Everything about Vadakkunnathan Temple totally explained
Vadakkkunnathan Temple literally meaning lord of the North; Vadakku = North, Nathan = Lord is one of the largest
Shiva temples in
Kerala. Vadakkkunnathan temple is located in
Thrissur in Kerala and is over 2000 years old. This temple is a classic example of the
Kerala style of architecture with beautiful murals of the seventeenth century delineating graphically the story of
Mahabharata. The
shrines and the
Koothambalam display exquisite vignettes carved in wood. It is believed that this temple was built by
Parasurama.
Legends say that
Adi Sankaracharya was born, after his parents, who were childless for many years, prayed at the Vadakkumnathan (vRashAcala) temple.
The sprawling
Thekkinkadu maidan, en circling the Vadakumnathan temple, is the main venue of the
Thrissur Pooram.
Details of the temple structure
Vadakkunnathan temple is surrounded by a massive stone wall enclosing an area of nearly 8-9 acres. Inside this fortification there are four
gopurams indicating the four directions - North, South, East and West.
Apart from these four gopurams there's a multi-shrined complex in the center with three principal shrines dedicated to
Shiva or
Vadakkunnathan,
Shankaranarayana and
Rama.
In the northern side there's a circular structure with the
deity facing west. The figure of
Shiva-
Parvati faces east and is just behind Shiva, in the same shrine. The two-storied shrine of
Sri Rama facing west is located in the south. Between these two
srikovils stand a third one, circular and double storied in shape, dedicated to Sankaranarayana and facing west. There are
mukhamandapams in front of all the three central shrines.
Architecture
Vadakkunnathan temple is one of the oldest in South India according to the archaeologists. According to the legends, it was founded by Lord
Parasurama and enshrines Lord Shiva as the principal deity. The idol of Shiva, which isn't visible, is said to be covered under a mount of ghee, formed by the daily
abhisheka (ablution) with
ghee over the years. A devotee looking at the
sanctum now sees a sixteen-foot high 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 Kailas, the abode of Parvathy and Parameswara. Shiva here's more popularly known as Vadakkunnathan (Sanskrit
Vrishabhachala - Tamil
Vidaikunrunathan Vidai - Vrishabha,
kunru - chala ) . Apart from Lord Shiva, Sree Parvathy, Sree
Ganesh, Lord Sankaranarayana and Sree Rama are enshrined within the main
nalambalam of the temple.
Lord Vettekkaran (Siva in a hunter form) is also worshipped within the nalambalam enclosure.
Outside the nalambalam, there are shrines for Lord
Krishna,
Vrishabha, Parasurama,
Simhodara,
Dharmasastha and
Adi Sankaracharya. Adi Sankara 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: a mediocre son who would live a long life, or an extraordinary son who wouldn't live long. Both Shivaguru and Aryamba chose the latter. The son was named Shankara, in honour of Shiva.
The murals in the temple are known for its rarity and two of them -
Vasukisayana and
Nrithanatha - are even worshipped regularly. A fairly large white bullock on the verandah of the Nalambalam is worshipped as
Nandikeswara. 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
Rameswara, Sree
Kali of
Kodungallur,
Urakam Ammathiruvadi, Lord
Bharatha (Koodalmanickam) at
Irinjalakuda, Sree
Vyasa, Sree
Hanuman and 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.
Lord Ganesh in the temple 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 Vadakkunnathan temple. Propitiating Ganapathy here's believed to be a path to prosperity and wealth.
The devotees revere elephants as Lord Ganesh incarnate. 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 (ceremonial feeding of elephants) on the 1st day of karkidakom month as per the
malayalam calendar.
Gajapooja also is conducted once in four years.
(External Link
)
Photo gallery
Image:Elephant Saluting.jpg|An elephant saluting Vadakkunathan during Thrissur pooram
Image:Vatakumnadhan.jpg|Thrissur Pooram in front of Vadakkunnathan Temple
Image:Vadakumnathan-two.jpg|Gate to Vadakkunnathan Temple
Image:Vadakumnathan-three.jpg|Gate to Vadakkunnathan Temple
Image:Vadumnathan-one.jpg|Gate to Vadakkunnathan Temple
Further Information
Get more info on 'Vadakkunnathan Temple'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://vadakkunnathan_temple.totallyexplained.com">Vadakkunnathan Temple Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
