took over and did the construction and consecration of this temple. As a regular practice in most of the temples, as soon as the Sanctum Sanctorum is opened, the garlands of the Lord is removed and Abhishekam and Malar offering (Puffed rice) are done and after that Usha Pooja is done. Here it is different, as soon as the altar ~s opened early in the morning Usha Pooja is done and after completing that pooja, Abhishekam and Malar offering are done.
In most of the temples during festivals, soon after Pallivetta, the Sanctum sanctorum is closed to perform Pallikuruppu and all the poojas are done the next day after the Aarattu but here the altar will not be closed to Pallikuruppu because Usha Nivedyam should be done without any delay. and Usha Pooja is performed immediately. In front of the temple there is a holy floor area called the Nilapaaduthara It is believed that the idol was received by the Monk standing on this floor. The grave of the holy monk is also here. In commemoration of this belief during festivals the idol is brought to this floor without any decorations and festivities and from here it is taken with all the respects of drum beating and full of festivities.
The main offering here is Owl and Pigeon, young children affected by the troubles of birds get relief by this ritual. It is believed that in some houses where have troubles with Owls, if the garland adorned upon the Lord is taken into the home, such Owl problems will be eradicated. . The 10 day grand temple festival is celebrated-starting with the flag hoisting on the Thiruvonam star day which comes after Chothi star day during the Malayalam month of Meenam. During the festival on the 7th day there is a procession to Mailakombu temple and on the 8th day there is another procession to Karikode, which is very famous and special. On the 9th day there is Utsava Bali and on that day lots of devotees throng from different parts of the country. These festival days lots of famous traditional artists perform here. The programmes include Panchavadhyam, Nadaswara Kacheri, Kathaka1i and Pattu Kacheri etc.
The sub-deities in this temple are Bhagavathy, Siva, Ganapathi and Nagam. The temple is owned by the famous Irinjalakuda Nedumbilly Tharananallur Mana. This same mana holds the thantric rites of the famous Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in Trivandrum. The thantric rites of Thodupuzha temple is held by Aramallur Kavanattu Mana and the Poojas are done by two families named as Padinjare madom and Thuruthel madom.
A Kalyanamandapam, named Krishna Theertham which is the largest in the central Kerala, is situated nearby this famous temple. The hall with modern facilities is given for conducting Marriage, Upanayanam and other functions.

Thodupuzha Sree Krishna Swamy Temple, Thodupuzha – 685 584 Ph: 04862 222488.

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