| Vadakkunnathan Temple | |
|---|---|
| Name | |
| Proper name: | Vadakkunnathan Temple |
| Location | |
| Country: | India |
| State: | Kerala |
| District: | Thrissur district |
| Location: | Thrissur |
| Architecture and culture | |
| Primary deity: | Shiva |
| Architectural styles: | Dravidian architecture (Kerala style) |
| Number of temples: | 3 |
| Number of monuments: | 1 |
| History | |
| Date built: (Current structure) |
Not Known |
| Creator: | Parasurama |
| Website: | http://vadakkumnathantemple.com/ |
Vadakkunnathan Temple ( Malayalam: വടക്കുന്നാഥ ക്ഷേത്രം ), also known as Thenkailasam and Vrishabhachalam, is an ancient Shiva temple located at the heart of Thrissur city. This temple is a classic example of the Kerala style of architecture and has formidable gopurams on all four sides and also a Koothambalam. Mural paintings that depict various episodes from the Mahabharata can be seen inside the temple.[1][2][3] The shrines and the Koothambalam display exquisite vignettes carved in wood. According to popular lore, the temple was built by Parasurama. The sprawling Thekkinkadu maidan, encircling the Vadakumnathan temple, is the main venue of the Thrissur Pooram.[1][2] The temple, along with the mural paintings, has been declared as a National Monument by the Union Government under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act.[4]
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The story of the origin of the Vadakkumnatha temple is briefly narrated in the Brahmanda Purana and there are references to it in some other ancient works also. Though there are small differences between these accounts as regards details, all agree on the central fact, namely, that the temple was founded by Lord Parashurama.
Parashurama exterminated the Kshatriya race twenty one times. In order to expiate the sin he performed a yaga at the end of which he gave away all the land to Brahmins as dakshina. He wanted to retire to some new land to do tapas and so he requested God Varuna to throw up a new piece of land from the sea. According to another version, some sages approached him at the end of the yaga and requested him to give them some secluded land. Parashurama then made the rquest to Varuna for their sake. Varuna gave Parasurama a winnow (surpa) and asked him to hurl it into the sea, as he did a large territory of land was at once thrown up by the sea; this territory that rose out of the sea was Kerala. It was then known by the name Surparaka, from the word, “Surpa” meaning winnow.
According to some other accounts Varuna asked Parashurama to hurl his axe into the sea. Parashurama now wanted to consecrate this new land. So he went to Kailasa to his Guru Lord Shiva and requested him to take abode in Kerala and thereby bless the land. Shiva accompanied by Parvathi, Ganapathi, Subramania and his parashadas went along with Parasurama, to satisfy the desire of his beloved disciple. Shiva stopped at a spot, now Thrissur, for his seat and later he and his party disappeared and Parashurama saw a bright and radiant Shiva – linga at the foot of a huge Banyan tree. This place where Shiva first manifested his presence through the linga came to be called the Sri MULA STHANA.
For sometime the linga of Shiva remained at the Srimulasthana at the foot of a huge bunyan tree. The ruler of former Cochin state then decided to shift the linga to a more convenient place and enclose it in a good temple. Arrangements were soon made to reinstall the idol in the new place. But there was an initial diificulty. The linga could not be removed without cutting off a large part of the bunyan tree. While cutting the branches of the tree there was the danger of a piece of it falling on the idol and damaging it. When the ruler and the others did not know what to do, the Yogathiripad came forward with a solution. He lay over the idol so as to cover it completely and asked the men to cut the tree. The cutting began and to the wonder of all not a piece of the tree fell anywhere near the idol. The idol was removed with all due rituals and installed in the new place where it has remained till now. Then a beautiful temple was built according to the rules laid down in the sastras.
The temple stands in the centre of a very large square plot which is cut off from the world outside by tall and thick walls built all around. Between the inner temple and the outer walls, there is a spacious compound, the entrance to which is through gopuras. Of these, the gopuras on the south and north are not open to the public and have to enter either through the east or west gopura.In the outer temple there are shrines for Krishna ( Gosala Krishna or Krishna as Cowherd), Nandikeswara, Parasurama, Simhodara, Ayyappa and Sankaracharya. The inner temple is separated from the outer temple by a broad circular granite wall enclosing a broad corridor called the “Chuttambalam”. Entrance into the inner temple is through a passage through the corridor. In the inner temple the chief and central shrine that of siva where the linga transferred from the Srimulasthana is installed. Then there are shrines for Parvati, Ganpathi, Sankarnarayana and Sri Rama.
Vadakkunnathan temple is surrounded by a massive stone wall enclosing an area of nearly 9 acres (36,000 m2). Inside this fortification, there are four gopurams each facing north, south, east and west directions. Apart from these four gopurams, there is a multi-shrined complex in the centre with three principal shrines dedicated to Shiva as Vadakkunnathan, Shankaranarayana and Rama.
In the northern side, there is a circular structure with Lord Shiva facing west. The figure of Parvati faces east and is just behind Shiva in the same shrine. These non facing installations denote the Ardhanariswara concept.The two-storied rectangular shrine of Sri Rama facing west is located in the south. Between these two srikovils stands a third one, circular and double-storied in shape, which is dedicated to Sankaranarayana and facing west. There are mukhamandapams in front of all the three central shrines.[5]
The temple is famous for the rarity of the temple murals; of which the Vasukishayana and Nrithanatha murals are of great importance and are worshipped daily.[6] The temple also has specified spots in the temple quadrangle at which the devotees can offer worship to Lord Shiva of Kasi, Lord Shiva of Rameswaram, Lord Chidambaranatha of Chidambaram, Lord Bharatha of Koodalmanikyam, Sree Kali of Kodungallur, Urakam Ammathiruvadi of Ammathiruvadi Temple, Veda Vyasa, Hanuman Swamy, and Nagaraja. Vadakkunnathan Temple also houses a museum of ancient wall paintings, wood carvings and art pieces of ancient times.[6]
Vadakkunnathan Temple is a 1,000 years old temple, built by Lord Parashurama, one of the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu. The statue of Shiva, which is not visible, is covered under a mount of ghee, formed by the daily abhishekam (ablution) with ghee over the years. A devotee looking into the sanctum can now see only a 16-foot-high (4.9 m) mount of ghee embellished with thirteen cascading crescents of gold and three serpent hoods at top. According to traditional belief, this represents the snow-clad Mount Kailash, the abode of Parvathy and Parameswara. This is the only temple where Shivalinga is not visible.
It is said that the ghee offered here for centuries does not have any foul odor and it does not melt even during summer. Inside the Vadakkunnathan Temple is a multi-shrine complex called nalambalam or chuttamabalam in the center with three main shrines dedicated to Shiva or Vadakkunnathan, Shankaranarayana or Hari-Hara (a combined deity form of Shiva and Vishnu), and Sri Rama. There is a circular structure in the northern side with the deity facing west. Parvati is seen facing east, just behind the idol of Shiva, in the same shrine.
Located in the south is the two-storied shrine of Lord Rama facing west. The idol of Sankara-Narayana faces west and is placed between these two Sri Kovils (sanctum sanctorum). It is circular and double storied in shape. Mukhamandapams are found in front of all the three central shrines. There is a shrine dedicated to Lord Vettekkaran (Shiva in a hunter form) within the nalambalam. The shrines of Lord Krishna, Vrishabha, Parasurama (sixth avatar of Maha Vishnu), Simhodara, Dharmasastha (Swamy Ayyappan) and Guru Adi Sankaracharya are located outside the nalambalam. Located on the verandah of the Nalambalam is a large white bullock Nandikeswara or Nandi bull.
The murals in the temple are known for its rarity and two of them - Vasukisayana and Nrithanatha - are even worshipped regularly. In the temple quadrangle, there are specified spots at which the devotees can offer their salutations to Lord Shiva of Kasi and Lord Chidambaranatha of Chidambaram, Lord of Shiva of Rameswaram, Sree Kali of Kodungallur, Urakam Ammathiruvadi, Lord Bharatha (Koodalmanickam) at Irinjalakuda, Sree Vyasa, Sree Hanuman and the serpent gods.
The temple theatre, known as koothambalam, has no parallel to cite anywhere else in the world. The four magnificent gateways called gopurams and the lofty masonry wall around the temple quadrangle are also imposing pieces of craftsmanship and skill. Ganapathi shrine is positioned facing the temple kitchen and offering of Appam (sweetened rice cake fried in ghee) to Mahaganapathy is one of the most important offerings at the temple. Propitiating Ganapathy here is believed to be a path to prosperity and wealth.
The devotees refer to elephants as Lord Ganesh's incarnation. It has been the regular annual practice at the Vadakkunnathan Temple for the last 20 years to conduct a large-scale Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Havana and Aanayoottu on the first day of the Karkidakom month of the malayalam calendar. Gajapooja also is conducted once every four years.[2]
Adi Shankara is believed to have been born to the Shivaguru-Aryamba couple of Kalady in answer to their prayers before Vadakkunnathan, as amsavatara of the Lord. Legend has it that Shiva appeared to both husband and wife in their dreams and offered them a choice. They could have either a mediocre son who would live a long life or an extraordinary son who would die early. Both Shivaguru and Aryamba chose the second option. In honour of Shiva, they named the son Adi Shankara.[7][8] According to legend, Adi Shankara attained videha mukti ("freedom from embodiment") in Vadakkunnathan temple. One tradition, expounded by Keraliya Shankaravijaya, places his place of death as Vadakkunnathan temple in Thrissur, Kerala.[9]
Shiva here is more popularly known as Vadakkunnathan (Sanskrit Vrishabhachala -Tamil Vidaikunrunathan Vidai - Vrishabha, kunru - chala ). Apart from Lord Shiva, Sree Parvathy, Sree Ganapathi, Lord Sankaranarayana and Sree Rama are enshrined within the nalambalam of the temple. Lord Vettekkaran (Siva in a hunter form) was worshipped inside the nalambalam until 2005, but with a devaprasnam, it was taken back and gave a place at the south-west side of the temple facing east.
Maha Shivaratri is the main festival which is celebrated in the temple. Besides, there has been a regular annual practice at the temple to conduct Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Havana and Aanayoottu (Ceremonial Feeding of Elephants) on the 1st day of Karkadakam month of Malayalam calendar (July - August). Gajapooja is conducted once in four years. One of the most colourful temple festivals of Kerala, Thrissur Pooram is conducted in the temple premises but Vadakkunnathan temple is not a participant in this festival.[10]
The temple opens daily at 03:00 AM and closes at 10:30 AM. The temple reopens at 05:00 PM and closes at 8.30 PM after 'Trippuka', the last rite for the day.[3] Non Hindus are not allowed entry into the temple.[3]
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