Sree Krishnaswami Temple, Chelamattom — Attraction in Kerala

LORD KRISHNA says in the Bhagvad Gita that for protection of the virtuous, destruction of the wicked and establishment of dharma, Lord Mahavishnu took 'avatar' in every yuga whenever there is decline in dharma and rise in adharma: of the 10 Principal 'avatars' taken by Him, popularly known as Dasavatara, Ghelamattam, a sleepy village near Perumbavoor on the bank of Periyar (where it flows from west to east) in Kunnathunadu taluk, Ernakulam District, is blessed with three 'avatars' - Lord Krishna, Lord Narasimha and Lord Vamana. Traveling hardly a kilometer from the midway on the Kalady-Perumbavoor stretch on the Main Central Road, one can access it

Through there are no iconographic details and dis¬tinguishing features of the various forms of the Lord in the three avatars, legend has it, that the first simple shrine with Lord Vamanamurthy as the pre¬siding deity came into being on the north-east side of the present temple complex; then came Lord Vishnu's Narasimha avatar, the household deity of Thottamattam Mana, followed by the holy arrival of Lord Krishna.

ABOUT THE COSMOS OF LEGENDS AND MYTHS. History views it, that a very ancient Brahmin House¬hold, Veliyamkol Mana, held the key to the creation of this shrine: a self originated idol of Shivji (swayambhuv) otherwise known as 'Anthimahakalades/on the bank of river Periyar was being worshipped as its family deity and that during one of the floods, a chest came floating near it. It was first seen by the female members of Pullaya community on the other bank of the river Their efforts to retrieve the chest from the river were of no avail as it kept drifting away every time they tried to hold it. Despite the high cur¬rent of the river in spate, the chest continued to roam around, but without moving away from that very spot: this not only took that female folk in consternation but also they had a divine vision. The Pullaya fe¬male folk conveyed their holy experience to the fore¬told Veliayamkoi Mana, through a messenger. Soon after the Patriarch Brahmin of Veliyamkol Mana rushed to the spot and effortessiy retrived the chest from the river: it contained the sacred ido! of Lord Krishna. The celestial sight the Patriarch and oth¬ers around had, when the chest was opened, was beyond explanation.

History views it, that a very ancient Brahmin House¬hold, Veliyamkol Mana, held the key to the creation of this shrine: a self originated idol of Shivji (swayambhuv) otherwise known as 'Anthimahakalades/on the bank of river Periyar was being worshipped as its family deity and that during one of the floods, a chest came floating near it. It was first seen by the female members of Pullaya community on the other bank of the river Their efforts to retrieve the chest from the river were of no avail as it kept drifting away every time they tried to hold it. Despite the high cur¬rent of the river in spate, the chest continued to roam around, but without moving away from that very spot: this not only took that female folk in consternation but also they had a divine vision. The Pullaya fe¬male folk conveyed their holy experience to the fore¬told Veliayamkoi Mana, through a messenger. Soon after the Patriarch Brahmin of Veliyamkol Mana rushed to the spot and effortessiy retrived the chest from the river: it contained the sacred ido! of Lord Krishna. The celestial sight the Patriarch and oth¬ers around had, when the chest was opened, was beyond explanation.

The elderly pious Brahmin carried the box to his Mana and worshipped it. After a very long time, he enshrined the ido! ceremoniusly with all the atten¬dant rituals in a temporary Sreekovil built on his compound.

Ages passed. Later, the existing shrine was built at Chelamattam strictly according to precept and di¬vine astrological predictionas, re-enshrined the magnificent idol of Lord Krishna in the sanctum sanctorum on the right of the abode of Lord asimha under the same roof. Rountine and spe-" Poojas and other rituals are being performed...

The Chelamattom Sri Krishna Temple, which is located on the banks of Holy River Periyar, in between Perumbavoor Town andKaladi the birth place of Sri Aadi Sankaracharya is one such holy place. On the right side of the Sri Krishna temple, the River Periyar flows towards east while it flows towards West in all other areas. The legend is that Sri Sankaracharya changed the direction of the river here to enable him to have morning rituals after taking bath in the river. Here in this temple, Lord Maha Vishnu has been consecrated in three forms, which is a unique feature at this temple. Those three incarnations od Maha Vishnu areNarasimha, Vamana, and Sri Krishna. The presence of the furious Narasimha helps devotees to remove all the evil spirits in them too.

Mythology:After killing Kamsa, Sri Krishna spent about sixty-four months in the Ashram of Saint Sandeepini to complete his studies. After finishing the studies, Sri Krishna asked his Guru Saint Sandeepini, what he should offer as Guru Dakshina, Then Guru Sandeepini told him that he was fortunate enough to be the guru of the person who is the real guru for the world. But Krishna was not satisfied with it and asked again what he should do. Then Sandeepini Maharshi requested Sri Krishna to return his son, who has died long ago drowning in the sea. Then Sri Krishna called Samudra Deva, the god of the sea and enquired about the incident. Then Samudra Deva told him that one demon with the name Panchajanan has brought the son of Guru Sandeepini and killed. He also informed that Panchajanan is living inside a conch in the deep sea. The Lord Sri Krishna entered into the sea and took the conch where the demon used to live(That conch(Sankam) is the famousPanchajanyam which Bhagavan Sri Krishna used during the war).

Then Sri Krishna entered in the Yamaloka, the world of the dead in his cosmic form. Seeing him in cosmic form,Lord Yama, the god of death scared and returned the son of Guru Sandeepini. He also freed all the dead people there at that time. Sri Krishna returned son to Guru Sandeepini. At the same time, all the other souls presented at Yamaloka at the time got salvation as they could witness the cosmic form of the god. Here in Chelamattom, the Krishna idol is in that form where Krishna exhibited his cosmic form in Yamaloka. That is the reason for people gathering here to offer rituals for the salvation of the souls of their dead ancestors.

History: It is believed that only the idol of Lord Narasimha was here initially. Once a group of people belong to Pulaya community, witnessed a box floating in the river. Rays of light were emitting from it. Then that People dived into the river to capture the box, but nobody could. It neither flowed down along with the current nor could anybody hold it. Surprised with this miracle, people informed the incident to Veliyakkol Namboodiri, a Brahmin staying nearby. Seeing the box Namboodiri jumped into the river swam across and brought the river to the bank. When he opened the box, everybody gathered there surprised to see an idol of Lord Krishna inside it. At first, the Namboodiri took that idol of Lord Krishna to his house, and placed at a sacred place and started performing rituals to Sri Krishna. Later on, he realized that this is a powerful idol and should not be placed inside the house. Hence he took it to the Narasimha Swamy Temple nearby, constructed another Shrine near to Narasimha Swamy and consecrated the idol there. Similarly, another Brahmin,Thottamattom Namboodiri has worshipping Vamana idol at his house.Later on, he realized that the lord is not happy to sit there. Hence he too took the idol to the Narasimha Swamy temple and consecrated the idol thereafter constructing another temple. Thus three incarnations of Lord Maha Vishnu came inside the same...

History views it that a very ancient Brahmin Household, Veliyamkol Mana, held the key to the creation of this shrine: a self-originated idol of Shivji (swayambhuv) otherwise known as 'Anthimahakalades/on the bank of river Periyar was being worshipped as its family deity and that during one of the floods, a chest came floating near it. It was first seen by the female members of the Pullaya community on the other bank of the river. Their efforts to retrieve the chest from the river were of no avail as it kept drifting away every time they tried to hold it. Despite the high current of the river in spate, the chest continued to roam around, but without moving away from that very spot: this not only took that female folk in consternation but also they had a divine vision. The Pullaya female folk conveyed their holy experience to the foretold Veliayamkoi Mana, through a messenger. Soon after the Patriarch Brahmin of Veliyamkol Mana rushed to the spot and effortlessly retrieved the chest from the river: it contained the sacred idol of Lord Krishna. The celestial sight the Patriarch and others around had when the chest was opened was beyond explanation.

The elderly pious Brahmin carried the box to his Mana and worshipped it. After a very long time, he enshrined the idol ceremoniously with all the attendant rituals in a temporary Sreekovil built on his compound.

Ages passed. Later, the existing shrine was built at Chelamattam strictly according to precept and divine astrological predictions, re-enshrined the magnificent idol of Lord Krishna in the sanctum sanctorum on the right of the abode of Lord Narasimha under the same roof. Routine and special Poojas and other rituals are being performed uninterruptedly ever since.

As a gesture of goodwill, a little over two acres of land was given free to those households of the womenfolk who first had the divine sight of the chest floating in the river, for being used as their burial ground, etc. The day on which the star Thiruvonam falls in the Malayalam month of Kumbhom every year 'Arrattu’ is held, and valiya villakku is celebrated on the preceding day with all pomp and show: the invoked idol is ascended on an elephant's back, then taken ceremoniously in procession to the same place where the idol was temporarily installed, and other rituals and Poojas are held uninterruptedly every year. Initially, 9 measures of rice used to be cooked for offering to the God, of which very little was used as libation for the deity of Shivji, the rest being offered to the Pullaya households conferring it as their rights. They preserve the cooked rice in powder form, and it is still believed that it has amazing medicinal value for curing any disease that they...