DivyaDesam– Lord Vishnu | One of the DivyaDesamVishnuSthalam |
Region | Malai Naadu |
Malai Naadu | 1stVishnuSthalam |
HISTORY:
Thirunavaya
Temple, an ancient Hindu temple, is located at Thirunavaya, 12 km South of
Tirur in Malappuram district of Kerala state, India. From ancient times
Thirunavaya was known throughout India as a centre of excellence for Vedic
teachings, with Veda Paadda Saalas (Thirunnavaya Otthanmmar Maddom) for
teaching the Vedas, Sasthras, Tantric Mantras, performing of rituals and
preaching under learned scholars. (Recently these were shifted to Cheru
Thirunnavaya, a centre on the South bank of Bharathapuzha). The Vaishnava sect
of Hindus have 108 Thiruppathis (most holy temples) and eleven of them are now
in Kerala and Thirunavaya is one among them. It was on the sandy ridges and
outskirts of Bharatapuzha that the glorious magnum event MAMANKAM was conducted
once in every 12 years. This temple was constructed about 5000 years back.
Though it had undergone periodical renovations, the last and major renovation
with the reconstruction of Sanctum Sanctorum was done by the legendary
PERUMTHACHAN under the direction of the Vettath Raja about 1300 years back. The
reconstruction had the typical 'Perumthachan touch' making the rays of the
rising sun fall on the idol on every Medam First (in Utharaayana period, i.e in
April) and on Kanni First, (in Dakshinayana period ie, in October).
This
temple of Lakshmi Narayana which is situated on the banks of Bharatha Puzha
(Also called Neela Nadhi) is one of the most ancient temples of Kerala replete
with history and several stories about it, This temple is situated 8 km away
from Tirur town on the way from Shoranur to Kozhikode. On the opposite shore of
the temple of Vishnu, there are temples of Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma. There is
also a celebrated school of Vedas to the Namboodiris adjacent to the Brahma
temple , which it is believed was consecrated by Lord Parasurama. So the
devotes consider this place as equivalent to Varanasi (Benares) , The river
near the temple also is considered extremely important to do Pithru
Karmas(Worship of manes) especially in the months of Thulam(October-november)
and Karkidagam( July-august) It is not clear whether the idol of the temple is
made of metal or stone even to those who touch and worship it.
The
temple was supposed to have been established by the nine occult yogis viz.
Sathuvanathar, Saaloga nathar, Aadhinathar, Arulithanathar, Madhanga Nathar,
Macchendira Nathar, Kadayanthira Nathar, Korakkanathar and Kukkudanathar. It
seems the idol of Mukunda was consecrated by one of these yogis and as per the
custom, the temple was shut for seven days. But when they opened the temple
after seven days, there was no trace of the idol. Then the second yogi did the
consecration. The same story was repeated till the eighth yogi. So when the
ninth yogi consecrated the yogis did not wait for the stipulated seven days but
opened the temple after three days. They were surprised to see that the idol
has already sunk up to the knee. They immediately used occult manthras and
stopped the further sinking of the idols. So even today, you can see the idol
sunk up to the knee. It is believed that in spite of it the idol is sinking and
when it has completely sunk, Kali Yuga will come to an end the final deluge
will take place then. In course of time the first eight yogis attained
salvation but the ninth yogi , prayed God and wanted him to send those great
yogis back to the temple, The god replied to him that the eight yogis were
still there worshipping the God and showed them to him, The ninth yogi also
wanted to join them. The God fulfilled his wish and it is believed that al the
nine yogis are always there worshipping the god.
It
seems there is a bottomless pit behind the present idol and once upon a time a
priest wanted to measure its depth. He tied his ring to a very, very long
thread and slowly introduced it in side the pit. But in spite of keeping on
adding fresh threads, the ring seemed not to touch the bottom. Hurriedly he
withdrew the thread and was surprised to find that the ring was missing.
The Great yogis and Thanthris do not stand on their foot in this temple but
kneel down before the deity in the belief that underneath the entire floor
several God’s idol (which were lost) lay buried.
Just
behind the temple there is a lotus pond and it seems the great devotee of
Vishnu Gajendra (king of elephants) and goddess Lakshmi used to pluck the lotus
flowers from the tank and offer it to Lord Mukunda. At one particular time the
lotus flowers were about to be over and the upset Gajendra petitioned the Lord.
To solve his problem, Lord Vishnu drew Goddess Lakshmi inside his temple and
gave her a separate sanctum inside the temple compound and requested her to
make the place prosperous.
Another
story is about the connection of sage Markandeya to this temple. It seems when
Markandeya attained the age of 16, Yama, the God of death started chasing him.
Markandeya ran in side the Nava Mukunda temple. It seems then the God gave him
one handful of mud and instructed him to rush through the west door to the
Shiva temple at Thirprangode, make a shiva linga out of the mud given to him
and worship it. As soon as Markandeya crossed the west entrance, Lord Vishnu
closed it by putting a big stone there.(Even to this day, that door is
blocked). Markandeya did as instructed and was saved by Lord Shiva, who killed,
Yama, the God of death. Apart from the main temples of Lord Vishnu and Goddess
Lakshmi there is also a temple dedicated to Ganesha in this temple.
The
rituals to the manes (Pithru Kriya ) is supposed to be very propitious, if done
on the Amavasya of Karkidaga month(July-august) and if it is done at this
temple because, it is believed that on that day Goddess Saraswathi, Gayathri,
Lakshmi, Parvathi, Planet Shani, sage Markandeya and rivers Ganga and Jamuna
are supposed to assemble at this temple.
Another very interesting aspect of the temple is the puzzles in this temple.
Some of them are
1.
It is not possible to say whether the river flows from north to south or from
South to North.
2. The outside Pazhukka Mandapam of the temple is so made that it is not
possible to tell whether it is inside or the outside the temple.
3. The leafs of the banyan tree in the temple look the same on both sides and
after picking it is not possible to tell which is the top or bottom of the
leaf.
4. It is not possible to tell whether the Krishna idol of the temple is made of
stone or metal.
|
Moolavar |
Sri Navaimukundhan |
|
Ambal |
Sri Malarmangai Nachiyar |
|
Theertham |
Sengamala Saras Theertham |
Praying here relieves
from doshas.
The
annual festival of this temple falls on the month of ‘Meenam’ (March-April),
lasts 10 days. The festival starts with the ‘Kodiyettam’ ceremony (Flag of) and
ends with ‘Arattu’ (bathing of the idol).
HOW TO REACH:
This
sthalam is situated 1 mile away from Edakkulam railway station in Kerala. We
can also reach this place by traveling through bus from Shoraanoor to
Kuttipuram. This sthalam is a small village and as such, there is no proper
lodging facility available. This sthalam is on the shore of Bharathappuzhi river
which is 1 mile away from Edakkulam along the south direction.
TEMPLE
ADDRESS:
Sri NavaiMukundhan
Thirukkoil,
Thirunavai,
Malappuram,
Kerala - 676301.
LOCATION:
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