Thirunavaya Temple
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Tirunavaya Temple (in full Tirunavaya Navamukunda Temple) is an ancient
Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
temple at
Tirunavaya Tirunavaya, also spelled as Thirunavaya, is a town in Malappuram, Kerala. Situated on the northern bank of Bharatappuzha (River Ponnani/Nila or Perar), it is one of major Hindu pilgrimage centres in Kerala. Tirunavaya, home to Tirunavaya Temple ...
, central
Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
, on the northern bank of the Bharatappuzha (River Ponnani), dedicated to Navamukundan ( Narayana-Vishnu). The temple is glorified in ''
Divya Prabandha The Naalayira Divya Prabandham ( ta, நாலாயிரத் திவ்வியப் பிரபந்தம், lit=Four Thousand Divine Hymns, translit=Nālāyira Divya Prabandham) is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses composed by ...
'', an early medieval
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...
collection of hymns by the
Vaishnava Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...
Alvars. It is one of the 108
Divya Desams A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 105 are in India, one is in Nepal, and the la ...
dedicated to god
Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
, who is worshipped as Navamukunda Perumal at Tirunavaya. The temple has no pond or well, and water from the river is used for all rituals. The presence of Cherutirunavaya Brahma - Siva Temples across the River Ponnani at
Tavanur Thavanur (Tavanur, Thavanoor, Tavanoor) is a village located on the southern bank of Bharathapuzha, the longest river of Kerala in the Malappuram District of Kerala state in India. This village is located at the border of Tirur and Ponnani Ta ...
makes it a ''Trimurti sangama''. The river bank in the temple are considered as holy as
Kasi KASI (1430 AM, "News Talk 1430") is a radio station licensed to serve Ames, Iowa. The station is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc. and licensed to iHM Licenses, LLC. It airs a News/Talk radio format. The station was assigned the KASI call letters b ...
and the ritual offering practices for forefathers (bali tarpana/sradha puja) are similar to the ones done there.
Ganapati Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu ...
(Adi Ganesa/Gajendra),
Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
("Malarmangai Nachiyar") and Ayyappa Swami are the associated pratishthas. Goddess Lakshmi has a separate ''sri kovil'' in the temple, unlike most of the other Narayana-Lakshmi temples. The temple was the venue of the Mamankams, a festival celebrated once in 12 years from ''at least'' the 8th century AD. The temple building was attacked and destroyed during the invasion of Kerala by Sultan of
Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
Tipu (18th century AD), and later attacked in 1921 during the Mappila Rebellion. The present temple building is constructed in the indigenous Kerala Temple Architecture style. Presently, the Tirunavaya temple (Malappuram Division, Grade: Sp) is administered by Samutiri of
Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...
(Zamorin of Calicut) as the managing trustee under Malabar Devaswom Board,
Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior mini ...
. The temple is open from 05.00 am to 10.00 am and 04.00 pm to 07.00 pm on all days leaving festive days.


Legends

The
Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
is called "Navamukunda Perumal/Tevar" as it is believed that the idol was the ninth one to be installed in the temple by a group of nine Hindu yogis known as "Navayogis". The first eight idols sank into the Earth as soon as they were placed there and the ninth sank to its knees before it was forcibly stopped. As the location of the sunken idols were not known, devotees used to make pradikshina on their knees. Even Alvancheri Tamparakkal and Tirunavaya Vaddhyans were not exempted from this practice. Tirunavaya is also known as called "Navayogisthala". According to the legends, goddess
Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism. She is the goddess of wealth, fortune, power, beauty, fertility and prosperity, and associated with ''Maya'' ("Illusion"). Alo ...
and Gajendra, the king of the elephants, worshiped god
Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...
here with lotus flowers from a lake nearby; with the two devotees using flowers from the same source, its supply dwindled, and Gajendra appealed to Vishnu, who took Lakshmi by his side on the same throne and accepted worship offered by Gajendra.


Architecture

The present temple is built in Kerala Temple Architecture style, which is almost common in all temples in Kerala. A rectangular wall around the temple, called ''kshetra-matilluka'' pierced by the gateways, encloses all the temples within the temple. The metal plated flag-post ('' dvaja sthambha'') is located axial to the temple tower leading to the central sanctum and there is a ''dipasthambha'', which is the light post. ''Chuttuambalam'' is the outer pavilion within the temple walls. The central temple and the associated hall is located in a rectangular structure called ''nalambalam'', 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 Navamukunda 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 temple called ''sri kovil'' houses the idol of the Navamukunda. 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
dvarapala A Dvarapala or Dvarapalaka (Sanskrit, "door guard"; IAST: ' ) is a door or gate guardian often portrayed as a warrior or fearsome giant, usually armed with a weapon - the most common being the ''gada'' (mace). The dvarapala statue is a wide ...
kas. As per Kerala rituals, only the main priest called tantri and the second priest called melsanti alone can enter the ''sri kovil''. The central temple has a square 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 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 epics, ''
Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
'' and ''
Mahabharata The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
''. The outer walls around the sanctum have a series of wooden frames housing an array of lamps, which are lit during festive occasions. The idol of Navamukunda is portrayed only from above the knee, the rest of the idol being concealed within the ground. There is believed to be a bottomless unexplored pit behind the idol in the sanctum. The idol of the Navamukunda is tall, and is made of stone and covered with pancha loha. The idol is in a standing posture, with four hands carrying Panchajanya conch, lotus flower, Kaumodaki mace and the terrible Sudarshana discus. The idol is facing east. Goddess Lakshmi has a separate ''sri kovil'' in the Tirunavaya Temple. The sri kovil is in the north-west of the ''nalambalam'', to the left of Navamukunda, and the idol is facing east. The idol only have two hands, with ''varadabhaya mudra''.


Pitru Tharpanam or Thithi or Pinda pradhanam

This temple is famous for pitru tharpanam. Like most of the temples in Kerala, One has to pay charges at the ticket counter which is hardly less than 100 rupees, And dip in the river(clothes the male needs to wear is mundu or dhoti or veshti) and in the wet clothes offer the tharpanam. All the ritual pooja items will be provided by the temple. After the ritual is complete, the wet clothes have to be changed. The temple strictly does not allow pants or other non Indian wear. Strictly men have to be in dhoti and their shirts removed.


Accommodation

Accommodation is provided by the temple administration. Affordable accommodation is provided here. Rooms and common dormitories are available. One can contact the temple administration for advance bookings.


Festivals

*
Mamankam festival Māmānkam or Māmāngam was a ''duodecennial'' medieval fair held on the bank, and on the dry river-bed, of Pērār (River Nil̥a, River Ponnani, or Bhārathappuzha) at Tirunāvāya, southern India. The temple associated with the festival wa ...
celebrated in the temple was the most prominent festival in Kerala in the Middle Ages. * Devotees perform prayers for their separated souls (pitrs) in the banks of the River Ponnani in the temple. * The major religious practices are Naivilakku, Thamara mala, Palpayasam, Malar pala and Thali Charthal.


References


External links


Vaikhari - Tirunavaya Temple - Divya Desam in Kerala
{{Hindu temples in Kerala Hindu temples in Malappuram district Divya Desams History of Kerala Hindu pilgrimage sites in India Vaishnavism Vishnu temples Mahavishnu temples in Kerala