Sree Varaha Temple, Varapuzha

Sree Varaha temple is located in Varapuzha about 15 Km from Ernakulam towards Kodungallur. The temple is more than 450 years old and established by the batch of GSBs who migrated from Goa.
The original deity in the temple was Lord Narasimha, which was later shifted to Sree Venkatramana temple, Mulki and was replaced by a magnificent seven hooded idol of Varaha Swami brought from Goa. After installation of the Varaha murthy, this place came to be known as Varahapuzha which later became Varapuzha.

Sri Venkatachalapathy with Laxmi devi and Bhoomi devi, Maha Ganapathi and Hanuman. The Ganapati vigraha with trunk twisted right (Valampiri) is a rarity. This is installed in the south wing of the nalambalam and outside the srikovil. The Hanuman is installed at right side of the entrance to nalambalam.

The temple belonged to the family of Valiya Veetil. Since the number of GSBs in the area was less, the temple could not be maintained well due to financial difficulties. Therefore, the governance was handed over to the Alleppey Ananthaanarayana Puram Thuravoor Tirumala Devaswom (AATTD). AATTD has paddy fields at the west side of the temple. The temple was renovated and punapratishta done in 1950 AD. The main gopuram was constructed recently. This leads to the Anapandal contructed on 8 pillars. Each pillar has a silpa of Dasavathar each on it (see pic on the left for Matsya avatar). The remaining 2 (Varaha and Narasimha) are on pillars at the entrance to nalambalam. The yearly festival is celebrated in the Falguna masa.


Lord Narasimha
Shri Vijayindra Tirtha Swami who gave deeksha to the first Swamiji of Shri Kashi Math Samsthan, came in possession of Lord Narsimha depicting very violent passion called 'Ugra' (Ferocious) which he first installed in the temple. However, in a dream the Lord appeared to him and ordained, "Take me to Volalanka (Mulki) and install there. I shall remain calm and fulfill the desires of all the devotees who take shelter under me". Accordingly from Kerala, with a few devotees Shri Swamiji, set out for Mulki by foot. After a few days they reached Padupanambur the capital of the Jain Kings, Savants. From here by foot the journey to Mulki was taking one hour. But by then the dusk fell. Shri Swamiji sent his men to the palace to get light for onward journey. But surprisingly the king refused as the Swamiji did not belong to his faith. Shri Swamiji with a smile said, "When the very Lord who gives light to all the three worlds is with us why should we worry? Let's continue the journey." When they had hardly crossed outskirts of Padupanambur, the roof of the palace suddenly caught fire and flames touched the sky.

The King and his men could not extinguish the fire at all. In the glare of that light Shri Swamiji completed the journey. On Datta Jayanti Day on 23rd November 1569, Margashira Poornima (the most auspicious month according to Bhagwad Gita) Lord Narsimha was formally installed there. The Mulki temple was established in 1260 A.D. by Shri Soira Vittal Bhat, an astrologer, as a shrine dedicated to Lord Vittal under the patronage of the local Jain King at Padupanambur. The Mulki temple has presiding deities Sree Vittala, Sree Venkatraman, Sree Ugra Narasimha and Sree Bindu Madhav (procession deity).

The Story further at Padupanambur: At Padupanambur, the King wanted to rebuild the palace. But whenever the trees were fell for timber, they were full of charcoal. He consulted astrologers who declared that the king had incurred the wrath of Lord Narasimha. They suggested his visit to the temple to seek forgiveness. He did it and only thereafter the things became favourable. Again he visited the temple and sought a favour. The deity should pay a visit at least once a year to his palace and bless him and his family. A strange favour but long time ago his forefathers while in Mulki had patronised this temple. So it was agreed that every year Lord Vittal would pay a visit on Vanabhojan Day. Even today traversing a distance of 10 miles both ways by palanquin overnight, Lord Vittal goes to Padupanambur and receives the prayers and blesses the descendants of the King.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/varapuzha.htm
About Varappuzha: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varappuzha

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Sree Rama Temple, Tripunithura, Ernakulam

Tripunithura, the location of the palace of Cochin Maharaja, is a suburb about 12 km from Ernakulam. The pratishta in the temple is Sri Rama with Sita and Lakshman. This idol is believed to be given by the 5th pontiff of Kashi Mutt, Srimat Raghvendra Tirtha (samadhi 1726 AD) who is said to have the darshan of Lord Narasimha in one of the pooja rooms at Kashi.

The orginal pratishta was in a small temple constructed in the land owned by a family migrated to this place from Varapuzha. Subsequently a new temple was constructed at the present location in about 1658 AD. This prathista also is believed to be done by the Swamiji (Authentic dates unavailable).

Other deities: Inside the inner temple there is a pratishta of Ganapati. There are sub-temples of Hanuman, Nagaraja and Durga in the main temple premises. The Hanuman pratishta is attracting many devotees and is believed to be blessed by the presence of Guruswamy Govinda Vadhyar of Quilon who is said to have the darsan of Lord Hanuman. He had come to this temple and is said to have cured many children.

History:

Once Srimat Raghavendra Tirtha visited Tripunithura and stayed in the Varapuzha family for some days. While leaving the place, satisfied with the family, he blessed the members and gave them the Sri Rama idol which has been personally worshipped by him. The varapuzha family installed the Rama idol in a small temple contructed in their premises. Subsequently, the Panakkal family of Tripunithura (the Swamiji is believed to be from this family), approached the Swamiji and requested for an idol for worship by the family. Swamiji gave them the Bhagavatham (a Taliyola or book made from leaves) used by him and blessed that the book too will have the presence of Lord.

In about 1658 AD, the Varapuzha and Panakkal families dedicated the Rama idol and the Book to the GSB community at Tripunithura for worship. In the piece of land donated by the Thamarassery Naicken family, a new temple was constructed and the Idol and Book were installed in the new temple. The temple was later renovated and puna-prathista done in 1895 AD.

When the Portuguese attacked the Cochin Thirumala Devaswom Temple in 1662 A.D, the community removed the idol of Shri Venkateswara along with processional deities from Cochin Gosripuram temple for safety and shifted to Udayamperur. After the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in 1663 A.D, the idols were shifted back to Cochin. While on their way back to Cochin, the procession deity of Lord Venaktewara was temporarily placed for worship in the Agrasala of Shri Rama temple at Tripunithura. Meanwhile, Sri Hari Shenoy, the then Manager of the Cochin Thirumala Devaswom had a dream wherein the Lord Venkateswara directed him that the Venkateswara idol placed in the Agrasala of the Tripunithura temple should also be installed at the newly constructed Karanakodam temple. The Lord Venkateswara image was then taken out in a palanquin as a procession to Karanakodam temple and installed there as directed in the dream.
By the early 20th century, the temple was in a neglected state and reached the worst financial condition. At the request of the community, the temple governance was taken over by the Tripunithura Devaswom Board by order of the Maharaja of Cochin in 1940 AD. In 1961 AD, after a legal battle with Govt the temple was handed over back to the community.
The original Book kept in the Srikovil in a Copper box decayed completely and in 1979 AD Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji blessed and handed over a Ramayana book to be kept in its place.
During Annual festivals, the procession starts from the Varapuzha family who donated the Rama idol to the temple.

Venkatachalapathy

In 1981AD, a Devaprasnam was conducted at the temple and it was revealed that the temple is without the presence of Venkatachalapathy after the shifting of Venkateswara idol from the temple to Karanakodam. This has been the reason for deterioration of the temple and the local community. A Venkatachalapathy idol was then installed in the same place where the previous idol was kept, before shifting to Karanakodam. The pratishta was done by Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji in 1981 AD.


Tripunithura, the location of the palace of Cochin Maharaja, is a suburb about 12 km from Ernakulam. The pratishta in the temple is Sri Rama with Sita and Lakshman. This idol is believed to be given by the 5th pontiff of Kashi Mutt, Srimat Raghvendra Tirtha (samadhi 1726 AD) who is said to have the darshan of Lord Narasimha in one of the pooja rooms at Kashi.
The orginal pratishta was in a small temple constructed in the land owned by a family migrated to this place from Varapuzha. Subsequently a new temple was constructed at the present location in about 1658 AD. This prathista also is believed to be done by the Swamiji (Authentic dates unavailable).

Temple front view

The main prathista of Rama with Sita and Lakshman
Aerial view of the temple

Other deities Inside the inner temple there is a pratishta of Ganapati. There are sub-temples of Hanuman, Nagaraja and Durga in the main temple premises. The Hanuman pratishta is attracting many devotees and is believed to be blessed by the presence of Guruswamy Govinda Vadhyar of Quilon who is said to have the darsan of Lord Hanuman. He had come to this temple and is said to have cured many children.
Hanuman

Durga and Nagaraja sub-temples
History
Once Srimat Raghavendra Tirtha visited Tripunithura and stayed in the Varapuzha family for some days. While leaving the place, satisfied with the family, he blessed the members and gave them the Sri Rama idol which has been personally worshipped by him. The varapuzha family installed the Rama idol in a small temple contructed in their premises. Subsequently, the Panakkal family of Tripunithura (the Swamiji is believed to be from this family), approached the Swamiji and requested for an idol for worship by the family. Swamiji gave them the Bhagavatham (a Taliyola or book made from leaves) used by him and blessed that the book too will have the presence of Lord.
In about 1658 AD, the Varapuzha and Panakkal families dedicated the Rama idol and the Book to the GSB community at Tripunithura for worship. In the piece of land donated by the Thamarassery Naicken family, a new temple was constructed and the Idol and Book were installed in the new temple. The temple was later renovated and puna-prathista done in 1895 AD.
When the Portuguese attacked the Cochin Thirumala Devaswom Temple in 1662 A.D, the community removed the idol of Shri Venkateswara along with processional deities from Cochin Gosripuram temple for safety and shifted to Udayamperur. After the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in 1663 A.D, the idols were shifted back to Cochin. While on their way back to Cochin, the procession deity of Lord Venaktewara was temporarily placed for worship in the Agrasala of Shri Rama temple at Tripunithura. Meanwhile, Sri Hari Shenoy, the then Manager of the Cochin Thirumala Devaswom had a dream wherein the Lord Venkateswara directed him that the Venkateswara idol placed in the Agrasala of the Tripunithura temple should also be installed at the newly constructed Karanakodam temple. The Lord Venkateswara image was then taken out in a palanquin as a procession to Karanakodam temple and installed there as directed in the dream.
By the early 20th century, the temple was in a neglected state and reached the worst financial condition. At the request of the community, the temple governance was taken over by the Tripunithura Devaswom Board by order of the Maharaja of Cochin in 1940 AD. In 1961 AD, after a legal battle with Govt the temple was handed over back to the community.
The original Book kept in the Srikovil in a Copper box decayed completely and in 1979 AD Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji blessed and handed over a Ramayana book to be kept in its place.
During Annual festivals, the procession starts from the Varapuzha family who donated the Rama idol to the temple.
Venkatachalapathy
In 1981AD, a Devaprasnam was conducted at the temple and it was revealed that the temple is without the presence of Venkatachalapathy after the shifting of Venkateswara idol from the temple to Karanakodam. This has been the reason for deterioration of the temple and the local community. A Venkatachalapathy idol was then installed in the same place where the previous idol was kept, before shifting to Karanakodam. The pratishta was done by Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji in 1981 AD.

Vahanas

The temple has a Garuda Vahana in wood and a Sesha Vahana in silver, donated by Sri. A.R. Achutha Pai. The Mahajans donated a silver palaquin in 1995 during the prathista centenary celebrations. An Iravath vahana was donated by Sri. T.C. Krishna Pai on 18-03-2004.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/tripunrama.htm
About Thrippunithura:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thripunithura

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Sree Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, Thuravoor

Thuravoor is approximately 22 kms south of Cochin city along the NH-47 to Alleppey about 5 kms before Shertallai. The temple is situated about 1½ km from the NH47 along the Kumbalangi road. Thuravoor is an important community area of GSBs. The prathista is believed to be in 1640 AD by Sri Raval Naickan. The present temple was established in 1704 AD

Deities & sub-temples
On the first step of the Simhasan in srikovil is the idol of Venkatachalapathy, Vishnu padakam on the second step and Utsav idol of Lakshmi Narasimha on the fourth step. The third step is vacant symbolising the original Ugra Narasimha idol which is now at AN puram Temple, Alleppey.History
There is a sub-temple of Ganapati inside the Nalambalam. Near the Flagmast, there is a small temple of Hanuman which is the Vrindavan of Srimad Rajendra Tirtha Swamy (samadhi 1799 AD), the 11th pontiff of Kashi mutt. Outside the west gopuram, there is a shrine dedicated to Sri Raval Naickan and a sub-temple housing Kuladevata Vittala brought by Poojari settlers from Cochin.

History

Sri Raval Naickan, a young business man and an ardent devotee of Lord Narasimha, came and settled in Thuravoor near the Vadakkanappan temple. He visited the temple every day without fail and attended the Deeparadhana from outside. In those days GSBs were not allowed inside other Hindu temples. He was not liked by the poojaris of the temple. One day the poojaris closed the temple early and even refused to give him any prasadam. With breaking heart, he prayed to Lord from outside the temple. He heard somebody asking him to go westward. He followed a light moving towards West.

When he reached the location of the present temple, the light disappeared and he felt somebody telling him to have a prathista there. At that time two sculptors appeared there and Raval Naickan requested them to make a Narasimha Vigraha for him. They made a silpalaya (an enclosure) and entered therein to make the vigraha. Raval Naickan waited for sometime and later impatiently peeped into the silpalaya since he could not hear any sound from inside. He found two Vigrahas there (one Ugra Narasimha and one Lekshmi Narasimha) and the sculptors missing. However, the Ugra Narasimha Vigraha was not fully finished with tip of a finger of one foot incomplete. Raval Naickan believed that the sculptors were divine (Vadakkanappan and Thekkanappan) and constructed a small temple there for the Narasimha Moorthy. He also constructed his house near to the temple. In the begining, the affairs of the temple were managed by Sri Raval Naickan himself and later when he became aged, handed over the governance to Cochin Tirumala Devaswom in 1704 AD. Thuravoor area was then part of the Cochin state. A new temple and agrasalas were constructed during this period. The extensive land owned by the temple and financial assistance for construction of the temple were donated by the Maharaja of Cochin. The original pratishta was facing West. A peepal tree and the althara is seen even today at the west gate of the temple. It was later believed that the declining agricultural yield in the vast paddy fields between the temple and the sea (towards west of the temple) and heavy sea erosion was due to the drishti of Narasimha murthy and hence the new temple and prathista was made facing East. The temple was financially very sound and had vast landed properties spread in Thuravoor and Varapuzha.

During the persecution of Konkanis in Cochin state, many GSBs shifted to Alleppey which was in Travancore state. The Ugra Narasimha vigraha from Thuravoor also was shifted to Alleppey Old Tirumala temple (along with the Venkatachalapathy idol from Cochin) in 1792 AD and eventually was installed in Alleppey Anantha Narayana Puram temple in 1852 AD. By this time Thuravoor became a part of Travancore State. After the death of Raja Sakthan Thampuran, many went back to Cochin. The new Raja of Cochin realised the importance of the Cochin Venkatachalapathy idol and demanded it back but in vain. The Venkatachalapathy idol was clandestinely taken back to Cochin on the midnight of 7th Feb 1853. The members in Thuravoor severed the ties with Cochin temple. This resulted in infights between community members in Cochin and Travancore states for ownership and control of the Thuravoor Temple and its vast properties. The Cochin members filed a suit in Quilon Court in 1883 AD for this purpose. For some time, the temple was under a Receiver appointed by the Court. Later in 1895 AD, the Court decided that the Alleppey and Thuravoor temple belongs to the entire Community members (in the eight villages or Ashta gramas) of Travancore state. The Ashtagramas are Alleppey, Thuravoor, Shertallai, Purakkad, Kayamkulam, Quilon, Kottayam and Parur. Accordingly the Alleppey Anathanarayanapuram Thuravoor Tirumala Devaswom (AATTD) was formed and managed by elected members from the Ashtagramas. This Devaswom was very rich and initiated many educational projects. The Devaswom runs a High school and Teachers Training Institute near the temple at Thuravoor and a High School at Alleppey.

The introduction of Kerala Land Reforms Act in 1963 relating to the fixation of ceiling on land holdings, changed the fate of Devaswom and AATTD lost most of its land holdings making its financial position weak.
A gold covered Flag mast was erected in 1949 AD. Till late sixties, during the annual festival, there was free Sadya (meal) in the temple for all community members on all the eight days with rice from paddy fields owned by the temple. However, at present it is limited only to one day and that too by sponsorship.
The temple owned a Gosala located next to the Elephant cottage until the late sixties and also had an elephant. The elephant of the temple was treated as a pet of the whole community. The most famous of the elephants was Gajendran which lived till 1970 AD. The elephant cottage is now non-existent and a Library and Reading room is constructed at this location. At present, the temple maintains a small Gosala located next to the Reading room on the south east side of the temple.

Vahanas and the Arattu festival
The Lord has a number of Vahanas - Garuda, Hanuman, Aswa, Chandra, Iravatha, Hamsa and Sesha vahanas and a silver palanquin. The Aswa Vahana is the biggest and the most popular.
On the fifth day of the annual festival, Lord is taken out in the silver palanquin along the southern street to the nearby Vigneswara temple and returns after Pooja and Uoonjal seva (swing). On the sixth day Lord is taken out towards north to circumvent the Arthikulangara Bhagavathy temple. On the seventh day Lord is taken out ceremoniously in the Aswa Vahana for Pallivetta to the mandapam at the back side of the Bhagavathy temple.This procession is the most attractive part of the festival. On eighth day, at night Lord is taken out in the silver palanquin to the Arattu kulam near the Bhagavathy temple for Arattu. He is taken to the Arattu manadapam at the center of the Arattu kulam on boat. After pooja and Snanam (bath), He returns to the temple early next morning.

Sree Vittala Devasthan

The poojaris of this main temple were from Cochin who belonged to the Athri gotra. They settled near the temple and their kuladevata Vittala was initially kept in one corner of the Srikovil. Later when poojaris from other gotra also were appointed as poojaris, Sree Vittala was shited to the Nalambalam. In 1960s, the members of the Athri gotra, with permission and help of the Devaswom, constructed a small temple outside the main temple near the Althara and installed Sree Vittala there along with Venkatachalapathy, Bhoomi devi, Lakshmi devi, Sree Gopalakrishna with Satyabhama and Rukmini, and Salagramas. In 2004, some changes were observed on a Salagrama and a Devaprasnam was conducted. Subsequently, the temple was renovated and a Bhagana mandapam constructed as seen in picture below. Half of the income in this temple goes to the main temple as Kuladevar kanikam.

Arthikulangara Bhagavathy temple

This temple under AATTD is near the TD temple and next to the Arattukulam. This temple orginally belonged to the Kanjirampally Karta family who handed over it to the local Kunbi community. The Kunbis later on handed over the temple to Tirumala Devaswom. Authentic dates in this regard is unavailable. The pratishta in the temple is Yantra form.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/thuravoor.htm
About Thuravoor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuravoor

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Sree Laxi Narasimha Temple, Tellicherry

Sree Lakshmi Narasimha Temple is an important piligrim centre for GS Brahmins in the Northern parts of Kerala, and is located in the heart of Tellicherry town, in the Kannur district of Kerala. The Temple is less than half a kilometre from both the Railway station and the Bus stand. The temple and prathista faces North which is a unique feature. The temple was established in 1831 A.D. The temple complex consists of an outer prakara or quadrangle which includes the shrines of Sri Hanuman, Sri Ganapathy, Sri Lakshmi and Sree Vittoba Rukmini. It also contains the Copper clad Dwaja. At the center of the inner prakara is the Garbagriha or Sreekovil which houses the deities.

The deities in Sreekovil

The main deity of the temple is Lord Laxmi Narasimha.

On the three tiered Simhasana according to Bahu Vera Vidhana, in the Garbhagriha are installed the following deities:
On the top most level in the centre is Lord Sri Lakshmi Narasimha, flanked by Sri Pattabhi Narasimha and Veera Vittala on either side.
On the second tier are Lord Kodanda Rama along with Sri Lakshmana and Sita Devi, on either side of this group are Lord Hayagriva, Lord Varadaraja with his consorts and Gopalkrishna.
On the lower most tier are Lord Venkataramana along with his Divine consorts Sri Devi and Bhoomidevi. On either side of this group are Hanuman and Garuda.

The idol of Lord Venkataramana is used as the Utsava moorthy. The saligrama and Naga devatas are installed on a separate Peetha below the main Simhasana. The Narasimha form is in Soumya form. Many visit this temple to pray to Lord Sri Lakshmi Narasimha for his grace for curing diseases.

The sub shrines

In the outer prakara on the north-east corner Sri Hanuman (sila vigraha) is installed facing west, and on the western side facing north is Sri Lakshmi Devi (sila vigraha and panchaloha vigraha). The shrines of Ganapathy and Vitobha Rukmini are outside the srikovoil along the nalambalam.

To south of the temple complex is situated the sacred temple tank. The Aswatha Katte is situated near this tank. The Siva prathista near the Aswatha Katte was done on 3-10-2002.

Festivals

This is a temple of festivals. There is hardly a month without at least one festival. The temple follows the Lunar Calander of the Saka Era. Starting with the New-year day in Chaitra-Ugadi, the main festivals are : Ugadi-new-year, Sri Rama Navami, Sri Hanuman Jayanti, Akshya Thritiya, Pratishta Panchami in Vaishaka, Narasimha Jayanthi, Vaishaka Pournami, Vata Savitri Vrita in Jyesta , Ashada Ekadasi, Naga Panchami, Sree Krishna Janmashtami, Sravan Poornima, Vinayaka Chaturthi in Bhadrapada, Anantha Chatirdasi, Navarathri festival (9 days), Deepavali the festival of lights, Karthika pournima festival starting on Karthika, Sudha Ekadasi are some of them. Karthika Pournami festival marks both the end of the Chaturmasya vritha and the Karthika Masa vrita. In the month of Margasira Champa (Manjeswar) Shasti festival is celebrated. In the month of Magha (January-February) comes the main festival of the temple - The Annual Brahma Rathotsava- starting on Magha sudha Tritheeya with the hoisting of the temple flag on the Dwaja, the Rathotsava is on the sapthami day (coinciding with the famous car festival at Sri Venkataramana Temple at Mangalore). On this day the lord graces the Ratha decorated with all the fruits, vegitables and flowers of the season. On the next day the Avabritha snana is performed in the sacred tank of the temple and the flag is lowered from the dwaja. In the last month of the lunar calender, namely Phalguna, comes Kamadahana and Holi.

History

A small group of GSBs migrated from Goa settled in Tellichery somewhere in the latter half of 17th century and early part of 18th century. They built a a small shrine dedicated to Lord Kodanda Rama, in their locality which is in the heart of the Tellichery town.

In the latter half of the 18th century and early 19th century, there was an immensely rich GSB merchant named Devdas Bhandari in Tellicherry, during the days of British East India Company. He was a trader in spices especially the famous Malabar Pepper. The legend connects origin of the SLN temple with this devout Devdas Bhandari.

One night Bhandari had a dream in which he was told that a Namboothiri (Malyalee Brahmin) would approach him with a divine Idol of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha and a sacred Saligrama, and that he has to accept the same and generously give gifts of gold and jewels to the Namboothiri in return. The same night Nambuthiri at the village of Taliparamba about 50 kms to the north of Tellicherry also had a similar dream. He was instructed to proceed to Telicherry with the Idol of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha and the Saligrama he had found in a well, and hand over them to one Devadas Bhandari. Accordingly, the Nambuthiri started the very next day for Tellicherry with the Idol, and travelling by foot reached there in a few days and gave the Idol to Bhandari who received it and presented the Nambuthiri with rich gifts. Bhandari installed the Idol in his house in the pooja room. At that time there was only a small shrine of Lord Kodanda Rama in Tellicherry - at the site of the present temple, which was used by our community for worship.
In due course the Idol of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha was handed over to the Mahajans of Tellicherry by the Bandari family. A proper temple was constructed in the place occupied by the Rama shrine and the idol of Lord Lakshmi Narasimha, Lord Rama,Venkaramana with his divine consorts Sri Devi and Bhoomi Devi installed. This prathishta was done by H.H. Srimad Sumatheendra Tirtha Swamiji in 1831 A.D. on Samvatrasra Vaishaka masa Shukla Panchami, Monday, Punarvasu Nakshtra of the Shaka era. H.H.Srimad Sumatheendra Tirtha was the 15th pontiff of Sri Kashi Mutt Samsthan, Varanasi.

In due couse, the Bhandari family lost its glory and has to ultimately sell out his house to a non-saraswat. Even today the pooja room where the idol was kept is kept closed and protected with respect and reverence by the owner, a Navayath Muslim.

After this the Laxi Narasimha Temple could not be looked after properly and was neglected. This was later rennovated and re-installation of the deity was done in 1871 A.D. by the 17th pontiff of Kashi Mutt, Sri Bhuvanendra Tirtha. The first dwaja prathista was done in 1916 AD.

Administration of temple

The temple was for long administered by a Adhikari and two others elected by the Mahajans. In 1934, a dispute arose among the Mahajans, which ultimately resulted in the temple administration being taken over by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board, then under Madras Govt. The land reforms bill of the 1950s took away much of the landed properties of the temple resulting in drastic drop in income of the temple. Even the poojaris could not be paid their dues. This finally resulted in the sale of temple jewellery to settle their dues. Pained with this sorry state of affairs, some community members started SLN seva samaj in 1975. The samaj collected more than 400 endowments for daily poojas.

In 1990, the mahajans formed an action committee and approached the Hon. HC of Kerala praying that the administration of the temple be handed over to the Board of Trustees elected by the community members. In 1993, the temple administration was handed over back to the community. The temple is now administered by a five member Board of Trustees elected democratically. The first trustee board was in power from 1993 to 2002.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/slntellichery.htm
About Thalassery: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassery

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Sree Venu Gopala Temple, Purakkad

The Sree Venu Gopala Devaswom Temple, located at Puarakkad junction on the east side of NH47, about 16 kms off Alleppey towards Quilon, was built nearly 400 years back. This is one of the oldest temples worshipped by the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins of Kerala. Devotees in large number throng to the temple bringing their children for the performance of a special function called "Devaku Deevop" (surrendering the child to the Lord) and later reclaimed by performance of the function called "Sodovop" (releasing) at the time of Upanayanam, marriage etc.


Main deity in Sreekovil

The main deity is on a throne inside the Sreekovil. On the first step at top is the Venugopala with Lekshmi devi on the left and Bhoomi devi on the right side. On the second step is a pair of sandals used by Ananda who installed the deity at Purakkad with his name inscribed thereon in Kannada. On the third step are the Utsava moorties and the Madanagopala idol donated by Swamiji of Sri Kashi Mutt Samsthan.


Secondary deities

The idols of Garuda, Hanuman, Ganapathi, Mahalakshmi are installed inside the inner temple (Nalambalam) outside the Srikovil.

Secondary shrines
There are smaller shrines dedicated to other deities outside the inner temple - Naga Kanya, Siva, Kalabhairav and a Naga Peedham (with a number of Naga vigrahas brought from houses of community members).


History
In 1560 A.D. about hundred and fifty one Gowda Saraswat Brahmin families (mostly traders) from Salcettee of Goa escaping the persecution by Portugese landed at Purakkad whose Raja gave them permission to build "pandikasalas" (wholesale business houses) to carry on trade. There upon under one Janardhana Pai, who is said to have owned a fleet of seven merchant vessels plying in the Indian ocean, the Gowda Saraswats carried on extensive trade with the countries of Europe.

Quite in keeping with their tradition of building temples wherever they settled, the Gowda Saraswats of Purakkad also built a temple and had the image of Venu gopala installed there.

The story about the idol is:

A Gowda Saraswat Brahmin, Baruda Bhatta had left Goa at a time of some political upheaval, for Moodibidri, a strong hold of the Jains in Dakshina Kannada district with an image of Venugopala which he had secured from Kelosi-Kusasthali in Goa. After a short sojourn there, Baruda Bhatta set on a pilgrimage to Manjeswar with this image. One day, while bathing in the sacred 'Seshatirtha' he saw the resplendent figure of godess, 'Naga Kanya' who after expressing her desire that she should be worshipped along with his Venugopala image, suddenly vanished. Soon after, he saw an idol of Naga Kanya on the bank of sacred tank, which he picked up. Since then, he began to worship both the deities. At the request of one Krishna Kudua, a grain dealer of Manjeswar, Baruda Bhatta settled in Manjeswar with his two images. With his death, the images passed down through two generations in to the possession of Ananda, a scion of the family.

Once Ananda set on a pilgrimage to South. On his way to Rameswaram with the two images, he happened to halt at Purakkad. As if the two images were destined to have their permanent abode at Purakkad, the Adhikari or the headman of the Gowda Saraswats had in his sleep a vision of the Lord, who told him of the impending arrival of the two images and his desire to stay at Purakkad. With this prospect in view, the Gowda saraswats had a temple built and kept ready for the installation of the images. When it turned out as pre-sensed, the Gowda Saraswats of the place told Ananda, on his arrival, of the Lord's revelation and requested him to install the images in the temple built for the purpose.

Ananda agreed, and on his return journey from Rameswaram, installed the image of Venugopala in the temple and that of Naga Kanya in another temple nearby. This was in 1654 AD. As a mark of respect to the memory of Ananda, a pair of sandals used by him with his name inscribed thereon in Kannada, is preserved in the temple. This deity has brought properity to Purakkad and it became a major sea trade centre. Convinced by the spell of the deity, the Raja of Chempakassery, became an ardent devotee of Venugopala and granted a rent free plot of land for the perpectual use of Ananda and his successors. He built a palace near the temple for his stay during his visits to the temple which were very frequent. He also gave liberal donations for the renovation of the temple in 1705 AD and a Gopuram was built on the western gate.
Subsequently, in an astrological prediction, the lord revealed that the western Gopuram of the temple built in 1705 AD which remained in a dilapidated condition due to revage of time should be renovated. Foundation stone for the Gopuram to be renovated was laid by Padmasree Dr. K N Pai of Trivandrum on 17th January 1990 with the blessings of H.H. Srimad Sudheendra Theertha Swamy of Kashi Mutt Samsthan. The renovation work is completed and the beautiful West Gopuram facing the NH47 highway, Vyasa mandir and rest rooms (seen at the backside of Naga Kanya temple in the picture below) and an Agrasala has been opened by H. H. Srimad Raghavendra Theertha Swamy of Kashi Mutt Samsthan in 1997.

Legends and Miracles

There are many legends and stories about the deity. One story goes that all the seven members of a family known as the Nelpurakal Veedu died of the terrible tragedy, but with full faith in Sri Venugopal, the neighbours laid all the bodies within the precincts of the temple shut the doors and invoked the Lord's mercy. The prayer had its effect, for the life was restored to all the seven. But on finding that the Lord's image turned blue, evidently by absorbing the poison, the people performed an abhishekam with the milk meant for their days consumption; with the result that the image regained its former complexion, while the milk turned blue.

Yet another anecdote relates to the penalty inflicted on a worshiper for refusing to oblige a child which cried for one of the plantains which the worshipper had been taking for offering to the deity. It is said that he had an attack of excruciating stomach ache and that the Lord appeared before him in a dream and demanded that to forgive his lapses, he may distribute plantains among children even before they were offered to Him. The worshipper having complied, got immediate relief. Whatever be the truth or otherwise of this legend, the practice of distributing plantains among children prevails in the temple even today.

Naga Kanya sub-temple
The Naga Kanya idol is one of the two images worshipped by Baruda Bhatta and installed by Ananda along with the installation of Venugopala image in 1654 AD. The Naga kanya idol was stolen in 1825 AD. In due course, everybody concentrated only on the main deity Sree Venugopala and the Naga Kanya was neglected. It is believed that, subsequent to this, the people and the place fell on evil days. With the rise of Alleppey in 1791 AD as a sea port, the importance of Purakkad dwindled and the port disappeared all together in course of time. To restore the place to its former glory, the shrine was renovated in 1963 AD
Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/purakkad.htm

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Sree Vittoba Temple, Payyannur

This temple at Payyannur in the Kannur district. It was established in 1974. The main prathishta is Vittoba Rukmini. The temple and prathista are facing the west. There are sila vigrahas and panchaloha vigrahas of Vittoba and Rukmini installed in the srikovil. The sila vigrahas were made by the famous sculptor Karkal Sriranjal Gopalakrishna Shenoy.

It is believed that Sree Vittal or Vithoba is Naada Murthi and is fond of bhajans and He does not need other poojas. So, bhajans are conducted regularly in the temple. Vaisakha Pournami festival, Ashada Ekadashi, Bhajana (recital of slogans of gods’ likings), Karthika Ekadashi Bhajana, Karthika Panchami, Uthana Dwadasi, Sree Varamahalaxmi Vritham (fast) are the festivals and major ceremonies conducted.

The divine “Shami Vriksha Katte” in the temple premises is a great craze for devotees. The worship of this tree fulfils the wishes and remove obstacles encountered, the devotees testify. It is believed that the Raksha Charadu (safety thread) worshipped at the feet of the Lord Vithoba and goddess Rukmai ensures solace and prosperity to the devotees who wear it.

History

The gsb members in Payyannur formed a Bhajan group in 1924 and installed pictures of Vittoba and Rukmini in a room offered by Sri. Anantha Shenoy above his business establishment at Payyannur.

Weekly bhajans was offered on every Saturday and on Ekadashi days. Later, a common Bhajan Mandir was constructed by the community and poojas started installing idols of Vittoba Rukmini. Sri Vaijappa Narayan Bhandari, a business man from Mangalore, donated a marble statue of Sri Krishna (about 1.5 ft) to the Mandir for worship.

In 1951, during his visit to Payyannur, Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji stressed the need for constructing a community temple at Payyannur. Since the location of the present Bhajan Mandir was not suitable, Swamiji directed that a suitable location has to identified for construction of the temple. A committee headed by Vasudeva Shenoy was formed and they raised fundsby way of monthy subscriptions and donations from community members and businessmen. It took about 18 years to materialise the dream. The land for construction of temple was purchased from Sri. Anantha Prabhu in 1970 and the construction work started under the leadership of Sri. Upendra Shenoy. A marriage hall (Sukrathindra kalamandir) was constructed next to the temple and was inaugurated in 1975 by Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji.

The concrete roofing of the sanctum sanctorum has been changed to copper sheet roofing in 1998.

The temple governance is by a committee elected locally from the community members. There are about 100 gsb families in payyannur.

Story of Vittoba-Rukmini

Vittoba is a form of Krishna, the name Vittoba means Father Vittala. The Vithoba-Rukmini are the Divine couple. Of Krishna's eight wives, Rukmini is considered to be his most favourite and beloved because of her satvic character and her devotion to Him. The story of Rukimini's marriage to Lord Krishna is a very interesting love story. Rukmini's father, the king of Vidarbha, decided to give away Rukmini in marriage to Shishupala, the king of Chedi. Her brother also consented to the marriage and the wedding preparations were in full force. Rukmini, however was in love with Krishna even from her younger age because she heard so much of His virtues. To escape her pre-arranged marriage to Shishupala, she sent one of her confidants to Krishna with a message. Krishna along with Balarama came down to Vidarbha and took away Rukmini in a chariot and killed Shishupala in the battle followed. On reaching Dwaraka He married Rukmini.
One day it so happened that Lord Krishna, while feeling lonely, was reminded of his early days in Mathura. He particularly remembered his love, Radha. Though she was dead, he longed to see her again. By his divine powers he brought her back to life and seated her by his side. Just then his queen, Rukmini, entered the room. When Radha did not rise to pay her respect, Rukmini left Dwarka in anger and hid herself in Dandirvan forest.Lord Krishna set off in search of Rukmini. He first went to Mathura, then to Gokul. He met the cowherd boys and they too joined in the search. They went to Mount Govardhan in her search and reached the banks of the river Bhima in the Deccan. Krishna justify his companions at Goplapura, and he entered Dandirvan forest alone in search of her. At last he found her and managed to calm her.Krishna and Rukmini came to Pundalik's ashram. But at that time Pundalik was busy attending to his parents. Though he knew Lord Krishna had come to see him, he refused to pay his respect to the god before his duty towards his parents was done. He, however, threw a brick outside for lord Krishna to stand upon. Impressed by Pundalik's devotion to his parents, Lord Krishna did not mind the delay. Standing on the brick he waited for Pundalik. When Pundalik came out and begged God's pardon, Lord Krishna replied that far from being displeased, he was pleased with his love for his parents.Lord Krishna then ordered His worship on Vithoba, or God who stood upon a brick. An imposing temple was built at the place (Pandharpur in Maharastra) where Krishna and Pundalik had met. Inside the temple stands Krishna's image on a brick with image of Rukmini on his side.
Source: http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/payyannur.htm
About Payyannur: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payyannur

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Sree Venkatachalapathy Temple, North Parur

This temple has its origin traced to the end of 17th century. However, the temple in the present form has been established in 1888 AD. Parur near Alwaye town and 40 km north of ernakulam, is one of the Ashta Gramas (eight villages) of the GSB community in Kerala .

The main deity is Venkatachalapathy with Mahalakshmi on left side and Bhoomidevi on the right. The vigraha is made of Panchaloha (five metals). There is a Ganapati pratishta outside the srikovil at the South-West corner of the inner temple or Nalambalam.

This temple celebrates a six-day festival. Apart from the daily Ezhunnallippu of the deity atop a caparisoned elephant, a procession known as Dikvijayam is conducted on the third and fourth days, and Pallivetta ceremony on the fifth day. The festival concludes with the Aarattu known as Thapotsavam. The main idol was originally the kuladevata of Rama Vadyar, a purohit family settled in Parur in the last quarter of 17th century.

History

The temple has a turbulent history with many unfortunate events. In the fourth quarter of the 17th century AD a few gsb families approached the Parur Thampuran for permission to settle down in Parur. They were allowed to settle down in the western part of the town known as Kannan Parambu. The Venkateswara idol, the kuladevata of Rama Vadyar, a purohit family) was installed in a small temple put up in the land owned by Rama Vadyar. However, the temple affairs were carried on with the co-operation of the whole community known as Dhayi Jan (meaning Ten people). This suggests that there would have been 10 families who originally settled in Parur. In 1790 AD during Tippu Sultan's Padayottam, to escape from the looting, the gsb families fled to Cochin and Vypeen carrying their valuables.

Timmappa Vadyar, son of Rama Vadyar carried the temple deities and Salagrama to Cochin via Chathanad and handed over the deities to Cochin Tirumala Devaswom for safe custody. After four years many of the families returned to Parur. The temple was repaired using bamboo and palm leaves and the Salagrama and idol of Ganapati was installed there.

The 19th century

In 1808 AD the revenue authorities demanded land tax which was in arrears and Timmappa Vadyar was unable to pay it. At his request, the Samaj paid the taxes when he agrred to transfer the possession rights to Dhayi Jan. The samaj approached Parur Thampuran for financial help and the temple was renovated in 1813 AD with his help. But due to the infights among the members, funds could not be collected for the maintenance and temple affairs were ignored. In 1815, Timmappa Vadyar expired and his children continued as purohits. In 1829 Ad the younger son Abbayya Vadyar was initiated into sanyasa and the elder son expired in 1831. There after no purohits were left in Parur. The samaj then approached the Varapuzha temple for help. Sri Bhattu Vadyar was deputed for pooja at Parur. But within a year, dissatisfied with the state of affairs, he locked the temple and left Parur throwing the temple key in the tank. The samaj decided to hand over the Salagram also to Cochin Devaswom to be kept with the deities given earlier. Since the deities of Cochin temple were by that time shifted to Alleppey (due to terrible persecution of Konkanis at the hands of Raja Rama Varma, popularly known as Sakthan Thampuran), the Samaj approached the Authorities of Alleppey temple to accept the Salagrama. But they refused to accept the Salagrama without proper financial arrangements to meet expenses for its daily pooja. The Samaj pledged a land at North Parur for this purpose and also arranged the fifth Ahass during annual festival to be on its behalf. This arrangement continued till 1852 at Alleppey and till 1868 at Cochin (after the deity was brought back to Cochin). Due to differences among the trustees of Dhayi Jan, the Ahass was discontinued after 1868 AD.

In 1872 AD the Dhayi Jan representatives approached Srimat Bhuvanendra Tirtha at Cochin and requested him to intervene. The differences were resolved and Swamiji nominated a committee of 8 persons to look after the properties and the affairs of the Samaj. The Ahass at Cochin also was re-started. The Ahass, however, could not be conducted in 1875 partly due to price escalation and partly due to mismanagement of funds. In 1882 Swamiji urged the samaj to start construction of the temple at Nort Parur and the foundation stone was laid in 1886. The construction was completed and the Pratishta was done in 1888 AD. Since then Dhayi Jan was known as Devaswom. Funds was raised by the trustees through Chit fund and constructed Parswa mandap, Agrasala on north side and Gopurams on East and West sides.

The 20th century

In 1905 AD, there was a theft in the temple and the Utsav idol and Salagrama were lost. A new Utsav vigraha was brought fron Cochin Devaswom, a new Lakshmi vigraha was casted and re-installed in the same year.

During the first world war (1915 - 1925), the prices shot up and there was big strain on the finances of the temple. The matured Chits could not be paid and many creditors obtained decrees from the court in their favour and 16 plots of land were auctioned to payoff the debt. The Devaswom became virtually bankrupt. The Devaswom was re-constituted and new trustees were elected. Well wishers started a new chit fund (Kachavada Fund) and in 1951 handed over 12 acres of paddy fields and 1.85 acres of coconut groves to the temple by an endowment deed. The financial position of the Devaswom was further strengthened by a new chit fund (Saraswat Fund) who donated jewellery and vessels to the temple and also renovated the Srikovil and Puna-prathista done in 1953 AD. The Devaswom also contructed two shopping complexes near the temple.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/northparur.htm

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Sree Lakshminarayana Raghupati Temple, North Pallipuram

Pallippuram or Palliport is at the northern end of the Vypeen Island at Cochin about 2 km off the main road. This temple was established in 1881 AD. The main deities are Lakshmi Narayana and Raghupati.

There are also the images of Balakrishna and Hanuman in this temple. Presently, the temple is under direct control of Kashi mutt.
History

The temple originally belonged to the Koudinya Gotra Kamat family of Vypeen who were Ayurveda Practitioners. They migrated to Pallipuram in 1867 AD, after the large scale sea erosion in Azheekal. They carried with them the idol of Lakshmi Narayana, given to them by Sumathindra Tirtha Swamiji of Kashi Mutt and worshiped in their house. Later in 1881 AD, a temple was constructed and prathista was done.

Sri Bhuvanendra Tirtha, the 17th Pondiff of Kashi Mutt was born in this family in 1837 AD. He was initiated to Sanyasa in 1851 AD at the early age of 13 years. He too was proficient in Ayurveda. It was Swami Bhuvanedra Tirtha who handed over the management of the temple to the Kamath family under a deed executed in the year 1882 AD. However, Sri Ramachandra Kamath, a great Ayurveda Physician of the Kamat family, entrusted the management of the temple with its properties to Kashi mutt samsthan in 1980 AD. A branch of Kashi mutt samsthan was established here. The temple was renovated as ordained by Sri Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji. He also did the puna-prathista and re-installation of the deity in 1991 AD. A community Hall Bhuvanendra Kalamandir on the left side of the temple was inaugurated on that occasion. A public hall for the devotees (Sudheendra Sabha Sadan) has been later constructed adjacent to the temple premises.


The temple has a five day long annual festival in the month of Magha.
Source: http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/npallipuram.htm

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Sree Ananteswar Temple, Manjeswar

Sree Ananteshwar Temple is situated in Manjeswar, a small town near Kasargod in Northern Kerala. It is the most ancient and the most important temple of GSBs of Kerala supposed to be existing since the 2nd century A.D. This temple was traditionally renowned as Manjula Kshetra and The Temple of 18 towns, indicating that for the GSB settlements of 18 different places this was the only temple available. The temple has hills on three sides and river Manjeshwar flowing by the other. The temple is about 1½ km from Manjeswar Railway station and a Kashi mutt branch is located near to the temple.

Main deities

The temple has three principal deities, Shri Ananta, Shri Ishwar (Siva) therefore Shri Ananteshwar and Lord Bhadra Narasimha (an avatar of Vishnu).

The original temple had a swayambu Siva lingam, and later Ananta also was installed there making it the Ananteswar temple. However, with the installation of Sri Bhadra Narasimha in the 12th century, the Temple has become a major pilgrimage center for Vaishnavits. There is also a legend that Lord Siva himself installed the image of Narasimha here for the worship of mortals in Kaliyuga.

Lord Mukhyaprana, Lord Rudra, Devi Laxmi, Lord MahaGanapathy and Lord Garuda are the other deities in the Temple. The image of Shri Subramanya is installed in a declivity considerably lower than the surrounding area and full of serpent holes.

Special Features
The Ant hill: Inside the Sanctum Sanctorum and behind the throne of Divine Idols, there exists an ant hill called "ROHINI" or "RUWANI". This provides "Prasadam" in the form of white coloured soil. The Soil of ROHINI is believed to possess the biotic power and is everlasting in spite of continuous extraction for centuries.

The Sesha Tirtham: On the right side of the Temple, is a small pond known as Sesha Tirtham. Legend says that Leprosy patients used to take bath in the Sesha Tirtha and cured.

The Oracle :
Another special feature is the DARSHAN reminiscent of the Greek Oracle, when it is believed, the Shesha reveals Himself to His devotees in the person of a priest who is the eldest surviving descendant of Ranga Sharma, who installed the Sesha or Ananta idol at the Temple, and solves the knotty problems and prophesies the future, of the devotees and sometimes bestows boons on them. No wonder, the Temple has gained wide popularity not only among the Gowda Saraswaths, but among other Hindus also, as is evidenced by the fact that of the three thousand and odd permanent endowments to the Temple, nearly three hundred are by non Gowda Saraswats.
The Oracle is not in practice since 1935 and efforts are being made to reinstate the Oracle. The history of the Temple has an exciting narration about a devotee who was able to realise his dreams of visiting Shri Tirumala Tirupati Temple and praying to Lord Venkatramana, by experiencing the event by the grace of the Oracle.
Shri Jogi Gana:
A group of Holy Spirits known as Ganas or Bhootha Ganas surround the precincts of the Temple. These are represented by appropriate sized granite stones located in the inner and outer rounds of the Temple. Legend says that these Ganas were established by the famous Oracle.
The Jogi Gana situated in the north eastern side of the Temple is said to be the leader of these Ganas.
Coconuts are the main offering to the Gana. Devotees vow to offer a coconut when valuables are stolen or misplaced during normal times and also in religious functions at home.

The Chariot :
Of the many festivals in the Temple, the annual Car festival which falls on the sixth day of the bright half of the month of Nov / Dec is the most important. The day is known in popular parlance as the Manjeshwar Shasti and coincides with "Skhanda Shasti" in other parts of South India. On that day, the six - wheeled chariot called Brahma Ratha is pulled along the Car Street. The Lord's Chariot reverently called BrahmaRatha is a magnificent edifice made out of wood. The originar Chariot was looted by Raja of Vittal in 1799 and the present one was built in the year 1834 A.D and has a base of 17 ft, maximum girth of 53 ft and raises to the height of 71 ft. when it is decorated with flags, flowers and other accessories during the annual festival. About 75 people can be accommodated on the Chariot.

The Lords Idol is taken up the steps of the Chariot and thousands of people pull the magnificent Chariot with shouts of Govinda-Govinda as it rolls along the car street majestically. The chariot is decorated on the lines followed in the other parts of Dakshin Kannada district.
It is a custom at the Temple that the Ratharohan i.e. taking the Lords idol up into chariot must be completed before sunset. Accordingly the chariot festival takes place in the evening itself. Construction: Across the four pillars, crossbeams are tied to which circular bamboo strip is tied. Above the main structure, wooden planks are placed in Jalandhar fashion, and to this wooden strips are tied bringing about a circular shape or kalasha and decorated with small cloth flags of red and white colour. The sides of the chariot and above are decorated with paintings of divine images. In the center of the chariot, a wooden platform is built on which the Lords throne is placed. Above the upper structure decorated with flags, a similar round structure enclosed with colourful cloth is constructed on which the Suvarna Kalasha (i.e a round vessel of golden emblem) is positioned. Inside the chariot and around the Lords throne, about 60 persons can be accommodated.

History

The Legends and historic events trace the existence of this Temple for more than one thousand years. It originally had a Siva Lingam. A chapter in the Purana is devoted to the pilgrimage of a saint called Virupaksha of the Gowda Saraswat Community to the holy shrines in South Inda, says that the saint settled down in Manjeshwar and spent his last days there worshipping the image of Sri Siva and finally attaining 'Moksha'. The original temple fell in ruins and remained so for years.

Later according to the epic of the place one Ranga Sharma, a Gowda Saraswat Brahmin of Goa, on his way to Rameshwaram halted here at a place called "Shankhamale". He accidentally came across the ruins of this Temple. Soon he rebuilt the Temple, as guided by Lord Shiva in his dreams and installed the Idol of "Shesha" which he had brought with him from Goa, along with the original Idol of Lord Shiva.

Mention is made in "Manjula Mahathmya" of the Sahyadri-Khand in the Skanda Purana, of Sri Siva Himself having installed the image of Narasimha here for the worship of mortal in Kaliyug.The image of Shri Narasimha in the Temple as it exists today is made of "Panchaloha" (Five Metals) and has been installed in the place of the old one, in the 12th century A.D.

The "Pancha Ratra" mode of religious service, one of the prescribed "Agamas" now observed in the Temple was introduced by Shri Raghavendra Thirtha the 5th spiritual head of Kashi mutt. There is a belief that Shri Narasimha gave "Darshan" to the Swamiji. Today, there is a Mutt belonging to Kashi Mutt Samsthan adjacent to the Temple.

This Temple like many other ancient Temples fell a prey to the ravages of man and nature. In 1677, a cyclone devastated certain portions of the Temple. It was looted by one Muhamed Ali, the ruler of Cannanore and immediately after by a Maharatha pirate, Angira in about 1755 A.D. In 1799, after the fall of Tippu Sultan who had held sway over South Canara and with the consequent coming into power of Heggade, the Ruler of Vittal (22 miles east of Manjeswar), the armed forces Vittal under one Mavla forced into the temple and carried away a large booty including idols, jewels, copper and a temple chariot. The temple Accountant was tourtured to divulge the treasures hidden in the temple, and having succeeded in locating them, the valuables were dug up and taken away. However as a result of the representations made by the Gowda Saraswats to the British authorities, the ruler of Vittal was captured and the properties looted by him were restored to the Temple. In 1804, it was renovated by the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins and a new image of Shri Narasimha known as Shri Bhadra Narasimha was installed by Sri Vibhudendra Tirtha, the then head of the Kashi Mutt.
Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/manjeswar.htm
About Manjeswar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manjeswar

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Sree Balakrishna Swamy temple, Kuzhupilly

This temple dedicated to Sree Balakrishna Swamy is often referred as Vypeen Guruvayoor. This is situated in the Vypeen island towards the center of the island. Vypeen Island was formed after the great floods of 1341 AD. The Island is 25 Kilometer long and has an average width of 2 kilometers.

The temple in the present form was completed in 1964 AD by a group of GSB youth from the Kuzhupilly village through Sramadan. This effort is the golden example of the unity and dedication of GSB youth in case of need.

Other deities and Sub-temples

There are sub-temples for Hanuman, Garuda, Navagraha and Nagaraja.

History

During the exodus of Saraswats from Goa in the 16th century, many families settled down in and around Cochin. A prominent person among them (Venkateswara Pai alias Vensu Pai) settled in Kuzhupilly in the land (Ninda) given by the Raja of Cochin. He was a trusted person of the Raja.

Vensu Pai's son Anatha Pai once on his pilgrimage to Tirupathi, purchased some metal idols and dolls for his kids. There was an idol of Balakrishna among them. The children used them in their play and made pooja to these idols. However, the children started to become sick regularly and used to have many health complaints. The elders considered that, it was due to not keeping the idol in sacred form, and started pooja. But the pooja was neither regular nor as per sastra. The suffering of the children continued and also there were some child deaths in the family. The worried Anantha Pai approached a known Astrologer Sri Adoor Chakrapani for a solution. The astrological prasnam and prediction revealed that a seperate temple is to be built for the Balakrishna idol and regular poojas to be conducted. Sri Anantha Pai considered Balakrishna as his child and divided his properties among his children and Balakrishna. A small temple was constructed in the land given to Balakrishna and Prathista done in 1895 AD.

Over the period, there were internal conflicts in the family of Vensu Pai and the rituals in the temple suffered. The number of GSB families in the area also incresed. It was felt that the community should have a common place for worship. Accordingly, the Balakrishna temple was offered to the community and the management was vested with the community in common. However, the Vensu Pai family was given a special status in the affairs of the temple. The samaj members proposed to construct a new temple in a more convenient location.

About one and half acres of land was given free by A.Govinda Shenoy and the work was started. But the progress was in snail's pace due to non-cooperation and lack of initiative among the members. It remained incomplete for more than 35 years.

Later, a group of youth formed a Seva Samithi and took the lead. They completed the work of Garbhagraha through Sramadan and the prathista was shifted to this new temple in 1964 AD facing east. The improvements in the temple was a continuous effort. In the late eighties, the Anapandal was constructed with decorated pillers. The committe members also took up construction of a shopping complex and Kalyana mandapam. There are extensive paintings of Dasavtar on the temple walls inside. The dwaja pratishta was done on 18-1-1991. The Centenary of the pratishta was celebrated in 1995 A.D.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/kuzhupilly.htm

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Sree Veera Vittala Temple, Kumbla

This community temple of GSBs is located in Kumbla 12 Km north of Kasaragod on N.H.17 highway. The temple located in the GSB colony about 2 km from kumbla railway bridge and near to the kumbla river. The deities are installed on a three step simhasana or throne. The principal deity Veera Vittala is on the first step of the simhasana. On the second step is the idols of Sri Rama with Sita and Lakshman. On the third step are the Utsav murthies of Veera Vittala, Sree Devi and Bhoomi devi. There is an idol of Ganapati outside the srikovil.

History

There was a dispute for succession among Srimad Sumatheendra Tirtha and Srimad Vasudendra Tirtha for succession to the Samsthan's peetha during 1834 AD. Srimad Vasudendra Tirtha, filed a case in the Calicut court for division of the mutt which was favoured by the Court in 1850. As per the custom and practice during those days, Srimad Vasudendra Tirtha entrusted the important records of the Kashi mutt samsthan and the valuables in the form of gold,jewellery etc., not required for the day to day use, to Kumbla Nayak's Bhandasala for safe custody. However, Srimad Vasudendra Tirtha attained samadhi in 1859 and Srimad Bhuvanendra Tirtha became head of Kashi mutt (1859-1885). During 1857-1860 period there was a dispute going on among the Kumbla Nayak's family for partition of their family properties. On hearing about the dispute, Srimad Bhuvanendra Tirtha rushed to Kumbla un-announced to take possession of the Mutt's belongings entrusted to the Nayak's family. On arrival at Kumbla, Swamiji proceeded straight to the Bhandasala, where the belongings were kept. On opening the sealed safe-custody room, Swamiji found all the records and valuables intact, and was immensely pleased.

During the above visit, Swamiji was staying at the Sri Mukhya Prana temple (the family temple of Kumbala Nayaks), the only place then available for stay. As this place was very small, Swamiji suggested that all the GSB samaj members of Kumbla should join together and construct a temple for the Samaj and entrusted the leadership and responsibility to Rayappa Nayak, then head of the Nayak's family. The temple was eventually built and Prathista ceremony was performed in 1877 AD, by Srimad Bhuvanendra Tirtha himself. The idol of Sree Veera Vittala installed in the temple was in the possession of the then priest Bhandarayana Bhat.

The important festival in the temple is Karthika Pournami.

Other gsb shrines in Kumbla

There are some family shrines near this temple - Shri Laxminarayana Temple and Shri Hanuman Temple (Kumbla Nayak's family), Sree Mahamaya Temple (Rama Bhat's family), Shri Ganapati Temple (Pundaleeka Bhat Family) and Sree Santhana Gopalakrishna temple (Bhakta family).

Source: http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/kumvittala.htm
About Kumbla: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbla

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Sree Krishna swamy Temple, Kozhencherry

Kozhencherry is a small town about 16 KM east of Thiruvalla and about 15 km from Chengannur. The gsb temple here is small compared to Alleppey or Kottayam. This temple is about 280 years old. The temple is located in the heart of the town, on a side road opposite to the bus stand and at the back side of the prominant Rukmini-Satyabama shopping complex owned by the temple. The temple complex is on the eastern bank of the sacred river pamba. The temple and prathista is facing east.

The main prathista is panchaloha vigraha of Sree Krishna with Rukmini and Satyabama. The utsav idol is Balamurali standing in front of the cow.

There are idols of Lakshmi devi, Hanuman and Garuda placed within the srikovil. There are sub temples of Nagaraja Nagayakshi and Brahmarakhas at the north eastern corner of the main temple.

History & temple details

The temple was established about 280 years back by the Thottumadathil family who migrated from Alleppey. Initially the pooja at the temple was done by members of the family themselves. Later when the family members could not continue it regularly, a poojari was brought from Thuravoor and settled here to attend the temple pooja affairs. The bhat family house is next to the temple

The temple was later offered to the community members and a committee was formed for management of the temple. Due to legal battle with tenants and difference of opinion among the committee members the affairs of the temple was neglected. The temple was later taken over by the Alleppey Ananthanarayanapuram Thuravoor Tirumala Devasowm (AATTD). Since the temple is in a prime locality, a shopping complex named after Rukmini-Satyabama was constructed covering two sides of the temple and rented out, strengthening financial position of the temple.

Renovation and Punaprathista

The temple was facing many hardships and a Devaprasnam was conducted on 23-02-2004. Accordingly, renovation work was conducted and punaprathista done on 22-05-2004. The Rajagopuram was also inaugurated on the same occasion.

SreeKovil

Sree Krishna Kala Mandir

Way To Temple. Temple Is Behind The Kozhencherry Bus Stand

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/kozhenchry.htm

About Kozhencherry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozhencherry

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Sree Venkatachalapathy Tirumala Temple, Thazhathangady, Kottayam

This temple is located at Thazhathangady in the suburbs of Kottayam town, about 3 km from the town towards the famous tourist resort Kumarakom. The temple was established in 1841 AD. The location is near the Taliyil kotta Siva temple.

Kottayam is one of the Ashta gramas and the temple is managed by the Alleppey Anathanarayanapuram Thuravoor Tirumala Devaswom (AATTD).

Deities & Temple details

The main deity is Sree Venkatachalapathy with Lakshmi devi on the left and Bhoomi devi on the right. The vigraha made of Panchaloha also bears a sword.

The temple and prathista are facing East. Outside the srikovil there are pratishtas of Ganapathi and Garuda inside Nalambalam. Outside the Nalambalam, at west side there are pratishtas of Nagayakshi and Nagaraja. At the north east corner of the temple premises, the statue of the Poojari who brought the Venkatachalapathy idol to Kottayam is installed. There is a small Anapandal in the temple. A part of the agrasala on the north side is converted to a smal hall-cum-auditorium.

The temple is located on a sloppy terrain and the main gopuram entrance is about 6 feet below the road level with steps leading to the gopuram. However, the west gate is above the road level with steps upwards.

History

The Venkatachalapathy idol was brought to Kottayam by a Poojari who migrated from Varapuzha. At his request the Kottayam Thampuran (Raja) gave free land and aid for construction of the temple. The temple was established in 1841 AD.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/kottayam.htm

About Kottayam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kottayam

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Sree Venkatachalapathy Tirumala Devaswom Temple, Kollam

Sree Venkatachalapathy Temple in Kollam or Quilon is the southern most temple of GSBs in Kerala. It was established in 1822 A.D. The temple is located in the Kollam town in the Tirumala ward near the District collectorate. It is only about 4 Km from the Kollam Railway station and reachable by auto. The GSB community of Kollam are mainly middle level businessmen and settled around the temple. The temple is at a walking distance from the famous Anandavallewaram temple on the NH47 highway.

The deities in the Sreekovil are on three steps. The principal deity Sri Venkatachalapathy with Laxi devi and Bhoomi devi on either side is on the first step. On the second step is the Utsav moorthy of Varadaraja with Laxi devi and Bhoomi devi on either side. On the third step are two samputas containing salagramas.

Other deities Laxmi devi, Maha Ganapathi and Dharma devas.

Smaller shrines: Inside the temple there are three smaller shrines or sub temples - Siva shrine on the North side at Eastern corner, Naga temple on West side at Northern corner and Guru Swamy and Hanuman temple on South side.

History

From GSBs who migrated to Kerala, 15 families settled down in Kollam. Among them was the poojari family of Sri Govinda Vadhayar who worshipped a kuladevata idol of Sri Venkatachalapathy. Later he went to Himalayas and conducted tapasya worshipping his upasana moorty Sri Hanuman. It is believed that Sri Hanuman gave darsan and blessed him. He returned to Kollam as a Yogi and the community respected him as Guru swamy.

In 1807 AD, there was military invasion and war in Kollam and many GSBs has fled from this place. The family of Guru swamy also left the place to Umayanallor and subsequently to Kayamkulam. They also carried their Kuladevata idol with them. When the situation became normal the family returned to Kollam. The community felt the need for a temple and the construction started. The family donated their Kuladevata idol of Sri Venkatachalapathy for installation in the new temple. The pratishta was done in 1822 A.D. In memory of this event, this day is celebrated as Annual day every year (Arattu). The temple was later renovated and punapratishta done in 1867 AD.

In 1918 AD, Sri Dasa Kini took interest and constructed a Dwaja in the temple.
Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/kollam.htm

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Sree Rajagopala Krishna swamy Temple, Kodungallor

This community temple of GSBs is about 1 Km south of the famous Bhagavati Temple in Kodungallor. The main deity is Rajagopala Krishna Swamy with Rukmini and Satyabhama. The idol is made from stone (Krishnashila). Kodungallur or Cranganore about 30 km north of Ernakulam off the National Highway.

Other deities: Mahalaxmi and shila moorthies of Maha Ganapati and Hanuman

History
A few of the Gowda Saraswats migrated from Goa settled in Kodungallor, which was a major sea port and trade centre. One of them was a rich family, Perumballi Kamaths. This family was once cursed by a Brahmin and became childless. As per astrological prediction, it was directed that the family should establish a Vaishnava temple. Accordingly, they constructed a small shrine in about 1849 AD and installed a Sree Krishna idol. In about 1864 AD the family dedicated this temple to the GSB community of Kodungallor. The community took over the governance and run the temple for about 13 years.

Since the temple income was meager, it became difficult and the committee expressed their inability to run the temple further. At that time, Sri Janardhana Bhat, brother of the main poojari, accepted the key of the srikovil and run it for about 8 years with his own funds. In 1880 AD, he started annual ulsav in the temple. The community members felt that Sri. Bhat should not be taxed much and in 1894 AD, the governance was taken over again by a committee elected from the members. They collected donations and pooja materials from members and run the temple. In 1918 AD, the top of the Srikovil was damaged and a committee under Sri PV Janardhana Mallan was constituted to renovate the temple.
In 1921 AD, the prathista was shifted to the Western agrasala and the reconstruction work started with the blessings of the Kashi Mutt Swamiji Sri Sukrithindra Tirtha and completed in about 6 years. The punapratishta was done in 1928 AD by Sri Sukrithindra Tirtha Swamiji. The founders of Lord Krishna Bank were closely associated with the renovation of the Temple.

In 1937 AD, the governance has been handed over to the Kochi Devaswom Board.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/rajakodung.htm

About Kodungallur: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodungallur

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Sree Vittala Temple, Kayamkulam

Sree Vittala temple is situated close to the market about 1 km on the eastern side of NH47 Highway at Kayamkulam. This temple is locally know as the Konkani temple. One can reach the temple from Railway station or KSRTC bus stand by Auto. It is about 2 km from bus stand and 4 km from the railway station.


The temple is about 400 years old and the main deity is Sree Vittala. It is believed that Vittala or Vithoba is Naada Murthi and is fond of bhajans and He does not need other poojas. The speciality of the temple is its Chariot and the Ratholsavam (pulling of the Chariot around the temple) on the ninth day of the two festivals celebrated annually.

The temple is well woven with the day to day life of GSB community of Kayamkulam than any other GSB temple in Kerala.



The temple has a very disturbing history.

The temple is believed to be constructed in the early 18th century by the GSBs of Kayamkulam with the help of Raja of Kayamkulam who was a devotee of Lord Krishna. Some of the families who migrated to kerala in the late 16th century settled in Kayamkulam. A pundit by name Vittoba once took a pilgrimage to North India and on the way reached Pandharpur which is the seat of Panduranga Vittala. He got a divine idol of Vittala from a temple in Pandharpur and carried it with him back to Kayamkulam. He kept the idol in his house and worshipped it as his Kuladevata. Once he had a dream that Vittala wanted him to offer the idol to the public for worship. The idol was then shifted and kept in the Venkateswara Temple (a family temple) at Kayamkulam near the present Vittoba Temple (about 500 m away).

The community chiefs met the the Raja of Kayamkulam and requested for help to construct a permanent temple for Vittala. The Raja given land and wood for construction of the Temple. There was a small Siva shrine in the land donated by the Raja and this shrine is seen even today within the Vittala Temple complex.
Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/kayan.htm

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Sree Varadaraja Venkatramana Temple, Kasargod

Sree Varadaraja Venkatramana Temple at Kasargod was established in 1772 AD, by Kasaragod Pattanashetty Family. This temple is located near the Kasargod Railway station.
On the first step of the Simhasana in the sreekovil, is the main deity Sree Venkatramana (shila vigrah) and on the second step is the pancha loha idol of Venkatramana with Sree devi on the left and Bhoomi devi on the right.
The other Deities - Mahalaxmi, Hanumantha, Garuda and Maha Ganapati installed outside the Sreekovil.

Important Festivals: Foundation Day Prathista Vardhantyutsava - Phalguna Shuddha Saptami. Sankeerthana Saptaha - Margashira Shuddha Panchami to Dwadashi.

Established as a temporary structure in 1772 AD, by Kasaragod Pattanashetty Family. A permanent structure was built and Punarprathistha was carried out in early 1799 A.D. Arrangements were also made for permanent sevas at the temple and the management was left to the priests. Due to internal conflicts among priests, the community took over the management in 1858. But, due to theft of the diety in 1897-98 the temple was closed. It was re-established and the present idols of Shri Venkatramana & Padmavati were consecrated by HH Srimad Varadendra Thirtha Swamiji in 1905. In 1910 the annual Bhajana Saptaha was started.

New Poojaris were appointed in 1913. The temple again got into difficulties due to fight amongst priests who claimed it as their property in 1913. The legal battle was waged upto 1930 when it was settled in favour of the community. After a fire in 1921 part of the temple was renovated. In 1935 Sukratheendra Mandir was built along with a community kitchen. A temple tank was also completed. The Venkatesha Mandir was built in 1946. In April 1952 it was decided to rectify the defects in the temple and re-consecrate the five idols of the temple at the Holy hands of Srimat Sudheendra Thirtha Swamiji. The re-consecration took place on 29th March, 1954. In 1961 AD, the Golden jubilee of Sankeerthana Saptaha was celebrated and blessed by Srimat Sudhindra Tirtha Swamiji. A special feat of Shri Rama Nama Likhita Japayajna was held in connection with the golden jubilee in which the community members has transcribed Sri Rama Jay Rama Jay Jay Rama: 52 crore times on paper. In 1993, complete Renovation and Punarprathistha was performed by Srimat Raghavendra Tirtha Swamiji.
Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/svvtkasar.htm

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Sree Venkatachalapathy Temple, Karanakodam, Ernakulam

Karnakodam near Thammanam is a suburb of Ernakulam Cochin and is about two miles north of Ernakulam. The main deity is Venkatachalapati with Goddess Lakshmi on the left and Goddess Bhumi (Earth) on the right. The original prathista of Lord Narayana Devar is also installed in the temple.
This is a unique temple where Lord Venkateswara and Naraya Devar are worshipped within the inner prakara of the temple.

This temple is under the management of Cochin Tirumala Devaswom.

History

One of the families who migrated from Goa settled in the present Karanakode and had a small temple for their Kuladevata Lord Narayana Devar in about 1600 A.D. Lord Narayana Devar was worshipped as the main deity by the community at Karanakode. The land on which the temple situated was owned by Sri Kalika Prabhu who was a successful entrepreneur and later became an advisor to the Dutch Governor of Cochin. In 1769 AD, when Kaliga Prabhu fell in debts, he handed over possession of all his landed properties to the Cochin Thirumala Devaswom for a price. Later in 1785, the Devaswom authorities purchased from the Raja of Cochin, vast area of land in Karanakodam for cultivating paddy for the temple.

When the Portuguese attacked the Cochin Thirumala Devaswom Temple in 1662 A.D, the community removed the image of Shri Venkateswara along with processional deities for safety to Udayamperur about 17 KM on the Ernakulam Vaikom Road. After the Dutch defeated the Portuguese in 1663 A.D, the images were shifted back to Cochin. While on their way back to Cochin, one of the procession deities Lord Venaktewara was temporarily placed for worship in the Agrasala of Shri Rama temple at Tripunithura.

Meanwhile, Sri Hari Shenoy, the then Manager of the Cochin Thirumala Devaswom and an ardent devotee of Lord Narayana, decided to construct a new temple for Lord Narayana Devar worshipped at Karanakodam. When the temple construction is nearing completion, he had a dream wherein the Lord Venkateswara directed him that the Venkateswara idol placed in the Agrasala of the Tripunithura temple should be installed at the newly constructed Karanakodam temple facing East and Lord Narayana be installed in a seperate peetam on the North eastern corner of the inner temple facing West. The Lord Venkateswara image was taken out in a palanquin as a procession to Karanakodam temple and installed there as directed in the dream. When Venketachalapati was installed as the main deity, the family god Lord Narayana was also consecrated.

http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/karana.htm

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Sree Venkataramana Temple, Thayyil, Kannur

Sree Venkataramana Temple is located at Thayyil, a seashore colony of gsbs, in Kannur or Cannanore town. Kannur district lies next to the northern most district Kasargod of Kerala state and considered to be the commercial town of Malabar area. The Temple is less than half a km from both the Railway station and the Bus stand. The temple is believed to be about 350 years old. The temple and prathista are facing the east.

The deities in Sreekovil:

On a three tiered Simhasana are installed the following deities:
On the top tier is Lord Venkataramana with Laxidevi on the left and Bhoomidevi on the right sides.
On the second and third tier also there are idols of Lord Venkatramana and Laxmi-Bhoo-devi along with idols of Lord Narasimha.
There are also idols of Santhanagopala, Laxinarayan and Krishna in the srikovil.
The deities in srikovil are made of panchaloha. The shila idols of Hanuman and Garuda are installed outside the srikovil at the south-east and north-east sides respectively.

History

In the 18th century, Kannur was part of the kingdom of Arakkal Raja. The actions of Muslim pirates inhabiting the Kannur coast brought about a situation where the people of Kannur had to die of starvation. The Raja requested Sri Babani Shenoy from Goa who was having extensive rice trade with Tellicherry and plying his rice-loaded country crafts in the seas of Kannur. Thereupon, Shenoy opened pandikasalas or warehouses and started business in Kannur. The Raja gave 5 acres of freehold land as gift to Shenoy with a condition that he will distribute it among his business friends free to build up residential colony. During this period in the 17th century, Sri Venkatesh Bhat, who has been working as Archak at the Mangalore Venkatramana temple came to Kannur and settled there. He also brought a Venkatramana idol from there and installed at his house and worshipped. Since there was no common place of worship for the community members, Sri Venkatesh Bhat constructed a larger Bhajan cum Worship Hall near his house and shifted the Venkatramana idol to the Mutt for public worship. This place was later known as Venkatesh Bhat Mutt.

The mutt later developed into a temple for the gsb community. The temple authorities constructed a Marriage hall (Sukrithindra Kala mandir) in 1971 near the temple.

Devaprashna and Kumbhabhishekham:

The temple had been witnessing unfortunate incidents like theft in the temple, entry of a snake in the srikovil and the external interference in management of temple etc. The community became anxious and wanted to know the cause and find out the remedies.

Accordingly, a Deva Prashna was arranged at the temple premises on 23-6-1983. It was revealed that the temple at its current location is at a most sacred place, where Goddess Mahalakshmi had occupied the place long before. During Devaprashna it was also learned that Pretha Badha at this temple is causing troubles to the temple and to the devotees which has to be cleared by a Thila Homa.

It was indicated that the lost glory of the temple can be restored only by performing a Sahasra Kumbhabhishekham. This was performed in the presence of Srimat Sudhindra Tirtha Swamiji on 26-12-1986. The Devaprashna also indicated that a Lalki is to be constructed in place of the present unusable one in the temple. A new one was constructed at Mulki and transported to Kannur and submitted to the Lord on 8-11-1986. This Lalki was first used in the festival on the Sahasra Kumbhabhishekham day.
Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/kannur.htm

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Sree Laxmi Venkatesh Temple, Kanhangad

Kanhangad also known as Hosdurg is 35 kms south of Kasargod on the seashore. Hosdurg is an important early settlement of gsbs, who migrated here in large numbers in the 16th century. At present, there are about 300 gsb families in Kanhangad. The Laxmi Venkatesh temple was established in 1864 AD. The temple is situated near the Hosdurg fort.

Deities :
The main deity is Laxmi Venkatesh. There are also prathistas of Garuda, Mahamaya (Shanta Durga), Ganapathy, Mahalaxmi, and Hanuman.

History & temple details : Before the establishment of the temple, the GSBs in Hosdurg had to go to Venkatramana temple at Kasargod for worship. In those days due to lack of transportation facilities, the devotees had to reach the temple which is about 35 kms away by foot.

The samaj members felt the need for a temple locally. In the middle of the 19th century, a group of men including Narayana Kamath, Subraya Kamath, Sheshagiri Kamath and Ramachandra Naik, embarked upon the task of building a temple for the community at Hosdurg. These four families together are known as Chowguli families.

The site for construction of the temple was donated by Subraya Kamath and his elder brother Manjayya Kamath. The samaj members participated by way of donations and sramadan to construct the temple. On Vaishakh Shuddha Tritheeya day of Rathakshi Samvatsara (1864 AD), the idol of Lord Laxmi Venkatesh was duly installed in the temple by Srimat Bhuvanendra Tirtha Swamiji of Kashi Mutt. The idol is from Innoli in Nandavar village near Panemangalore, where the idol was entrusted to the custody of the Swamiji by the samaj members in that village since the temple was very poor and could not afford to provide expenses for daily Nivedya and Trikala Pooja regularly. While installing the deity in Hosdurg, the Swamiji had made a special entreaty to the Lord to be pleased with whatever little offering was made by poor and devot samaj members.

Although the temple had a humble start, it has taken long strides during the last one and half century in all spheres like infra-structure, festivals and social activities. The temple srikovil was replaced by a new one. The quadrangle Pauli was renovated. In 1920, the punaprathista and Brahma Kalasabhisheka was done by Srimat Sukritheendra Tirtha swamiji. In 1960, the second punaprathista was done by Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha swamiji of Kashi mutt. The Jaya-Vijaya statues in front of the Garbhagraha were installed by the Swamiji on this occasion. The parivara devas were installed by Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji in the presence of the Pondiffs of Kavale Mutt and Gokarn Mutt. A Sahasra Kumbhabhisheka was conducted by Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji in 1989.

The shrine of Mahamaya, where the Kalasha Prathista was existing, was rebuilt by Keshav Srinivas Shanbhag and brothers and an idol of the Goddess was installed. A Nagalaya was built by Damodar Sheshagiri Kamath. A beautiful shrine for Sharada Devi was constructed near the temple tank Sukritheendra Pushkarani. A shrine of Vitobha Rukmini where Sankeerthana Saptaha is being conducted annually, was constructed in memory of Patel Narasimha Kamath.

A Kalyan Mantap was constructed in the holy name of Sudhindra Kalyana Mantap at a cost of Rs. 12 lakhs. One more building in the holy name of Bhuvanendra Kala Mandir costing about Rs.6.5 lakhs was constructed in 1989.

Festivals & Customs

The important annual festivals (Pancha parvas) in the temple include Navarathri, Karthika Deepotsava, Rama Navami, Anantha Chathurdasi, and the Moola Prathista day on Akshaya Tritiya. Each day of the Navarathri festival is sponsored by certain families.

The Karthika Deepotsava has now-a-days become popular among the general public. The Utsav idol of Venkatesh is taken out in the morning in decorated silver palanquin to Melankot, considered to be the Vana or forest, where the pallivetta (divine hunt) takes place. After the mid-day pooja, Vana Bhojan (meals) is provided to the devotees. After the pallivetta and evening pooja, Lord returns to the temple with Arati and fire works along the route. The Lord is placed in a chariot like tent (called Gurunja) near the temple and witness the grand scale fire works. The Lord then re-enter the temple. This festival is conducted by the Kotachery Shenoy family.

A special attraction of this temple was the Oracle or Devadarsan which has now ceased due to death of the incumbent Darshana Pathri.
Administration of the temple is vested in the governing body and the Trustee board elected by the community members once in two years. With a view to help the poor and aged, the temple authorities has started the Sudheendra foundation which runs an old age home.

Source:http://www.gsbkerala.com/temple/hosdurg.htm

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