Old Tirumala Temple Aleppey
This temple is situated about 1 km north of the KSRTC bus stand, Alleppey and facing the East. It is popularly known as the Old Tirumala temple and is about 400 yrs old.
The prathista is Venkatachalapathy with Lakshmi Devi and Bhoomi Devi on either side.
The idols of Mahalakshmi, Hanuman, Garuda and Ganapati are installed within the inner temple. There is a sub temple inside the main temple (outside the Nalambalam) dedicated to Vanadurga and also a Naga pedestal.
The Brindavans of Swami Sureendra Tirtha (the 12th pontiff) and Swami Sumateendra Tirtha (the 15th pontiff) are located in this temple.
History and Importance
The Venkatachalapathy idol was brought to Alleppey by a Poojari Kashi Rama Bhat who installed it in this place for the community.
There is a small shrine of Sri Kashirama Bhat in the West Agrasala where his statue is installed and respected.
There is a small shrine of Sri Kashirama Bhat in the West Agrasala where his statue is installed and respected.
The importance of the Alleppey temple is that, during the Portuguese persecution at Cochin, the rare Venkateswara idol along with the idols of Lakshmi Devi and Narasimha Moorthi from Cochin Gosripuram temple was shifted here (1792 AD) and installed and worshipped in the North Agrasala for more than 60 years. The place where this idol was installed is known as Cochin temple even today. In 1853 AD, this was shifted to the newly constructed Anantha Narayana Puram temple about 1 KM from here to South. Presently Salagrama in a samputa is placed here for worship.
This temple is situated about 1 km north of the KSRTC bus stand, Alleppey and facing the East. It is popularly known as the Old Tirumala temple and is about 400 yrs old.
The prathista is Venkatachalapathy with Lakshmi Devi and Bhoomi Devi on either side.
The idols of Mahalakshmi, Hanuman, Garuda and Ganapati are installed within the inner temple. There is a sub temple inside the main temple (outside the Nalambalam) dedicated to Vanadurga and also a Naga pedestal.
The Brindavans of Swami Sureendra Tirtha (the 12th pontiff) and Swami Sumateendra Tirtha (the 15th pontiff) are located in this temple.
History and Importance
The Venkatachalapathy idol was brought to Alleppey by a Poojari Kashi Rama Bhat who installed it in this place for the community.
There is a small shrine of Sri Kashirama Bhat in the West Agrasala where his statue is installed and respected.
The importance of the Alleppey temple is that, during the Portuguese persecution at Cochin, the rare Venkateswara idol along with the idols of Lakshmi Devi and Narasimha Moorthi from Cochin Gosripuram temple was shifted here (1792 AD) and installed and worshipped in the North Agrasala for more than 60 years. The place where this idol was installed is known as Cochin temple even today. In 1853 AD, this was shifted to the newly constructed Anantha Narayana Puram temple about 1 KM from here to South. Presently Salagrama in a samputa is placed here for worship.
The Temple
The temple has a Gopuram at the entrance and Agrasalas around the temple complex. The Agrasalas are in a depleted condition at present. Just outside the northern Agrasala, the temple authorities have constructed a Community Hall cum Kalyana mandapam (Sudheendra Kalamandir) and Rest room for Swamiji, which was inaugurated by Srimad Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji on 6-6-1988.
Brindavans and Punaprathista
Both the Brindavans have Hanuman statues installed there. In 1970 AD, when the present Swamiji Sudheendra Tirtha visited and camped at this temple, he had undue joint pain at his shoulder. As revealed in Devaprasnam, it was found that there is damage at the right shoulder of the Hanuman statue in the Brindavan of Srimad Sumateendra Tirtha. Subsequently, a new statue of Hanuman was made and punaprathista done by Srimad Sudheendra Tirtha in 1971 A.D. Also the idols of Kodhandarama, Venkatachalapathy and Sri Krishna and the Salagramas from the nearby Kodhandarama temple of Kasi mutt were brought and installed in the two Brindavans.
