Visit to Naalambalam

Those of you who know me personally would agree that I am not the temple visiting type or the conventionally pious type though I have always had deep faith in God! Part of it has also to do with the course I studied and the long and untimely working hours associated with it as well as the current job. My sojourns outside India also added its share of fuel to the fire.

So when the extended family declared that we had to take this trip to 4 major temples in Central Kerala I was quite happy to be part of the group. For once, it had been a really long time since I visited any temple and the 4 temples we had zeroed in on were very famous and ones I had visited as a kid!

Off we were on a Sunday morning- 9 of us barely fitting into a Tavera which was air conditioned just for name's sake braving the burning summer heat and our first destination was Kodungalloor after the beautiful journey via Vyppeen and Paravoor covering the Goshree bridges. I had plans of visiting Kodungalloor ever since I was down with a bout of Chicken Pox. It is generally considered to be auspicious and good for one's health to visit the Kodungalloor Bhagavathi after you are cured of Chicken Pox. Well, Chicken Pox was a good 2 years earlier, but better late than never.

Or, so I thought but Bhagavathi was not kind enough. We were encountered by long queues outside the temple at 8 in the morning. Apparently, someone had made the temple surroundings Ashudham and there was a cleaning up pooja in progress. Since we had in our plan to visit 3 more temples, we decided to meet Bhagavathi sometime in future or rather Bhagavathi decided we were not worthy of a darshan this time!

We were luckier with our next destinations though. The second in row was the only temple in India dedicated to Bharatha- one of the 4 brothers in the Ramayana situated in the holy town of Irinjalakuda in Thrissur District- the imposing architectural marvel that is Koodalmanickyam. Renowned all over Kerala and among Malayalees all over the world for the massive Temple pond and the majestic Koothambalam, Koodalmanickyam temple is enchanting to say the least.

The temple situated in a huge plot has lots of open area, the neatly done Pradakshina vazhi and a lot of Upa moorthies around the sanctum sanctorum. The Kuleepani Theertham or the temple pond is believed to have the presence of River Ganga and mythology has it that a group of sages had offered prayers to River Ganga to absorb the land on which their Yaagashaala stood and this became the Temple pond. The many fishes in the pond are considered to be incarnations of the Devas and the pond is not used for bathing. Its crystal clear water shines in the bright sunlight and the sight of the beautiful fishes is soothing :-)

Unfortunately for us the pradakshina vazhi around the Theertham was closed and hence we could not make that pradakshinam which we all wanted to make. The darshanam of Lord Bharatha was grand since there was not much crowd in the temple and all of us felt happy visiting the temple after donkey's years!

After grabbing a quick bite (Masala Dosa, Vada, Kaapi- typical South Indian breakfast!) at Hotel Woodlands near the Temple Nada, off we were to visit my namesake- Lord Ram at Thriprayar. A temple that is fairly crowded almost throughout the year is located on the banks of Thriprayar and is always buzzing with activity- Vedi Vazhipaadu being one of the most important! After the customary darshan at the temple which lasted for a little less than 30 seconds thanks to the crowd, off we were to see the thoni in which the deity is taken around in the river during the festival season! After a highly satisfying visit and darshan at Triprayar, our next destination was the most frequented temple of Kerala.

Yes, you guessed it right! We were to visit Unni Kannan at Sree Krishna Temple, Guruvayoor. This is one temple that needs no introduction to South Indians. The massive temple is one of the most famous pilgrimage spots in South India and is inundated with devotees throughout the year. The number of hotels in Guruvayoor is evidence enough (It is another thing that none of them serve forget good, even decent food. Our experience at lunch was horrendous to say the least!) for the kind of money that the town generates thanks to the Lord.

With the vaastha we had at the temple and due to grandma's inability to spend long hours in the queue (due to her old age!), we were fortunate to get special entry to the temple. As usual, the temple was teeming with devotees and looked more like a railway platform. The mid summer mid day heat was unbearable and people were sweating like anything! The 20- odd second darshanam however was truly worth all the wait. Unni Kannan was done up beautifully in sandalwood paste and you could feel the divinity in the sanctum sanctorum. We bought Paalpayasam, Malaru and Sugar from the Vazhipaadu counter considering the sweet tooth that we share with the lord himself and off we were in about an hour's time after completing the Thulabharam for my cousin sister!

The final destination was my grandma's ancestral home at Ponnani in Malappuram District. Grandma, Ma and Uncle were ecstasic on meeting their cousins and after exchanging the customary pleasantries (which include the usual high voltage drama- tears, reunion, talking of old times, very, very Bollywood!), all of them became those wild kids of the post and the wild kids of today (yours faithfully including) had a blast listening to them. My grand aunt who I thought was ailing looked pretty hearty and healthy to me and spend some moments with her as well as around the sprawling house.

It was close to pack up time when we decided to visit the nearest Thrikkavu Bhagavathy Temple- the small, divine and fabulous temple close home. The Bhagavathy in the sanctum sanctorum looked celestial, the Saraswathy Mandapam providing the rightly peaceful atmosphere. The daily visitors were involved in lighting the chuttuvilakku and making thechi poo garlands for the deity- the sight of the unspoilt Kerala villagers gave me a high! It was with this feeling of happiness that we ventured on to the Azhimugham or the beach near the fisherman's village. Arabian Sea was not particularly furious but not really peaceful either- after almost half an hour of playing around at the beach we were back home for an early dinner of hot Kozhukkattas with Chutney, Puli Inchi, Poricha Kuzhambu and Pazhani Panchamrutham to add further to the taste!

By the time we were back home, hardly any of us could breathe. The long day and the long journey had taken its complete toll on us and the heavy rains on the way back had made navigation difficult briefly but all of us were happy- after all it was a family reunion after a very long time and a very productive, pious and enjoyable trip with one's clan!

Here is looking forward to some more of these :-)