Kerala Divya Desams - Day 1- Thirunavai

19/05/2011 - Thursday

Temples covered : Thirunavai and Guruvayur.

We boarded the 4 10 pm train from Calicut and reached Kuttipuram at 5.10 pm. Kuttipuram is a big town with many facilities. There are many lodges and eatries. We had a cup of coffee and boarded the bus to Thirunaavai. Thirunaavai is locally known as Thiru Naavaya. It is only 7 Kms from Kuttipuram. We reached the bus stop at 5 40 pm. It took us 10 Minutes to reach the temple. This Divya Desam is on the banks of Bharatha Puzha. It is said that this river is holier than Ganga!. Many Keralites come to this Kshetram for performing Pitru Kaaryams. It is also known as Dakshina Kaasi as there are temples of Sri Vishnu , Siva and Bramha.

STHALA PURANAM :

Goddess Mahalakshmi and Gajendra used to offer lotus flowers for worshipping Perumal. As

Thayar would pluck the flowers for aaradhana daily before Gajendran, the

elephant got dejected and approached Perumal and told that henceforth it

had to go elsewhere to get lotuses for Perumal. As Perumal did not want

his devotee to get dejected, He appeared before Goddess Mahalakshmi

and Gajendran and said that Thayar could be with Him and accept the

offerings made by Gajendran. Hence, only in this Malai Naadu divya

desam, there is a separate shrine for Thayar.

2) NAVAYOGIS : There were 9 siddha yogis who would always be together

and offer worship and meditate on Lord. In due course, 8 yogis attained

moksha and the vigrahams worshipped by them also disappeared and as

a result of this, the ninth yogi got dejected and stopped offering worship to

Perumal. When questioned by Perumal, he said that he was missing his

companions and Perumal with his maya showed the 8 yogis. The 8 yogis

agreed to stay there but said that they would be invisible to human eyes

and the 9 th yogi could feel their presence In due course, the 9

the yogi requested Perumal to make him also invisible. But Perumal insisted that

the vigraham worshipped by the 9 th yogi must be kept there itself and

Perumal blessed the 9 yogis saying that they could offer worship to Him at

that place forever. Hence, what we see now is the vigraham worshipped

by the 9th yogi.

OUR EXPERIENCE :

We had a refreshing bath in the river and we performed the evening anushthanams. It is really such a wonderful experience to do Sandhyavandhanam along the banks of a holy river in a serene atmosphere. We went to the temple at 6 15 pm. The Evening Aradhana for the Lord was going on. The temple is medium in size. There is a huge Gold plated dwajashthambham with the emblem of Sri Garudaalwar on top of it. Pancha Vaadhyam was being played. After waiting for 10 minutes , the Doors of the Sri Kovil ( Garbhagruham ) was opened , enabling all of us to have the darshan of our Dear Lord Mukundhan. Deeparadhana with Nakshatra Haarathi was performed and we had Darshan to our heart's content. Sri Mukundhan was wearing a beautiful silver Kavacham. His Thirumugham was annoited with Sandal Paste and He was wearing lots of Vasthrams and Fresh Smelling Garlands.

The Melshanthi gave us Chandanam and some flowers on a banana leaf. We did a pradakshinam around Perumal's Sannadhi. There is a seperate Sannadhi for Thaayar who is known as Sri Malar Mangai Naachiyaar. She was beautifully dressed in a red Paavadai and Lotus Garland. Thaayar is in a unique standing posture in this Divya Kshetram. After Pradakshinam , we sat near the Dwajasthambham and recited the Paasurams on Thirunaavai. After doing Mangalasasanams , we once again had Perumal's Darshan to our heart's content and left the temple with a heavy heart. We caught a bus to Kuttipuram and then another bus to Guruvayur.

After an hour's travel , we reached Guruvayur at around 8 45 pm. We checked into Lakshmi Lodge - Rs 400 for a Double Room. My friends were feeling tired and i decided to go to the temple for watching the evening Seeveli and the Kathakali performance.

STHALAPURANAM OF GURUVAYOOR :

GURUVAYOOR, the sacred shrine of Lord Krishna attracts lakhs of devotees

every year. This is one of the most famous piligrimage centers like Sri rangam,

Tirupati , Puri etc. Like Puri, this is also not a divya desam but it is an

ABHIMANA STHALAM”. The idol of the Lord Guruvayurappan was worshipped

by Lord Krishna Himself. To set an example to everyone, Lord Krishna used to

perform nitya thiruvaaradhanai to His own image and preached the world to

perform pooja to their ishta devata. When Dwapara yugam was coming to an

end, Krishna asked Udhava, one of his greatest devotees to take care of the

vigraham when He left this mortal world. He also advised Udhava to take the

help of Guru in locating a suitable place for worship. As Dwaraka was to

submerge, the idol had to be removed from that place. . As ordered, Guru and

Vayu took the idol and after a long search, they reached the present Guruvayur

and placed the idol for worship. They were guided by Parasurama in locating a

suitable place for worship. Lord Parasurama took them to a tank full of lotus

flowers. It may be mentioned here that at that time, the place was occupied by

Lord Shiva and His consort. Originally there was a temple dedicated to Lord

Shiva. Lord Shiva, out of his abundant devotion to Perumal moved from that

place to Maamiyur and a temple was constructed for Perumal by Viswakarma,

the divine architect. As Perumal was brought by Guru and Vayu, He came to be

known as GURUVAYOORAPPAN and the place came to be known as

GURUVAYOOR.

After the Evening Pooja , Sri Guruvayoorappan comes out in a grand procession riding an elephant. The Lord personally supervises the Bali offered to the Attendant Dieties. This is known as Seeveli. During Seeveli , Pancha Vadhyams and Nadaswaram are played. The Temple is fully lit up in oil lamps and it is a grand feast to the eyes. The Lord goes around the temple three times before returning to the Garbha Gruham. I had a good darshan of the Utsavar. While the Seeveli is going on , the Garbha Gruham Doors are closed. We cannot have Sevai of the Moolavar. The Garbha Gruham Door is temperorily opened for 5 minutes for placing the Utsavar back. I was standing near the Dwajasthambham and i had a nice darshan of the Moolavar who was dressed as Kalinga Narthana Krishna. Everyday , the Moolavar is deccorated in a different alankaram with chandanam during the Ucchi Kaala Aradhanam. The Main Vigraham of Sri Guruvayoorappan is very attractive and there are no words that can describe His Divine beauty!!. After that , the Lord is put to sleep and Ghee is distributed as Prasadham to the devotees. I received the prasadham and went to the Seeveli Mandapam where Kathakakali is performed everyday. Kathakali is known as Krishnattam. A section of Srimad Bhagavatham is potrayed thru Dance. I watched for a while and then went back to the Lodge. All of us had dinner and retired for the night !!