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| Evoor Major Srikrishnaswamy temple, Kerala/en.wikipedia.org |
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| Evoor Major Srikrishnaswamy temple, Kerala findmessages.com |
God of fire, Agni after continuously consuming butter, ghee, etc poured into the 'Homa kunda' developed severe stomach ailment. On God Brahma's advice to consume the Khandava forest that would offer herbal remedy, Agni decided to devour it, not realizing that it was the abode of Takshaka, the Naga leader and a friend of Indra (god of rain). Indira with heavy rain and showers would put out the fire, thus preventing Agni to consume the forest. Now, Agni turned to Arjuna and Sri Krishna for help. Upon seeing Agni with Arjuna carrying Shiva's bow Gandiva, Kanva Maharishi (seer) who had been engaging in the spiritual activities there, requested them to spare Arca moorthy (an idol of Vishnu with four hand). Sri Krishna agreed and Arjuna constructed a Sarakoodam - a sort of enclosure to shelter Agni within which he could consume the herbal forest to cure his stomach ailment.
Quite pleased Agni, expressed his wish to install Arca moorthy in a new temple there to facilitate worship. Upon instruction from Sri Krishna, Arjuna fired an arrow to locate an auspicious place for the proposed temple. The place where the arrow fell was chosen to build the temple. Evoor, a corrupt form of Eythoor refers to the place where arrow was shot. A temple was built and Sri Krishna performed Prana-Pratishta and Arjuna performed the first pooja. Bhoothanatha Swamy (Kiratha Murthy form of Lord Shiva) and Yakshi Amma ( Parvati) were consecrated as the Sub Deities. The remains of burned trees in the locality and names of villages close-by such as Karippuzha (kari means char), Pathiyoor (courruption of Kathiya Oor-place that burnt), Pandavarkavu, Mannarasala, Kannamangalam (Kanva-Mangalam Kanva's abode) corroborate what is mentioned in the sthalpurana of this temple.
For some unknown reason there was a fire mishap in the Srikovil (sanctum) of the temple and fortunately the main idols were safely recovered. The ruler of this place King Moolam Thirunal, who was on a pilgrimage to Kasi in the north had a vision in which Sri Krishna asked him to have a temple rebuilt there. Being a true devotee, upon his return he built the temple as early as possible to help devotees worship at the temple set in the midst of a wooded area.
The idol of Sri Krishna in the sanctum has four arms armed with Panchajanya Shankha in rear left hand, Sudarshana Chakrain rear right and butter in three hands and the fourth arm held on hip. The idol is in a sort of ferocious form, unlike many temples where Sri Krishna has a benign and enchanting smile. It is the only Vishnu temple where Raktha-pushpanjali, a special offering is available.
The main festival is Ulsava and here in Evoor it starts on first day of makara month and lasts for ten days. The utsava begins with flag- hoisting and the flag carries the image of Garuda and the festival ends with lowering of the flag. After the ritual bath Aarattuon the final day, the god is taken to the Pallikkuruppu (Holy Sleep); in Tamil it is called Palliarai.
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