Pancha Pandava Temples
The Day3 on our Cochin Allepey Trip became an interesting spiritual trip. We started from Gateway Hotel early by 5:15 in the morning. We have planned for a stay at Vembanad hotel near the lake. The direct way from Gateway marine Drive Ernakulam to Lemon tree Vembanad is just 1.5 hours. But we planned to cover few temples on our way ( A slight deviation😊 from the actual route)
We started our Pancha Pandava Temple trip by receiving the blessings from the protector of the Cochin City, Mr. Ernakulathappan. Within 5 minutes from the hotel, we reached our first temple, Ernakulathapppan.
Sri Vallabha
Thiruvanvandoor(Nakula)
Thiruchitat(Yudhishtra):
Thirupuliyoor Aranmalaparthasarathy temple(Arjuna):
The deity here was also similar to the one found in the previous shrine. The deity was decorated with sandalwood and had a big mustache. It is said that Arjuna installed the idol to get rid of his sin for killing Karna who was unarmed then.
Speciality: The Golden Attire Of Ayyapa is safegaurded in this temple and it is taken from here to Sabarimala during the Ayyapa Pooja Season in December.
Do not miss:
Pandava Rock
Our sightseeing was over for the day and we had an awesome lunch near the backwaters ( Avees hotel). Kerala’s Appam, Idiyappam tasted great. When you are in Kerala try to taste their Idiyaapam, Velappam, Unniyappam, Adai, and Ullappam. It was different and tasted good.
We started our Pancha Pandava Temple trip by receiving the blessings from the protector of the Cochin City, Mr. Ernakulathappan. Within 5 minutes from the hotel, we reached our first temple, Ernakulathapppan.
Ernakulathappan:
He is called as the protector of the city.
We got an Awesome blessing from him. The priests were giving him a bath from the water taken from the well inside the temple. 1, 2, 3, 4, more and more of water was poured on top of him giving him a fresh bath. It was a great start for him and us too. The deity was a Swayambu lingam. There is a big story behind this Swayambu lingam. This is related to the Epic Mahabharatha.
Sthala Puranam: Once a wild boar(Mookaasuran) tried to attack Arjuna in a forest. He tried to defend by attacking the boar with his arrow and the very second another arrow from Kiratha(a tribal hunter) also pierced the boar. A conflict broke between Arjuna and Kiratha as to whose arrow was the first to pierce the boar’s body. Finally, the vanquished Arjuna built a linga out of the mud and prayed the Lord by offering flowers. To his surprise, the offered flowers fell on Kiratha after which he realized that it was Lord Shiva himself. Lord Shiva and Parvathy appeared before him and gifted him the Pashupatha arrow which he used in the Mahabharata war.
This mud lingam built by Arjuna became unnoticed for a while until a cursed boy(Devala) who was half man and half serpent saw this lingam. He prayed to the lingam to get rid of his sin. Lord Shiva and Parvathi were happy about the boy’s penance, appeared before the boy and asked him to take bath in the nearby pond to get relieved from his curse. At his request, Lord Shiva and Parvathy exists in that particular place from then on as a new lingam near the mud lingam built by Arjuna. This is the Swayambu lingam that is worshipped as the main deity in this Kshethram.
The mud lingam built by Arjuna is worshipped in a separate Sanidhi and prayed as Kirthamoorthy here.
Pancha Pandava Temples
We started towards Allepey. After 1 hour of our travel, we had breakfast in Aryas in Chenganallur. Our first temple was only few minutes from the restaurant. The temples here in Kerala, Closes by 11:00 in the morning and opens only by 5:00 in the evening. So, we decided to cover all the temples by 11:00AMReason Behind The Five Temples: After the Mahabharatha war, the five pandavas left the reign to Parishit Maharaj and went on a Pilgrimage to get rid of the Sin. On their way, they got impressed by Kerala’s beauty and each decided to install Lord Maha Vishnu’s Idol at five different Places. These temples are called the Pancha Pandava Temples and it is believed that these temples have to be visited in a single day to get the blessing of Lord MahaVishnu.
Note: Devotees must visit Yudhishtra's, Bheema's, Arjuna's, Nakula's and Sahadeva's Temple in an order. But these temples appeared in a different order. As we felt we wont be able to make up all the temples before 11:00 AM, we covered the temple as it appeared on our way
Note: Devotees must visit Yudhishtra's, Bheema's, Arjuna's, Nakula's and Sahadeva's Temple in an order. But these temples appeared in a different order. As we felt we wont be able to make up all the temples before 11:00 AM, we covered the temple as it appeared on our way
Thirikodithanam(Sahadeva):
Mahavishnu Idol of this temple is believed to be installed by Sahadeva of the Pandavas. The deity here is named as Athbudha Narayanar and it is a swayambu.
It is believed that, during the pilgrimage, all the brothers except Sahadeva got an idol to install. The depressed Sahadeva decided to jump in fire and end his life for not getting any idol. At the very moment an idol emerged from the fire to his surprise as a blessing for him and hence the idol is named as ‘Athbubdha Narayanar’(the main deity in the temple).
Do not miss 1: An important thing to be noticed here in this temple is the Kazhuveti Kallu. There is a 'man lying on top of a pillar' statue in front of the temple (outside the temple) to indicate that bribery, cheating, dishonesty will be punished. This statue was raised as a result of a bad incident that happened in the past. Once, a ruler arrived late to this temple after the temple doors were shut. He bribed a temple servant to open the temple. When this incident reached the ruling king he beheaded the servant and, the ruler who bribed to open the temple, soon fell ill and died. Kazhivetu Kalu was then raised to indicate that such happenings must not occur again in the future.
Do not miss 2: Another important thing to be noticed in the temple is that, there is an interesting way to get the darshan of Dakshnamoorthy and Lord Ganesha. When you come in pradharshan of the main deity, you will notice a small hole at the back of the sanadhi wall. You need to peep through this hole with one eye (Left, Right) , to get the darshan of Dakshnamoorthy and Ganesha respectively.
Sri Vallabha
This temple is one among the 108 divya desams but does not come under Pancha Pandava temples. This is the temple where Kathakali is performed daily. There is a raised platform immediately on entering the temple where kathakali is usually performed.
The main deity here holds the lotus, sankhu and chakra on his hands
Do not miss: The Sudharsana Chakra appears in the form of a human with eight hands.
Sthala Puranam: The main deity here is believed to be gifted by Lord Vishnu himself to Brahma which was inturn gifted to various people finally reaching Garuda. Garuda hid it in a river before leaving the earth. It seems that one of the kings in the KaliYuga wished to build a temple for Lord Vishnu and his wife got a vision of an idol being hid in a Place. The idol was found as viewed in the dream but they overcame difficulties in fitting the idol in correct place. It is believed that sages Durvasar and Vedavysar helped them in installing it in the right place and visits the temple every midnight till day to worship the lord.
The main deity here holds the lotus, sankhu and chakra on his hands
Do not miss: The Sudharsana Chakra appears in the form of a human with eight hands.
Sthala Puranam: The main deity here is believed to be gifted by Lord Vishnu himself to Brahma which was inturn gifted to various people finally reaching Garuda. Garuda hid it in a river before leaving the earth. It seems that one of the kings in the KaliYuga wished to build a temple for Lord Vishnu and his wife got a vision of an idol being hid in a Place. The idol was found as viewed in the dream but they overcame difficulties in fitting the idol in correct place. It is believed that sages Durvasar and Vedavysar helped them in installing it in the right place and visits the temple every midnight till day to worship the lord.
Thiruvanvandoor(Nakula)
The main deity is named Pambanaiappan. This temple’s idol is believed to be installed by Nakular of Pancha Pandavas. Apart from the main deity, the other sanidhi that grasped my eye was Gosala Krishnar. This krishnar was slightly different and is very famous here.
Thiruchitat(Yudhishtra):
The main deity is believed to be installed by Yudhishtra of the Pandavas. Yudhishtra felt bad on lying to Dronacharyar that Ashwathaaman was dead (Though it was half true) during the Mahabharata war. He chose this place and decided to get rid of his sin by building a temple for Lord Vishnu.
 |
| 1. The Arch that leads to the Temple 2. The Main Entrance 3. Inside The Temple 4. The Tank |
Thirupuliyoor (Bheema):
The Main deity here was believed to be raised by Bheema of Pancha Pandavas.
The Entire Sanidhi is a two storey building and the main deity was decorated well with sandal. He had a bright big mustache like Mr.Parthasarathy of Triplicane.
Do not miss:
There is a very big Gadha mounted on a raised platform on entering the temple. This Gadha is believed to be used by bheema during the Mahabharatha war.
Thirupuliyoor Mahadeva Temple :
Do not miss:
There is a very big Gadha mounted on a raised platform on entering the temple. This Gadha is believed to be used by bheema during the Mahabharatha war.
Thirupuliyoor Mahadeva Temple :
There is a Popular Shiva temple on the way to Arjuna's Temple. We reached Thirupuliyoor mahadeva temple and got his blessing from him too.
We spent hardly 5 minutes there and we rushed to the last temple on our list.
Thirupuliyoor Aranmalaparthasarathy temple(Arjuna):
This was the last temple we had to visit on our list. The clock was about to strike 11:00 and we hurried to the temple as all the temple closing time was 11:00. The temple was in a slightly upper level from the road and we had to climb a few steps(eighteen or so) to reach the temple.
There was a board hanging near the Sannadhi stating that the closing time for that temple is 12:30 (Don’t know why the time is extended for this temple alone). We relaxed and Thanked the Lord for letting us get the Darshan of five Maha Vishnu idols installed by Pandavas in a single day.
The deity here was also similar to the one found in the previous shrine. The deity was decorated with sandalwood and had a big mustache. It is said that Arjuna installed the idol to get rid of his sin for killing Karna who was unarmed then.
There were other Shrines here for Sastha, Yakshi and few more. Out of the other Sanidhis , the one that i felt special is the Balarama's Sanidhi. It is present in the Outer Praharam and one has to take few steps down to reach his Sanidhi.
The one thing that is common to all the Pancha Pandava temple is that , all the idols of Maha Vishnu are in the standing form.
Pandava Rock
After 20 minutes of drive from the last temple, we reached Pandavan Parai, a place full of big rocks. A temple was found in the middle of rocks. Few formations of rocks resembled five big thrones which gave us an impression like the Pandavas used to sit on those thrones to have a view. We also found a very big foot impression on a big rock.Similarly, there are few other impressions on the rocks
People who like to climb huge rocks will enjoy this place. We spent half an hour and left the place by 12 PM
Our sightseeing was over for the day and we had an awesome lunch near the backwaters ( Avees hotel). Kerala’s Appam, Idiyappam tasted great. When you are in Kerala try to taste their Idiyaapam, Velappam, Unniyappam, Adai, and Ullappam. It was different and tasted good.
The Avees restaurant was so good with the backwaters by the side.
It wasn’t like ourCoovum River Scenic Place . Though it may be very common for a Keralite, it was very new to us and we enjoyed the lunch by the side of the backwaters.
It wasn’t like our
We reached our resort (Vembanad Lake
If you are stressed out and want to escape from the maddening crowd, this is the best place. Book a resort near Vembanad Lake
Comments
Post a Comment