Sree Viswanathaswamy Temple Kalpathy

Kerala, Palghat, Thiruvananthapuram

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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