A Travller's Diary - Kanhangad, Payyyanur, Taliparamba & Trichambaram

We (my mother and myself) reached Kanhangad at 7:30 AM by Mangala Lakshadweep Express which ran 5 hours late that day. When I inquired about the tourist guest house in Kanhangad, somebody told that it's in walkable distance from the railway station. So, we walked down with our luggage as per the directions given by that person and reached the guest house in 15 minutes as it was not as close as that person said.

We took a room there and rested a while as we both were tired because of the walk with luggage. Then we had our bath and came out at 9:30 AM. We had a cup of coffee in a hotel which is on the way to the local bus stand. We wanted to visit the Shiva temple which is located in a place called Poongavanam, two kilometers away from the bus stand.

Kanhangad

We hired an auto and reached the temple in 5 minutes. The temple is not so big in size, but is very famous in that part of the country. The temple is at the entrance of a small fort which was destroyed. The temple was also said to have been destroyed by Tipu Sultan, but was reconstructed later. 

The main deity is worshipped as Karpureshwara here. The temple was closed at that time as a special puja was going on. We waited for 15 minutes before the temple was opened. We had our darshan immediately and stayed in the sannidhi for five minutes. 

We then visited the other small temples located in the same complex before we came out. We had to wait for a vehicle to go back and after 10 minutes, we got an auto. We reached the bus stand in Kanhangad and had our breakfast in a restaurant in the same complex.

Our next visit was Payyanur, which is 35 kms away from Kanhangad and, where the famous Subrahmanya Swamy temple is located. We boarded the KSRTC bus and reached Payyanur at 11:50 AM. 

Payyanur

The temple is two kilometers away from the bus stand and we immediately hired an auto and reached the temple as quickly as possible. But, unfortunately, the temple was just closed as it was 12 noon. We saw the priest of the temple going somewhere and asked him regarding the opening time in the evening. Without answering to that, he asked where we came from. I said we came from Hyderabad and would like to wait till the opening time in the evening. He then asked us about our lunch. We said we would go out and have our lunch in any restaurant nearby. He then asked us to follow him and took us to the office room. There is a big hall beside the office room and lunch was being served there for the temple staff. He asked us to have our lunch along with them. We thanked him and had our lunch there considering it as maha prasadam.

After our lunch, the priest told us that the temple would be open from 5 PM and asked us to take rest in the same office room till then. There were a few chairs over there and we stayed there till 4.30 PM.

In the evening, we went out and had one pradakshina (parikrama) around the temple. The temple is so big in area that it was almost one kilometer when we completed it. There is a well inside the temple and it was constructed in a typical shape (like panavattam). We had our evening tea in a hotel beside the temple and started to wait again. 

Finally, the temple was open at 5:00 PM and we were the first ones to get in. The priest told us that the temple was believed to be built by Parasurama , the creator of Kerala. It was destroyed twice during Tipu Sultan's era and was rebuilt again. 

There are a few lines in Brahmanda Purana, where the temple was described by Muni Garga. Payyan is one of the 1008 names of Lord Subrahmanya and Ooru means town. Hence, the town was named after Lord Subrahmanya. The deity in the temple is said to be very powerful and this temple is considered as the Palani of Kerala.

The shrine of Lord Subrahmanya is in standing pose with his left hand on his hip. He holds his Vel (Shool) in the right hand. There are also temples for Maha Ganapati and Dharma Sasta (Ayyappa) in the same complex.

We came out of the temple and reached the bus stand by auto. We boarded a bus and reached the town of Taliparamba at 6:30 PM. There is temple for Lord Shiva in Taliparamba, which is just one kilometer away from the place where the bus stopped. However, there is another temple for Sri Krishna at Trichambaram which is two kilometers away from there in a different direction. We first went to the temple at Trichambaram by auto.

Trichambaram  

The temple in Trichambaram is dedicated to Sri Krishna and is 22 kms away from Kannur. This temple is very sacred for all Vaishnavas and is considered as North Guruvayur. The temple in Guruvayur is famous for elephants. But, the temple in Trichambaram doesn`t have elephants and there is a story behind this. 

The demon king Kansa wanted to kill his nephew Sri Krishna when he knew that Sri Krishna was born only to kill him. He made so many efforts to kill Sri Krishna during his childhood. In one such effort, Kansa sent an elephant named Kuvalayapeeda to kill Krishna. However, Krishna killed that elephant with naked hands. Therefore, no elephant is allowed to enter this temple even now.

This temple enshines Sri Krishna in his child form and he looks angry (roudra) after killing the elephant. As Sri Krishna is in the form of a child, the priests of the temple offer naivedyam to Him immediately after opening the doors of the temple (even before puja). As saint Sambaram performed tapassu here, this place was originally called as Sri Sambaram which later became Trichambaram. 

As the evening puja was going on then, we had to wait for 15 minutes for darshan. In the meantime, the temple staff told me that it's mandatory for all the male devotees going for darshan to wear dhoti. Though, I brought one dhoti from Hyderabad, it was left in my suitcase in the hotel room in Kanhangad. However, there were stalls in the same complex wherein the temple staff themselves were selling dhotis. I bought one dhoti and changed my dress in the trail room. 

By the time I came out, the puja was over and the devotees were allowed for darshan. We went in and had our darshan for ten minutes. The roof of Srikovil (sannithi) was covered with copper and is in two levels. 

When we came out, we noticed one small temple in a pond. When we went there, we understood that it's Durga temple. The pujari offered us theertham. On the left to Durga temple, there is a small temple for Lord Shiva also.

Taliparamba

We hired an auto and reached Taliparamba at 7:45 PM. The temple here is dedicated to Lord Shiva who is worshipped as Raja Rajeshwara. This village was previously called as Lakshmipura as this place was considered as an abode of prosperity. 

Taliparamba is one of the 108 famous Shiva temples in Kerala. It is considered as a prominent place among all the temples in South India. If there is any problem in any of the temples in South India, it is sought out in this temple in the form of a Prashna (question), a traditional method of astrological decision making. The Prashna is conducted on a platform which is outside the temple.

It is the place where the head of Sati fell after Shiva's tandavam following Sati's self immolation. Hence, this place is also considered as a Shaktipeetham. This place is also among the 108 Bhagavati temples built by Parasurama. 

The Shiva Lingam in this temple is thousands of years old. It is a belief that Lord Rama visited the temple on his way back to Ayodhya after the victory over Ravana. He prayed Lord Shiva in the Namaskara Mandapam in this temple. The presence of Rama is felt in the mandapam even now, so, nobody is allowed into the mandapam (There are some temples in South India that I visited where the locals said Lord Rama visited those temples on his way back to Ayodhya from Lanka. But as per Ramayana, Rama went from Lanka to Ayodhya by Pushpak (Plane) and not by walk. Of course, he could still stop the plane wherever he would want). 

The temple is open from at 4:00 AM and remains open till 12:00 noon. Again, it is open from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM. The famous Athazha Puja takes place at 8:00 PM. All male devotees can have their darshan at any time when the temple is open. However, female devotees are allowed for darshan only after the Athazha Puja (only after 8:00 PM). Though it sounds peculiar, it is the unique feature of the temple and is followed over centuries. This was the reason why we visited the temple at Trichambaram first.

It is a belief in this temple that nobody should go to the darshan of Shiva empty handed. Therefore, everybody carries something to offer to the Lord. It could be flowers, milk, ghee, cloths etc. We bought ghee and flowers in the temple complex. It was the only temple in our entire trip where we stood in queue. As everybody was offering something to the Lord, the queue moved slowly.

We came out at 8:45 PM after our darshan. We again hired an auto to go to the highway where the buses stop. We got our bus at 9:15 PM and we reached Kanhangad at 11:00 PM. As all the restaurants between the bus stand and our guest house were closed, we bought fruits from a street vendor and that was our dinner for that night.