Aranmula Temple: The abode of Parthasarathy

One among the 108 divya desams as per the Hindu scriptures this temple is a place of myths, legends, beliefs & reverence. The Lord Parthasarathy temple in Aranmula stands generously along the banks of the holy Pamba river & is one of the ancient temples from the time of Lord Krishna himself. The temple is on a high pedestal accessed by a flight of stairs on its north & east side. The temple apart from its reverence to Lord Krishna also believes in the old legends & so the Vallasadya & vallamkali are the evidence for these age old traditions.

 

The origin of the temple is attributed to the Pandavas & the year of its consecration can be traced back to the Treta Yuga. The temple is said to be one among the 5 temples built by the Pandavas after the end of the Kurukshetra war which they won with the advice of Lord Krishna. The end of the war made the Pandavas realise that they gained nothing from the war & to wash their sins of killing their own family, they set off on a journey from Hastinapur. It is said that each Pandava consecrated a temple by placing a tutelary image of Lord Krishna & Arjuna is said to have consecrated this temple in Aranmula. The glory of Arjuna comes from the victory in the war & it was impossible for him to win without his guide & charioteer which was Lord Krishna who called his most loved cousin Parth. In the Kurukshetra war, Lord Krishna assumed the role of Arjuna’s charioteer and Lord Krishna was called Parthasarathy. The image of Lord Krishna in the temple is that of holding the sudarshana chakra which is said to have been seen by only Arjuna & Bhishma in the battlefield. As per the myth in Mahabharata, as the days of battle passed, Pandavas were gaining the upper hand even though the Kauravas had the bigger army and Bhishma who was leading the army was held responsible by Duruyodhana. It is said that Duruyodhana accused Bhishma of being lenient on his enemies & belittled him which made the great warrior angry. This anger was taken out the next day on the enemy and the Pandavas felt the wrath of Bhishma’s arrows and only Arjuna was capable of fighting off this adversary but the sight of his most beloved made Arjuna drop his bow in fear & sorrow. Lord Krishna urged him to pick up his holy Gandiva but grief ridden Arjuna would not budge. Lord Krishna had vowed not to fight or pick any weapons, but this sight of total surrender by Arjuna could not be accepted by Him & so jumped from his seat holding the most powerful sudarshana chakra. This sight of the Lord himself arriving to kill him made Bhishma accept his destiny & with a smile put down his weapons. Lord Krishna was about to let the disc go when Arjuna fell to His feet & requested him not break the vow. He promised Lord Krishna that he would kill Bhishma which he did the next day. The temple is also a way for Arjuna to expiate the sin of killing an unarmed Karna which is considered to be the greatest mistake made by any warrior in the battlefield. 

 

The image of Lord Krishna was brought to the temple on a raft made with 6 bamboo rods & is possibly the reason why the place is today known as Aranmula. The earlier name of this place was arinvilai which means land next to the river. All the festivities of the temple are related to this event of bringing the idol on the raft to the temple. The annual festival at the temple is conducted during the auspicious day of ashtami rohini which is considered to be the day of Lord Krishna’s birth. On this day, the temple offers a grand feast to its devotees with 64 different dishes called the Vallasadya & the food for the feast is brought in small boats depicting the event of how Arjuna brought the image of Lord Krishna to the temple. The deity is also taken on a procession around Aranmula on a special boat called Palliyodam. The temple also became the venue of the most celebrated boat race in the state of Kerala called the Aranmula vallamkali which was earlier a temple ritual but its popularity grew making it a sports event today. The event is a beautiful sight where each team on a large snake boat race to the finish line singing songs in a specially orchestrated manner. This event is conducted during the Onam season & is considered to be the arrival of prosperity to the land & is a beautiful sight indeed.

 

The temple when built by Arjuna was a simple structure which had the idol of Lord Krishna in the form of Lord Vishnu’s vishwaroopa with 4 hands & is how he showed himself to Arjuna at the time of Geethopadesham in Kurukshetra during the Mahabharatha battle. It is said that the idol is the tallest among all the temples dedicated to Lord Krishna in Kerala & is in a fierce form. The temple as one sees now was built later and the architecture is based on the traditional temple design seen in Kerala with the sreekovil in the center which has the chuttambalam where the other three deities are placed completing the design of the Naalambalam. The Namaskara Mandapam inside the sanctum has a pyramidal roof & is adorned with stucco. The temple built on an elevated land with 20 steps has a two storeyed gopuram & has gateways on all sides along the temple walls which surround the temple. The architecture is simple but many intricate additions like the wooden carvings on the roof or the mural paintings depicting stories from Ramayana & Mahabharatha were added in the 18th century.

 

The Aranmula temple is also related to the sabarimala festivities and is said that the idol of Lord Krishna was first placed by Arjuna in a temple in Nilackal which was near Sabarimala & later moved to the Aranmula temple crossing the Pamba river. The sacred jewels belonging to Lord Ayyappan called thiruvabharanam are carried to the Sabarimala in a grand procession from the Pandalam Palace. The procession has a stop at the Aranmula temple where the royal golden robe of Ayyappa is collected. The decision to store the ThankaAnki at the temple was given by the Travancore King & is still followed by all including the Pandalam Palace which has in its possession all the other items belonging to Lord ayyappa. 

The Aranmula temple apart from its reverence to Lord Krishna is also the place where one can find the makers of the traditional Aranmula mirror of Valkannadi. The mirror is a product of unique properties as the mirror glaze is not lost even after many years due to the presence of a rare combination made of copper & lead. The origin of the combination is accidental, the King of Travancore asked a family of Aranmula to make a crown with rare metal to be donated to the temple which would shine & last for eternity. The family tried many combinations & finally found the combination by using copper with a small quantity of lead which was tough & gave a mirror like glaze to the crown. The family after making the crown decided to continue making a handy mirror with a small handle which could be carried & used daily. The family even today continues to make this mirror & even today is a valuable part of the vanity of kerala women. 

 

The Aranmula Parthasarathy temple today is a global heritage site & for every person who comes to the temple to worship the place is a way to remember the teachings of Krishna. The temple as per beliefs is a place for many important events & all the legends associated are considered to be true which has continued even till today.