A 8th century temple of Lord Krishna - Ambalappuzha

By -

Ambalappuzha is a small town located near Alappuzha in Kerala. The town is famous for its ancient and beautiful Krishna temple. 


The temple built by the local ruler, 'Chembakasserry Pooradam Thirunal-Devanarayanan Thampuran' in 790 CE is associated with the famous temple of Guruvayurappan. During the raids of Tipu Sultan in the year 1789 CE, the deity from Guruvayurappan temple was brought here for safekeeping.


The 'paayasam' (a kind of sweet pudding made of rice and milk) served in this temple is very famous among the devotees, and it has an interesting legend behind this. Once, Lord Krishna appeared as a sage and challenged the local king on chess. It was decided that whoever lost the game had to pay rice to the winner. The number of grains (rice) would be determined using the chess board in the following manner. Once a grain of rice would be placed in the first square, two grains in the second square, four in the third square, and so on. Every square would have double the number of grains of its predecessor. The king lost the game to the Lord, so he had to pay trillions of tons of rice to the Lord, as the number of grains was geometrically increasing for every square, and the chess board had 64 squares. The king didn't have enough grains in his kingdom to pay the Lord. Hence, it was agreed that the kind would be serveing paayasam to the devotees every day till the debt is paid off.


Ambalappuzha Krishna temple is big and built in a typical Kerala architectural style. However, no other shrines or icons are found in the temple except for Krishna in the sanctum. The icon represents Krishna only up to the bust and not the entire body.


Visit this temple to taste the sweet paayasam.


Happy travelling.


Visit my site, krishnakumartk.com, to know more about the travel guides and other books that I have written.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tallest Murugan of Chennai

By -
Image
Consecrated in March 2021, the 40 feet high Bala Murugan icon at Saveetha Medical College campus is the tallest image of Murugan in Chennai. Malaysia has 140 feet tall Murugan. In April 2022, the 146 feet tall image of Murugan was consecrated near Salem in Tamil Nadu. However, they are all stucco images. But, the one that we find on the college campus is a monolithic granite icon. Thus, it is the tallest stone icon of Murugan in the entire world. A stone weighing 320 tonnes was brought from Siruvambur near Wallajah, and it was carved to 140 tonnes to get this beautiful and gigantic sculpture. The entire temple complex is designed in the shape of the Devanagiri letter "Om", which can be appreciated in the aerial view.  The west-facing gigantic sculpture is located atop the star-shaped pedestal. It dominates the entire landscape. A large meditation hall is situated below the pedestal. On the open corridor in front of the presiding deity, smaller shrines are found. They enshrine...
Read more

Little known Nimishamba Temple of Chennai

By -
Image
Site Name:  Nimishamba Temple Site Type:  Hindu Temple Location:   Kasi Chetty Street, Sowcarpet, Chennai city, Tamil Nadu state, India Highlights:   A rare temple of Nimishamba in Chennai city Nearest Railway Station:   Chennai - well connected from the cities/towns all over India Nearest Airport:   Chennai has both national and international airports How to reach:   Easily reachable by road as this is centrally located in the city Hotel:  Many star hotels, luxury hotels/resorts, and budget hotels are available in Chennai Restaurants:  All options - vegetarian, non-vegetarian, Chinese, South Indian, Gujarati, North Indian, Punjabi,....- you can find everything in Chennai city Chennai is considered as the gateway to South India. The capital city of Tamil Nadu state of India has hundreds of tourist sites which include museum, British period monuments, temples, beach, etc. Let us explore a little known temple called Nimisham...
Read more

Hastinapuram Navapashanam Murugan Temple

By -
Image
Navapashanam is an amalgam of nine poisonous herbs. It is said to act as a remedy for all types of diseases. It is believed that the Siddhas knew the secret formula to prepare this medicinal potion.  The sculpture of Murugan from the famous Palani is claimed to be made of Navapashanam. Similarly, there is a lesser-known temple near Chennai, which has a Navapashanam Murugan. In Hastinapuram near Chrompet in the southern outskirts of Chennai, in a congested lane called Masjid Street, this tiny temple of Bala Murugan is situated. Murugan, made of Navapashanam, is the presiding deity.  Jalakandeeswara Linga, Meenakshi, and the Siddha who found this temple are the other Murtis found in the temple. Happy travelling.
Read more