Vadakkumnatha Temple, located at the heart of the cultural capital of Kerala, is revered as the apex of Shiva worship and is undoubtedly the largest temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in Kerala. The temple is considered to be more than 1000 years old and is a classic example of the Kerala style of architecture with bewitching murals of the seventeenth century, delineating the story of Mahabharatha pictorially. The shrines and the Koothambalam display exquisite vignettes carved in wood. It is believed that this temple was built by Lord Parasurama. Saints like Adi Sankaracharya, Vilwamangalam Swamiyar, Karattu Namboothiri etc. had worshipped the 'Lord of the North' aka VADAKKUMNATHAN and this holy place is considered as Dakshina Kailasam(Kailasa of the south). The sprawling Thekkinkadu(erstwhile Teak forest) ground, encircling the Vadakumnathan temple, is the main venue of the world famous Thrissur Pooram.
The Sree Moolasthanam, where Lord Shiva and Devi Parvathi along with the entire Bhoothagana squad appeared before Parasurama, is considered to be near the west gopuram outside the temple wall. A banyan tree has grown in that holy spot over the years and now on its shades, rest idols of serpent-Gods.
Vadakkumnatha temple is surrounded by a massive stone wall enclosing an area of nearly nine acres. Inside this fortification, there are four gopurams indicating the four cardinal directions. Apart from these four gopurams, there is a multi-shrined complex in the center with three shrines dedicated to Vadakkumnathan(Lord Shiva), Shankaranarayana(Half shiva and half visnu) and Sri Rama(seventh incarnation of Vishnu).
On the main circular sanctum, Vadakkumnathan faces west. The idol of Shiva consecrated by Parasurama, is now almost invisible and has been covered by an enormous mount of ghee piled up owing to the daily ablution with it over the years. One looking at the sanctum may get a glimpse of a fourteen-feet high stack of ghee having a diameter of about twenty-two feet at bottom, getting thinned with height, embellished with fifteen cascading crescents of gold and three serpent hoods. According to the traditional belief, ghee so formed represents the snow-cladded Kailasa, the abode of Paramashiva and Parvathi. Needless to say that the main offering to Vadakkumnathan is Abhisheka with ghee. The sree kovil of Vadakkumnathan consists of three garbhagrihas(rooms) having the idol on the third one. On the outer wall of the Sree Kovil one could see the seductive figure of Mohini Yakshi. Parvathi is also enshrined in a separate garbhagriha on the same Sree Kovil facing east.
The idol of devi is having three-feet height and the main offering is turmeric
powder. On the left side of Vadakkumnathan's shrine, there is another circular sanctum sanctorum with copper-plated roof, comparatively smaller than that of the principal deity, of Shankara Narayana where the idol faces west. The idol made up of Panchaloha(or five metals) is having three feet height.The idol subtly personifies an unusual assemblage of two ideologies, the Vaishnavism and the Saivism.
On the south of Sankara Narayana shrine, one could see another rectangular sanctum sanctorum with copper-plated roof having a four-handed Vishnu idol and is worshipped as Sri Rama. There are mukhamandapams in front of all the three central shrines. Apart from these three important shrines, there is also a shrine of Ganapathi inside the Nalambalam. Vettakkorumakan is also worshipped here on the north side of the Shiva's shrine. Outside the nalambalam, there are shrines for Lord Krishna, Vrishabha, Parasurama, Simhodara, Dharmasastha and Adi Sankaracharya.
Adi Sankara is believed to have been born to the Shivaguru-Aryamba couple of Kalady as an answer to their prayers before Vadakkumnathan. Adi Sankaracharya is believed as an incarnation of Vadakkumnathan. Legend has it that Shiva appeared to both husband and wife in their dreams, and offered them a choice - a mediocre son who would live a long life, or an extremely intelligent son who would not live long. Both Shivaguru and Aryamba chose the latter. Thus Shankara was born. The murals in the temple are known for its rarity and two of them, Vasukishayana and Natarajamoorthy, are even worshipped regularly. A fairly-large white bull on the Nalambalam is worshipped as Nandikeswara. In the temple quadrangle, there are specified holy spots where the devotees can offer their salutations to Viswanathan(Lord Shiva of Varanasi), Lord Chidambaranathan of Chidambaram, Lord Sethunathan of Rameswara, Sree Kali of Kodungallur, Urakam Ammathiruvadi(for Kanchi Kamakshi), Lord Sangamesha of Koodalmanickam at Irinjalakuda, Sree Vyasa(A stone laid at the foot of the banyan tree in the East), Sree Hanuman, Sudarshana Chakra, Panchajanya conch and serpent-Gods.
The traditional way of circumventing the temple follows a specific pattern which is quite unique and was formulated by none other than Lord Parasurama himself. A very popular hymn, that specifies and summarizes the strange pattern, is always on circulation and each devotee should read that before attempting to worship at Vadakkumnatha temple. The temple theatre, known as Koothambalam made by Uliyannoor Perumthachan, where shadows of the artists won't fall, has no parallel to cite anywhere else in the world. It is considered as an architectural wonder. The four magnificent gigantic gateways(gopurams) and the lofty masonry wall around the temple quadrangle are imposing pieces of adept craftsmanship and superior skill.
Lord Ganesh in the temple is positioned facing the temple kitchen(thidapilly) and offering of Appam (a sweetened eatery) to Mahaganapathy is one of the most important offerings at Vadakkumnathan temple. Propitiating Ganapathy here is believed to remove all the obstacles facing by the devotee. The devotees revere elephants as pratyaksha Ganapathy(visible visghneswara) here and it has been the regular annual practice at the Vadakkumnathan temple for the last 20 years to conduct a large-scale Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Havana(Homam) and Aanayoottu (ceremonial feeding of elephants) on the 1st day of Karkidakom month. Gajapooja is conducted once in four years.
The temple neither have an Oottupura nor a flag-mast. Even the temple doesn't have a festival of its own. Although Trichur pooram is celebrated in the temple compund, it is not considered as the festival of the Vadakkumnatha temple. The temple opens at 3.00 in the morning and closes about 10.30 after the morning rites. For the evening worship it opens at 4.00 and closes at 8.30 at night after trippuka, the last rite for the day.
The festival of festivals - Trichur pooram
According to the statistics, there are around 10,000 temples in Kerala and each one of them observes a major festival annually. Local tastes and convenience normally dictate these festivals but transcending local barriers is the Thrissur Pooram, which attracts thousands of people from far and near. Trichur pooram, although celebrated in Trichur, irrefutably, is the pooram of all Keralites. Since the word pooram literally means a rendezvous, it is believed that every year the dynastic Gods and Goddesses of neighboring provinces met together for a day of celebrations.
Trichur Pooram, the Pooram of all Poorams, is the most spectacular festival of the cultural capital celebrated at the Vadakkumnathan temple surroundings every year during April-May. Kerala’s grandest temple pageantry includes colourful processions of caparisoned elephants, a night long display of fireworks, parasol exchanges, drum concerts and pyro-techniques which can be witnessed even from the crowded streets of Trichur. Trichur Pooram, the mother of all temple festivals of the state, is easily one of the soul-catching spectacles. The two major devaswoms, Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu, explore and exploit every source at their command to make this annual festival a memorable one. During the festival season, Trichur, popularly known as the temple-town, turns into a place of color, music and mirth. The Pooram extending about 36 hours begins with the Ezhunellippu of the Kanimangalam Shasta in the morning followed by the Ezhunnellippu from the other six minor temples.
The Ezhunnellippu, which is considered to be a ritual symbolising the visit of the Paramekkavu Devi(Bhagavathi from the East) and Thiruvambadi Devi(Bhagavathi from the North) to the Vadakkumnathan temple. The goddess, Paramekkavu Devi, is said to be Thirumandhamkunnu Bhagavathi (Mandhachaleswari), who followed Appattu Kuruppal, an ardent devotee of Parasakthi. He did penance for 41 days at Thirumandhamkunnu Temple and devi appeared before him. He begged devi to be a part of his native place, Trichur. Devi granted the wish and on his way back, devi followed him.
When they reached near Vadakumnatha Temple, devi decided to reside near her father(Vadakumnathan) under an Elanji tree which stood on the Thekinkadu(erstwhile Teak forest) ground. Devi was later transferred to Paramekkavu near Vadakumnatha Temple, which is now known widely as Paramekkavu Bhagavathy Temple. Elanji continues to be the sacred tree of the temple. The legend also says that Paramekkavu Bhagwathy has an elder sister in Thiruvambadi, the Devi worshipped at the Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna temple. Vadakkumnathan, as told earlier, takes only the role of a spectator in Trichur Pooram.
A major event of the Pooram festival is the 'Pancharimelam' in which numerous artists from the disciplines of Thimila, Maddalam, Trumpet, Cymbal and Edakka participate. Another major event of the pooram begins with the setting off of the ‘Pandimelam’ at noon in which about 200 artists in the disciplines of drum, trumpets, pipe and cymbal participate. The grand finale of this festival of colour, music and fire works would be marked with a function of bidding farewell to the deities of the Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu Devaswams in front of the western Gate of the Vadakumnathan Temple. A noteworthy feature of the pooram festival is the participation of a cross section of people and elephants. The pachyderms emerge out in all their regalia with newly fabricated caparisons. They make their way through the crushing crowds drawn from all religions, castes and creed to the accompaniment of ecstatic percussion ensembles. The spectacular show of ‘Kudamattom’ in which parasols of myriad numbers, designs and colours are exchanged by the people atop the elephants. The pooram festival is concluded with a spectacular display of fireworks, which is held in the wee hours of the day after the Pooram.
The Thiruvambadi and Paramekkavu Devaswoms competitively present a lot of innovative patterns and varieties of fire works which make spectators going into raptures. This spell-binding display of fireworks add to the popularity of the Pooram festival.
The festival is credited to Sakthan Thamburan, Raja of Cochin, who ruled over the region with Thrissur as the capital in 1790 AD. Prior to his reign, Pooram was held in Arattapuzha, 15 km away. It was held on a grand scale at this place hosting 108 deities. Now Arattupuzha pooram will come second to Trichur Pooram in grandeur.
The most striking feature of the Trichur Pooram is its very secular nature. The Muslim and Christian Communities actively take part in it and they play a very prominent role in the very conduct of the festival. Most of the pandals are the craft work of the experts from the Muslim community.
