Near by temples of Thirumala devaswam

Shree Bhadra Narasimhaswami Temple
T D Road
Ernakulam
Cochin 682035

The idol installed in this temple was the family deity of Sri Venkateshwara Bhat Archak of the Thirumala Temple of Ernakulam. As per the directions of H H Srimad Sudheendra Theertha Swamiji, a trust was formed to manage the temple on 2.5.86. On 3.7.87, foundation stone was laid by them and the reconstruction ceremony was performed by His Holiness on 24th March, 1989.

The temple celebrates the festivals of Vasantha Pooja, Narsimha Jayanthi, Vinayaka Chaturthi, Anantha Vritha, etc. annually.




Sri Durga Devi Temple
T D Road
Ernakulam
Cochin 682035

The temple was built in 1934 by 4 sons of Naga Prabhu. Stone idol of presiding deity Sri Shanta Durga was installed along with that of Bethal and four other upadevathas. Daily Pooja, monthly homas, Rudrabhishekha, annual Prathisth day ceremonies, Sata Kalashabisheka etc. are conducted by the Kula Purohit of the family. Eldest male member of the family manages the temple with the contribution from all members of the family for the prescribed rituals.


Sri Ernakulam Tirumala Devaswom ( T D Temple )
T D Road
Ernakulam 682035

The temple was established in 1727 A.D. with Pratishta of Sri Laxmi Venkatesha as Chief Deity. Other Parivara devatas like Sri Mahalakshmy, Sri Ganapathy, Sri Hanuman and Sri Garuda were installed later on. Since then renovations have been done from time to time. Work of Suvarna Garuda Vahanam costing Rs. 50 lakhs was completed in 1989.




Sri Gopalkrishna Swami Devaswom
T D Road
Ernakulam
Cochin 682035

One of the most prominent among family temples in Kerala. The idols were brought from Goa to save it from destruction of the Portuguese, to save our religion, rituals and culture.

The presiding deity here is the kuladevata of Bharadwaj Gotra, Atri Gotra Gowda Saraswaths. This temple closely resembles th the famous temple at Marshel in Goa.

Sri Krishna Vadyar who was grand sire and leader of 10 families immigrated here, erected this temple. Later his brother Achutha Vadhyar moved to Ernakulam with the idol and settled down there. The Sixtieth anniversary of the consecration of Gopalkrishna Swamy temple was celebrated in Feb. 1976 under guidance of H H Sudheendra Theertha Swamiji.

The suvarna garuda vahana of Sree punjabjapuresh

The suvarna (golden)("bangra" in konkani bangar=gold)garuda vahana of Sree punjabjapuresh,was
dedicated to the deity by the people (GSBs)of punjabjapuram,
it costed about 50 lakhs when it was made in 1989,during the
days of " Adhikari" Sree Rama prabhu in thirumala devaswam.
A combined work of the GSBs ,to please the god.Almost all
families donated their welfare & money for the development of
suvarna garuda.There is also a rupea garuda(silver) in devaswam.
During all arattu ,the suvarna garuda and rupea garuda puja are
being conducted at night.The suvarna garuda puja of kochin thirumala devaswam is a well known puja among the garuda pujas.Almost all gsb temples have vahanas like garuda sesha
ayiravatha etc
Sree Sudheendra thirtha swamiji during one "bangra gurida puja".

Sri Ernakulam Tirumala Devaswom

The Sri Ernakulam Tirumala Devaswom Temple is on Panjabjapuram,T D Road, Ernakulam, Cochin, was established in 1727 A.D, with Sri Laxmi Venkatesha as the chief deity. Other deities like Sri Mahalakshmy, Sri Ganapathy, Sri Hanuman and Sri Garuda were installed later on. Since then renovations have been done from time to time.The idol orginally was the Kuladevata of Sri Dhamodhara Achari who migrated from Goa.Eight of the families who migrated from Goa, settled in Ernakulam. Shri Dhamodhara Achari was one among them who has brought his Kuladevata Shri Venkatachalapathy and worshipped in his house. Later the eight families wanted to establish a temple for this idol at this place. They approached the local chieftains (the five Kaimal families) to give them land for this purpose. The five Kaimals were locally called 'Anchu Kaimal' (Anchu means five in Malayalam) and the present Ernakulam was called 'Anchu Kaimal' area in those days. Even today in local Konkani the place is referred as "Enchikammel".

The prominent among the Kaimals Sri Cheranallur Kartha donated about 2 acres of land for construction of the temple. A small temple was constructed and the idol was installed there in 1727 A.D along with a Ganapathy idol. The Cochin Tirumala Devaswom donated two idols for worship to this temple. Later the temple was expanded and the Agrasalas were constructed and the Second Prathistra in the renovated temple was done in 1780 AD. The Dwaja Prathista (flag post) was erected in 1823 AD. When Sri Dasa Prabhu was the Devaswom administrator, he ignored the committee (Yogakkars) and in conflict deposited keys of the temple in Cochin Tirumala Devaswom in 1829 AD. Thus, the temple came under the administration of Cochin Tirumala Devaswom and the cold war started between the Cochin and Ernakulam members. The community in Ernakulam objected to the administration of Cochin Tirumala Devaswom, and declared independence. In 1877 AD, the governance was handed over back to members in Ernakulam. The temple was again renovated and prathista mahotsav was conducted in 1897 AD.
The temple pond with "arattu mandapam"& The gopuram













The 250th year of the first Prathista was celebrated in 1977 AD and an attractive Gopuram was constructed in front of the temple at the entrance from the TD Road to commemorate this occasion. The Gopuram was inagurated by Srimad Sudheendra Thirtha Swamiji of Kashi mutt on 15 Jan 1977.
The temple pond is at just outside the main temple on the left side of the main entrance. The "Arattu mandapam" at the center of the tank is for taking the Lord for Snanam or Bath on the last day of the Annual temple festival.

Adherence to Religion :

One of the most important features of the community is their adherence of their religion and preservation of their religious worship by building temples to cater to the needs of the community in towns and villages they settled.
In the installation of images in most of the Gowda Sarswat temples, the Gowda Saraswats were actuated by the motive of propagating the Venkateswara Cilt. Thus it is that the Image Lord Venkateswara is installed in these temples. A research conducted in the records kept in the Regional Office of the Kerala State Archives; Ernakulam' it was found that the Worship of Venkateswara as the presiding deity in the temples of Gowda Saraswats, originated from the Cochin Thirumala Temple. In one of the records kept in the Archives Department of Kerala (Thirumala Devaswom record series 10, dated 1023-5-10 M.E. Memorandum submittedto the british Resident of Travancore) it was stated that the view current amongst the people that the Image of Lord Venkateswara was bought first from the konkan District to Cochin is incorrect. It was after the settlement of the Konkanis (Saraswats) in Cochin abandoning their native land Konkan, SrimadVijayandra Tirtha Swami of Kumbakonam Mutt cameover to Cochin and made a temporary stay there. The Mahajanams of Cochin who were then having link with the Kumbakonam mutt came to know that a miraculous Image of Lord Venkateswara was with the Swamiji and wanted the Image should be installed in Cochin Temple as the main deity. When the Swamiji found that the people would get prosperity and happiness if the image of Lord Venkateswara was installed and worshipped in Cochin temple the Swamiji acceeded to the request made by the Cochin temple Mahajanams for installation if the image in Cochin temple itself. The wishes of the Swamiji that the Image should be given a bath in gold coins, "Kanakabishka" were fulfilled by the Mahajanams and the gold coins handed over to the Swamiji by the Mahajanams, and the Image was permanently installed in the Cochin temple as the main deity of the Sarswaths. Gradually Saraswats residing in other parts of Kerala also installed Image of Lord Venkateswara as the presiding deity in their temples. It was stated, "that from this first estalblishment serveral other pagodas have been formed and settled in different disticts and the said Thirumala Devaswom (Cochin TD Temple) has like wise co operated in building and supporting them, as well as directing their several duties in it, and in assisting the individuals to carry in their business in life (taken from Thirumala Devswom records, state archives , Ernakulam Para 2 & 3 of the respresentation dated 23-6-1820).

STORY OF THE COCHIN VENKATESHWARA DEITY

Sri Vijayindra Tirtha of Kumbakonam mutt gave this magnificent idol of Lord Venkatewara to the GSB community at Cochin.
During 15th Century AD, the Vijayanagar Kingdom was ruled by a pious king Saluva Narasimha, one of the popular royal dynasties of ancient India. This king was an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati and used to visit the temple by walking up the hill for worship. When the king became old, and incapable to walk, it is said that the king's prayers were answered by the Lord.

One day a sculptor appeared before him and agreed to make an idol of the Lord for his daily worship. The king gave the sculptor the required materials for making the idol and the sculptor shut himself up in a room. As he did not come out of the room even after a reasonably long period, the room was broken open only to see the idol of the Lord, the sculptor missing. It is believed that the Lord himself came as the sculptor and the idol is considered as Swayambhu or self born. The king built a temple for the idol and he was instructed by the Lord in his dreams to consecrate the idol during the auspicious time, when the heavenly drums dundubhi would be heard. As fate would have it, some crows happened to fly over the royal drums with twigs in their beaks and the twigs accidentally dropped on the drums producing a sound, which was mistaken for the auspicious hour indicated by the Lord. The idol was duely consecrated at that hour which was inauspicious.The grief stricken king was pacified by the Lord in his dreams that He would remain with him till his death, after which he would leave for a place by name Gosripuram. After the demise of the king, a great fire broke out in the kingdom and the idol was thrown into a dilapidated well. As the legend has it, Swami Vijayendra Thirtha of Sree Kumbhakonam Mutt who happened to traverse that region during one of his tours, is said to have been led by a serpent to the well wherein the idol of the Lord was deposited. The Swamiji recovered the idol from the well and started worshipping the idol along with his other idols. Swami Vijayendra Tirtha visited Cochin and performed Chaturmasa Vrita among the Gowda Saraswat Brahmin Community of Cochin. Upon seeing the radiance of the idol, the community of Cochin under the leadership of Sri Mala Pai, requested the idol from the Swamiji.

The Swamiji agreed to hand over the idol in exchange for a heap of gold coins that would immerse the idol. All the gold coins brought in by the wealthy Mala Pai could cover only the body of the idol and not its tip. It was presumed that the Lord did not want to stay at cochin as a property of an individual. Only gold coins and ornaments brought in from the home of every community member could cover the tip of the idol. Kanakabishekam, a symbolic ritual of this immersion of the idol in gold is performed to the Lord even to this day during any special occasion