Located in the Kalpathy village of Palakkad, Kerala, Sri
Visalakshi Sametha Sri Viswanathaswamy temple is a famous temple dedicated to
Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathy. The temple is popularly known as Kasi
Viswanathaswamy Temple. The temple dates back to early 15th century.
Location Kerala, Palghat, Thiruvananthapuram
Legend
Lakshmi Ammal, a Brahmin wife of Venkitanarayanaiyer of
Kollengode, brought a bana-linga idol of Lord Shiva from Varanasi. The Brahmin
family gave all their wealth to Ittikombi Achchan, the King of Palakkad, and
requested to build a temple for Viswanatha Swamy. The King also donated land
for the upkeep and maintenance of the temple. The land set apart for this
temple came to be made inam or revenue-free by the King and this was allowed to
be continued as revenue free by the subsequent rulers, Tipu Sultan and later by
the British Government.
Architecture
The temple is situated at the bottom of eighteen steps
leading from the eastern Gopuram. In the south-west direction of the temple is
situated the temple of Sri Lakshminarayana Perumal of Old Kalpathy Village and
Prasanna Maha Ganapathy of Chathapuram village, in the east the Kshipraprasada
Maha Ganapathi Temple of Pandhrandaam Teruvu and the Manthakara Maha Ganapathi
Temple of New Kalpathy village and in the east-west direction Sri Varadaraja
Perumal of Govindarajapuram village. In the eastern direction at a distance of
a kilometer is located the Chokkanathar temple of Chokkanathapuram village. On
the right side while entering the temple, there are two banyan trees. The
Serpent Gods [nagaprathishta] are consecrated beneath the first banyan tree,
which is also the "sthala Vriksham". Pooja is performed for this tree
and naga prathishta, treating it as "Vshnu Amsom".
The flag staff (Kodimaram) is erected in front of the
temple. The stone slab describing the land given to the temple etc. is
installed behind the flag mast. Close to the stone slab is the Bhadralingam and
in front of it the Gnana Nandikeswarar, facing Sri Viswanathaswamy. The eight
sides of the prakaram(closed precincts of a temple) inside the Temple belongs
to Indra, Agni, Yama, Niruruthi, Varuna, Vayu, Kubera, and Eesanan. The idol of
Sri Viswanathaswamy is situated in the direction of Kubera facing east and
close to this Sri Visalakshi facing south. In front of Sri Viswanathaswamy,
Nandikeswarar appears in three forms. The three forms symbolise Aathmathathwam,
Vidyathathwam and Sivathathwam. The moolavar in this temple is Sri
Viswanathaswami..
Culture
Palakkad has a glorious tradition of art and culture,
especially in music. The region gave birth to many acclaimed musicians
including Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar and writers like OV Vijayan. Its
proximity to Tamil Nadu has infused a blend of cultures, but it has got a
distinct character.
Darsan Info
The temple rites are based on the Aagama system of worship,
which is about spirituality involving ritual worship and ethical personal
conduct through a precepts of a god.
Darsan Dresscode
Kerala traditional dress is advised, men are not supposed to
wear shirt or t-shirt on while inside the temple.
Temple Rituals
Pooja in temples are of two types: aathmartham and
parartham. The two differ in the sankalpam. In the former, the sankalpam will
be in the name of yajamana of the temple i.e. udamasthan or owner. In the
latter the sankalpam will be in the name of all people. In the Sri
Viswanathaswamy temple, the pooja performed is aathmartham. The pooja in the
temple is conducted on the pattern of the pooja held in the Mayuranathar Temple
at Mayavaram.
Special Rituals
The idols of Sri Viswanathaswamy and Sri Visalakshi are
attached to the pedestals by Ashtabandhanam, a mixture of eight elements that
help fix the idol to the peetham or base. The Viswanathaswamy idol is a Bana
Lingam. The Bana lingam extends four carpenter's angul (inch) higher than the
pedestal. The circumference at the level of the pedestal may be about eight
angul(inches). The Vishalakshi idol stands twenty four inches above the
pedestal up to the top of the crown.
Additional Info
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