Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple

The Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple is one of the "Divya Desams", the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars located near Aranmula, a village in Pathanamthitta District, Kerala, South India. Constructed in the Kerala style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the "Divya Prabandha", the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 "Divyadesam" dedicated to Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu, who is worshipped as Parthasarathy (Partha's charioteer). The nearest railway station to the temple is located in Chengannur, while the nearest airport is Trivandrum International Airport.
Parthasarathy is the other name of Krishna on account of his role as Arjuna's Charioteer in the Mahabharata war. It is one of the most important Krishna temples in Kerala, the others being at Guruvayur Temple, Trichambaram Temple, Tiruvarppu and Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple. It is one of the five ancient shrines in the Chengannur area of Kerala, connected with the legend of Mahabharata, where the five Pandavas are believed to have built one temple each; Thrichittatt Maha Vishnu Temple by Yudhishthira, Puliyur Mahavishnu Temple by Bheema, Aranmula by Arjuna, Thiruvanvandoor Mahavishnu Temple by Nakula and Thrikodithanam Mahavishnu Temple to Sahadeva.
The sacred jewels, called "Thiruvabharanam" of Ayyappan are taken in procession to Sabarimala each year from Pandalam, and Aranmula Temple is one of the stops on the way. Also, the "Thanka Anki", golden attire of Ayyappa, donated by the king of Travancore, is stored here and taken to Sabarimala during the Mandala season of late December. Aranmula is also known for snake boat race held every year during Onam linked to the legends of the Mahabharata. The temple has four towers over its entrances on its outer wall. The Eastern tower is accessed through a flight of 18 steps and the Northern tower entrance flight through 57 steps leads to the Pampa River. It is believed that Dushasana is the guardian of the eastern Gopuram of the temple. The temples has paintings on its walls dating back to early 18 century.
The temple is open from 4 am to 11:00 am and 5 pm to 8 pm and is administered by Travancore Devaswom Board of the Government of Kerala.
Legend.
It is one of the five ancient shrines in the Chengannur area of Kerala, connected with the legend of Mahabharata. Legend has it that the Pandava princes, after crowning Parikshit as king of Hastinapura left on a pilgrimage. On arriving on the banks of river Pamba, each one is believed to have installed a tutelary image of Krishna; Thrichittatt Maha Vishnu Temple by Yudhishthira, Puliyur Mahavishnu Temple by Bheema, Aranmula by Arjuna, Thiruvanvandoor Mahavishnu Temple by Nakula and Thrikodithanam Mahavishnu Temple to Sahadeva.
The image of the temple was brought here in a raft made of six pieces of bamboo to this site, and hence the name "Aranmula" (six pieces of bamboo). There is another story, which says it was brought in a raft made of seven pieces of bamboo, out of which one got separated at a place 2 km upstream of the current Temple's location on the banks of Pamba. The place is called "Mulavoor Kadavu" meaning "river bank where the bamboo pole came off". There are still descendants of a family of Ayurveda physicians with great lineage by that name Mulavoor residing there. As per other legend, the place derives its name from "arin-villai", a land near a river. Legend has it that Arjuna built this temple, to expiate for the sin of having killed Karna on the battlefield, against the dharma of killing an unarmed enemy. It is also believed that Vishnu (here) revealed the knowledge of creation to Brahma, from whom the Madhukaitapa demons stole the Vedas.
There is yet another legend associated with Parthasarathy here. During the battle of Kurukshetra, Duryodhana had taunted Bheeshma of not using his full might in fighting the Pandavas. This taunt by Duryodhana filled Bheeshma with rage. Bheeshma took a vow to fight with such ferocity the next day that Lord Krishna himself would be forced to break his vow of not using a weapon during the war in order to protect Arjuna. On the ninth day of the battle of Kurukshetra, the Kauravas reigned supreme under the leadership of Bheeshma, when Krishna motivated Arjuna to take initiative and vanquish his foe. Bheeshma was unparalleled with the use of celestial weapons in such a manner that Arjuna could not counter the onslaught. Arrows after arrows fired from Bheeshma's bow breached the defenses of Arjuna and inflicted wounds to his body by penetrating his armour. The string of Arjuna's bow, the Gandiva was snapped during the battle. Seeing Arjuna's plight, Krishna jumped down in rage, and took up his discus charging towards Bheeshma. Bheeshma was overfilled with joy and surrendered to Lord Krishna. Meanwhile, Arjuna beseeched the Lord not to kill Bheeshma, as it would have been against Krishna's vow to take up arms in his battle. It is believed that it is this image of Krishna that is enshrined here, with a discus. This symbolizes the Lord's act of compassion to both his devotees on either side of the battle. Lord Krishna broke his vow to protect Arjuna and also to fulfill the promise that his ardent devotee Bheeshma had made.
Lord Krishna presiding here in the Vishvarupa form is considered as "Annadana Prabhu" (The Lord who provides food) along with other temples like Vaikom Mahadeva Temple and Sabarimala. It is believed that those whose Annaprashana is performed at the Aranmula Parthasarathy temple would never be affected by the pangs of poverty throughout their life.
Aranmula Mirror is also related to the history of this temple. The king of Travancore wanted to donate a crown made of rare metal to the temple and he found a rare combination of copper and lead. It is believed as per the tradition that preparing the metal polished mirror was produced only by a family. In modern times, the College of Fine Arts have started producing it on commercial scale.
Architecture.
The temple is built in Kerala style architecture, which is common in all temples in the South Indian state of Kerala in eastern axis. The temple has an elevated structure reached by a flight of 20 steps. The temple has a two-storeyed gopuram or a gateway tower, with the upper storey having wooden trails covering the "Kottupura" (a hall of drum beating during festivals). A rectangular wall around the temple, called "Kshetra-Madilluka", pierced by the gateways, encloses all the shrines of the temple. The metal plated flagpost or "Dwajasthambam" is located axial to the temple tower leading to the central sanctum and there is a "Deepastamba", which is the light post. "Chuttuambalam" is the outer pavilion within the temple walls. The central shrine and the associated hall is located in a rectangular structure called "Nallambalam", which has pillared halls and corridors. Between the entrance of "Nalambalam" to the sanctum, there is a raised square platform called "Namaskara Mandapa" which has a pyramidal roof. "Thevrapura", the kitchen used to cook offering to the deity is located on the left of Namaskara Mandapa from the entrance. "Balithara" is an altar is used for making ritualistic offering to demi-gods and the festive deities. The central shrine called "Sreekovil" houses the image of the presiding deity, who is a standing four-armed Lord Vishnu worshipped as "Parthasarathy". It is on an elevated platform with a single door reached through a flight of five steps. Either sides of the doors have images of guardian deities called Dvarapalakas. As per Kerala rituals, only the main priest called Thantri and the second priest called Melshanthi alone can enter the "Sree Kovil". The central shrine has a circular plan with the base built of granite, superstructure built of laterite and conical roof made of terracotta tile supported from inside by a wooden structure. The lower half of "Sree Kovil" consists of the basement, the pillar or the wall, called "stambha" or ' and the entablature called ' in the ratio 1:2:1, in height. Similarly the upper half is divided into the neck called "griva", the roof tower called "shikhara" and the conical "kalasam" (made of copper) in the same ratio. The roof projects in two levels to protect the inner structure from heavy rains during monsoon. The roof of the temple and some of the pillars have lavish wood and stucco carvings depicting various stories of ancient epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha. The outer walls around the sanctum have a series of wooden frames housing an array of lamps, which are lit during festive occasions. The temples have paintings on its walls dating back to early 18 century. The image of the presiding deity is tall, making it the tallest among the idols of all Krishna temples in Kerala. Krishna is in Vishvarupa pose, the one he depicted to Arjuna during the Mahabharatha war. It is thus considered to be in fierce form. As per one legend, Arjuna is believed to have built the temple in Nilakal Narayanapuram and later brought to Aranmula in a raft made with six bamboo. In the second precinct, there are shrines of Sastha, Yakshi, Nagaraja and Erangavil Bhagavathy Balarama in the lower shrine.
Aranmula Temple Utsavam.
The annual Utsavam commences on the Atham Nakshatra in the month of Makara and concludes ten days later on the Thiruvonam day.
Garuda Vahanam Ezhunellippu is the main event during this ten day festival. This event falls on the fifth day of the annual festival and is also called "Anchaam Purappadu". The deity is taken out from the sanctum sanctorum mounted on Garuda. It is believed that all 33 million Devas (the elements of nature) and Gandharvas would be present in the temple at that time to witness Lord Krishna riding on his vahana, the Garuda.
Other Festivities.
As per Hindu legend in Mahabharata, Arjuna, one of the Pandavas was returning with the image of Krishna after along penance. He faced a huge flood in the Pamba river. A poor low caste Hindu helped him cross the river with a raft made with six bamboos. It is believed that the Aranmula Boat Race is celebrated annually on the Pamba river to commemorate the poor Hindu. The race is held on the last day of the Onam festival when snake boats around with four helmsmen, 100 rowers and 25 singers participate. The boats move in pairs to the rhythm of music. After the watersport, there is an elaborate feast in the Aranmula temple. The festival is the largest boat race festival held in Kerala and is attended by thousands of visitors. The festival was largely a religious one until 1978, when the Government of Kerala declared it a sports event, but during 2000, the religious festivities were restored.
The Malayalam month of Meenam witnesses a festival where Aranmula Parthasarathy is taken in a grand procession on the Garuda mount to the Pampa river bank, where an image of the Bhagawati from the nearby Punnamthode temple is brought in procession for the "Arattu" festival.
Another festival celebrated here is the Khandavanadahanam celebrated in the Malayalam month of Dhanus. For this festival, a replica of a forest is created in front of the temple with dried plants, leaves and twigs. This bonfire is lit, symbolic of the Khandavana forest fire of the Mahabharata.
The heads of three Brahmin households in Aranmula and nearby Nedumprayar follow a tradition of fasting on Thiruvonam. The tradition reportedly dates back to more than two centuries. It is believed that once a Brahmin made a vow to feed one pilgrim everyday. Pleased with his devotion, the presiding deity appeared to him. From then on, the Brahmin was overjoyed and he made it a custom to feed to conduct a feast every year, which is practised in modern times. The feast is conducted after the boat race.
Religious importance.
The temple is revered in "Nalayira Divya Prabandham", the 7th–9th century Vaishnava canon, by Kulasekhara Alvar in one hymn. The temple is classified as a "Divyadesam", one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the book. Thirumangai Alvar have sung in praise of the perumal in this temple with eleven Pasurams, numbered at 2843-53. Thulabaram, the practice of weighing oneself against material and donating it to the temple is practiced here. The Vanni tree in the temple is believed to have medicinal values. The fruits of the Vanni tree are also weighed in Thulabaram and also used for curing diseases of the devotees. It is the place where Brahma is believed to have worshiped Vishnu to retrieve the Vedas from the two demons named Madhu and Kaitibha. The image of Parthasarathy is believed to have been installed by Arjuna himself. The temple is used to store the jewels of the Sabarimala temple.
Temple administration.
The temple is open from 4 am to 11:00 am and 5 pm to 8 pm and is administered by Travancore Devaswom Board of the Government of Kerala. The king of Travancore maintained the golden dress in the temple, offered to Sabarimala Ayyapan Temple. The practise of offering the golden dress to Sabarimala temple annually is done by the board.