Koodalmanickam temple

Koodalmanickham Temple

Is  in Irinjalakuda in  Kerala
It  had always fascinated me by its antiquity its architecture and landscaping .

Every time I used to come down on leave to indiaI plan to go there but somehow it never worked out .
Finally for this years monsoon period the famous habit of the naalambhalam visit or going to 4 temples of Rama.Bharata.Lakshmana and Shatrugna in one morining made me realise it .

After completing Thriprayaar on the flowing periyar which appeared elegant in the drizzling rain our next stop was to be Koodalmanickam temple .
Irinjalakuda is 22km from  Thriprayar both in Thrissur dt .18km west of Chalakudy 9km from Moonupeedika 23km from Thrissur and 16 km from Kodungaloor .
Connected by good roads .

We sped on the black wet roads through moonu peedika when we turned left to Irinjalakuda
The fields were all full of water as the monsoon was in full form .
The rains were heavy this year and most of kerala was wet and green and dripping but a most pleasant sight indeed .
So was the Koodalmanickam temple a huge one with four large ponds one inside rest outside .
The outer wall led to a huge football ground like interior with an emerald green lawn on one corner one could see the black coperplated roof of the famous koothambhalam with its pyramidal shape .

These places are used for temple dances like the ancient koodiyaatam nangiar koothu,chakiar koothu,otaam thulal,kathakali etc .
The earliest historical record of the temple is in 854 AD where its mentioned of  Sthanu Ravi varman the Chera king donating huge tracts of land to the temple .

In fact most land in Irinjalakuda belonged to the temple and its rightful caretakers were the family of the  Thachudaya kaimal the titular head by right .
Unfortunately by a strange quirk of unfair exploitation in our secular country the Government in form of dewaswoms have usurped all rights of most temples in kerala and with its political appointees who have no piety are swindling its coffers leaving them as shells of thier former glory .
If temples had to face religiously bigoted invaders in past it has to bear the pillage of political rats today .
Koodalmanickam is one of the rare temples dedicated to Bharatha brother of Sree Rama who feeling very sad that his noble brother was ordered to spend 12 years in the forest by his father Dasaratha under pressure from his mother kaikeyi .
He is upset at its unfairness and though made the king by his father goes to forest meets Rama and says he would rule till Rama returns as his servant and carries back Ramas footwear which he symbolically keeps on throne telling his subjects its still Rama who will rule you .
This temple is to this great soul Bharata .

The idol though is of Sangameswara or Vishnu said to represent Bharatha .
Its countenance is happy .
Another story tells of a namboodhiri who used to collect the divinity and powers of many idols from many temples in his conch came to koodalmanickam temple but his conch fell broke transferring all its saved powers to its idol .
Once upon a time two rivers joined in confluence in irinjalakuda and sangameswara is lord of confluence .
The temple does not have usual 5 pujas but only 3
Theres no deepararadhana or evening lamp pooja .
Sivelis or ceremonial parading of idol on capraisoned elephants are only during annual festivals .
At that time one difference from other temples is baby elephants are also used .
The temple offerings are also different .
Lotus garlands made of minimum 101 lotus flowers are offered .
Brinjal or vazhudineenga is offered as nivedhiya which is not seen anywhere else and the offering is said to cure all skin diseases .
The offering post harvest or mukidi is very famous and waited for by devotees .
Of the four ponds 3 outside kuttan kullam is largest with kulipeeni theertham the pond inside temple used for puja purposes .
The other two ponds are padinjare and thekke kulams or west and east ponds  respectively .
Long back in this forested area lot of Rishis or sanyasis did an yagna and in its end the pleased lord appeaerd to them asking what they needed.
The rishis asked for presence of God there .
Years later vakkayil kaimal o resident had a dreamthat 4 idols had washed in the coast .
They were found and said to be of Rama ,bharata,lakshmana and Shatrugna and idols were installed in Thriprayar,koodalmanickam for Bharata ,moozhikulam laksmanaswami temple ,and payammal shatrugna temple .
Every year during monsoon month of karkidakam its the habit of devotees to visit all the four temples in one stretch otherwise called nalambhala darshan .
There is a story behind the name koodal manickam .
One day there was a very bright efflugence emanating from idol and the Kayamkulam Rajas quartz or manikyam was brought to compare brightness,suddenly the precious stone slipped from the bearer and got attracted to and stuck to the idols manickyam
Koodal is merging in malayalam .
Koodalmanikam temple is well known for its artistic marvels .
The koothambalam with its black pyramid roof of copper plates is an example of the taste and skills of temple builders in kerala .
Today the temple its fine buildings its abundant mural arts are study matireal for architecture students .
The koothambalam over the ages has hosted several celebrities in it like the legendary  Ammanur chakiyar family .

Unnai warrier an ardent devotee of Sangameswar composed Nalacharitram and a poem Sree Rama pancha sthithi an abridged version of Ramayana

Thrikaakara Temple

Thrikaakara temple .
The only temple where the main deity is Vamana avatar of lord Vishnu .
Vamana is a dwarf brahmin who comes to meet king Mahabali the demon king who ruled kerala once justly and with great honesty and sincerity but the Gods were jealous of his growing powers and Lord Vishnu comes as Vamana to curtail his powers but since lord knows Mahabali has no ego he actually comes to earth to facilitate deliverance of Mahabali from his earthly life to eternal bliss or moksha .
The story goes that the dwarf asks the king for three feet of land which the king laughingly asks him to take it as a dwarfs feet is tiny but Lord Vishnu grows to his celestial self and he is so huge that one foot covers earth another heaven hell and rest .
He then asks the king where will i put my third foot for which the king bows pointing to his head and vamana placing it on his head gives him moksha or salvation .king Mahabali requests the Lord that once a year he would love to see his land and people which the lord agrees and thus every Onam its presumed King Mahabali returns to his land dines with his people hence onam is famous for its feasts or sadya .
Thrikakkara temple is only temple in kerala dedicated to Vamana murthy and is said to be the place where Lord Vishnu as dwarf Vamana placed his foot on Mahabalis head .
This temple is ancient mentioned 5000 years back by nammalwar and one of the 108 divya deshams .
There is a Shiva temple nearby whose antiquity some say is older but with no evidence .
Both temples are very ancient .
On Onam day its very crowded so today it was a lovely visit in the rains the temple serene peaceful .
Children learn chenda or temple drums in the temple too .

Kailash ..Mysteries

The mysteries of Mount Kailas

Mount Kailash is a holy mountain for the Hindus who believe that lord Shiva resides in it .Its also sacred for Buddhists ,Jains ,and Bon .
in Sanskrit its called Kailasa which could come from Keylasa or crystal
its supposed to have four faces of Gold ,lapuz,crystala nd ruby
the Tibetian name is Gans rinpoche or precious snow mountain
Mount Kailas is situated in the Tibetan autonomous region of China .
Lake Manasarovar and Lake Rashas thaal are at its foot at 14950 feet .
the larger lake Manasarovar oval like the sun is fresh water very calm has fishes and swans on it and its waters are clear so much so the bottom can be seen ,its about 85 km in circumference while lake Rakhsas thaal is murkier salt water had stromy waves on its surface
Both lakes are the source of many famous rivers like the Brahmaputra ,,Sutlej,Indus and Karnali
Both lakes are separated by a an isthmus
Thousands of Hindu and other pilgrims make a trip to its foothills and take bath in Lake Manasarovar and later circumnavigate the mountain .
One needs to understand Mount Kailash is far beyond the Himalayan ranges in the Trans Himalaya in border between Tibet and china and is a single pyramid like mountain jutting straight into the skies to a height of 6638 meters or 21778 feet .
it is much shorter than mount Everest in Nepal which towers at 8848 meters or 29029 feet .
Strangely when more than 4000 people have so far summit ed in Mount Everest not a single human being has managed to do the same in Mount Kailash .
Ancient texts say 900 years back Buddhist saint Milarepa was the only human being who stepped into its top .
Milarepa was born to a rich Tibetian family but after the death of his father he and his mother were driven off thier house by cunning uncles and had to stay in poverty ,his mother asked him to learn the art of sorcery to take revenge on his uncle ,he studied the blak art for many years and showed his revenge by destroying the family and the village by magic diirected hail storms .
Later Milarepa regretted his practicing the evil art and went to spirituality studying under several masters for many years living a life of austerity .
Mount Kailsh can never be stepped on by a human being says old Buddhist texts for its the abode of Gods the very place where ;lord Shiva resides and only one man has been allowed to do so as a path to his ultimate nirvana .
This may sound silly but the fact is many who had tried to climb the summit have found failure over the years and had to return back .
colonel Wilson one of the early climbers who attempted same said after the foot i found the mountain insurmountable thoguh i did find a path but the moment i ascended snow fell very thickly and my further climb was impossible .
one should realise these are trained mountaineers who have climbed snowy peaks for years and a simple snowfall would hardly make them accept failure ,its best described by the Russian mountaineer Sergei Cistakov who managed to start his climb with his team ,
suddenly i felt I did not belong there ,this was no mountain to climb and i was treading on something very sacred and prohibited ,i was filled with interminable exhaustion and lassitude i could scarcely move or budge my whole body was leaden it was not lack of oxygen or altitude sickness for we had climbed greater heights it was not possible to explain we just felt we had to return back the moment we decided and turned back into descent we felt light happy and liberated with all the uncomfortable forgotten ,even though we failed we returned happy .
this has been the experience of many more mountaineers who attempted ,Reinhold Meissner the famous mountaineer was requested by china to attempt to summit it ,though he did have plans to do so he refused it in the last moment
in the eighties a group of American climbers did try again but returned back after some time strangely thier hair had grown white and nails grew interminably long and they all dies shortly after .
mount Kailash is also said to be the creation of extra terrestials eons back and is said to be a hollow huge pyramid ,strangely it has some similarities to the mysteries of stone henge in England ,the pyramids of Egypt and Peru man made creations
its 6666 km from Stonehenge and double that a distance of 13332 km to Antarctica and also 666 km to Arctic pole ,in short it is sid to be at the center of the earth and is likened to the mystical mount Meru .
Pilgrims go upto Manasarovar lake by different routes by road or by helicopter ,later after performing rituals and ablutions there proceed to foothills of the mountain to circumnavigate the sacred mountain which is called Parikrama a distance of 52 km .
this take three days and involves hardy climbs snow filled passes like the Dholma pass with rarefied air and pilgrims have difficulty because of altitude and less oxygen after a difficult descent in second nay they return to Manaosarovar by third day and then back to their countries .
We plan to go to this sacred mountain in august as part of a troupe do parikrama both if God willing

Thanks to photos taken online ,if objected can be deleted

Sanju and Njaan mary kutty ..film review

Saw two excellent films in theater this month .
Malayalam film Njaan Marykutty where the hero Jayasurya dons the role of a transgender albeit an educated one desirous to become a Sub inspector of police .
the rigors he has to go through and the humiliations society heaps on him is well depicted but there are always some who sup[port the right and i the end he wins the unfair fight using his intellect and perseverance .
Such a role is not easy one could slip into vulgarity or self pity or tragic comedy but jayasurya has echoed a very sober subdued personality and acted with dignity and aplomb and its an eyeopener to the hard world of Transgenders

The second film is a biography of Sanjay dutt the actor accused to be a terrorist and had long hard prison terms ,born to celebrity parents and loss of a loving mother in his adolescence and a disciplinary father from whom he could never get acceptance Sanjay dips into drugs on off and goes through the rigors of de addictions ,finally when he hits off as a cinema hero crime and his association with slimy underworld and misplaced sympathies make him a target to be used by anti nationals which is what the film says no one knows the real truth ,with criticism of glorifying a criminal if we keep that part of it apart and not consider the film as a testimony of truth of Sanjay we can appreciate the superior ability of the director who handled this very difficult contemprory and controversial biography of his favorite hero
Most scenes start as flashbacks and later we get so immersed that we forget its a tale being told when we get back real pat should go the director indeed Raj kumar hirani has once again excelled after that wonderful munnabhai series .
Ranbir kappor has done a very impressive impersonation of a likable sanju at his different ages and the final song when he dances with the real sanju is cool too
the surprises are seeing a tired Manisha koirala who lived her role as Nargis and AR Rehman delivered as usual his songs with panache only he can posses

Pics from online thanks..can be removed if objected

Monsoon magic

Theres no better place to be in during the heavy kerala monsoons in june july .
Theres an explosion of green everywhere .
Dripping water droplets from freshly bathed leaves shining like a new born baby .
The flutter of wings as birds joyfully flow in the drizzle of the dusk back to thier cosy nests to feed thier cackling young thier crimson red greedy throats wide open .

The rain waxes and wanes like the aaroham avarohanam of carnatic musis at times pitching in with so much force that small rivulets become gushing rivers but at times gently fall on the wet earth caressing it like a lover meeting his beloved after a seperation .
The rivers are angry and roaringly ferocious as the water laps the bridges where lonely buses cross precautiosly .
The sun knows its beaten during these times as its vain attempts to shine forth is defeated by dark clouds pregnant with rain .
Its a waterworld with roads full of potholes but looking smooth filled with brown water which covers the holes and mounts with marxian efficiency .
The waves go large and bobbing boats show glimpses of wet fishermen struggling  in the rain by glimpses of lightening flashes .
The butterflies twit in haste before being brought down to the crowd not by ego for thier lovely coats but by the weight of water on thier backs .
The crickets hum the frogs cry to sing the fly hums and the bumble bee makes electronic music .
Wet men and women reprimand joyous children to get away from the rain to the safety of thier houses tempting them with delicious food .
While the poor paper thier cracks to get over the wet miserable season when they stand on water and get dripped with water .
Wetness is the password of kerala in monsoon where God paints the state with a swathe of colours and admires his pastel creativities .