• Vishnu

Sri Krishna Temple

Overview


Sri Krishna Temple is located in Ambalappuzha which is a small town in the Alappuzha district of Kerala. The place is most popular for this ancient Krishna temple, which was built by the local ruler called 'Chembakasserry Pooradam Thirunal Devanarayanan Thampuran' in 790 AD. It is said that when Tipu Sultan raided cities and towns around that place in 1789 AD, the idol of Lord Guruvayurappan from the Sri Krishnsa temple, Guruvayoor was brought to this Ambalappuzha Krishna temple for safe guarding it.


About The Temple


During the fifteenth century, a part of the Travancore was ruled by the Chembakassery Devanarayana Dynasty whose rulers were so religious. They decided to bring an idol of Lord Krishna from the Karinkulam temple to the Amabalapuzha Sree Krishna Swamy Temple. The festival celebration starts with the commemoration of bringing of this Sri Krishna idol. This is also referred to as the Chambakulam Moolam water festival. This festival is conducted every year on the Moolam day of the Mithunam month of the Malayalam calendar. One other festival is the Aaraattu festival which commences with the flag hoisting ceremony on the day of Atham star in the malaylam month of Meenam (March to April). The important Aaraattu festival takes place on the Thiruvonam day of the same month. Pallipana is performed in this temple once in twelve years. Human sacrifices were made in ancient times. However, cocks have now replaced humans on the sacrificial altar.


About the Deity


Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Krishna who is one among the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu. The idol of the deity here is similar to Parthasarthi, with a whip in the right hand and a Shankhu (sacred conch) in the left.


Legend and Stories


The temple is very famous for its 'paayasam' (a kind of sweet pudding made of rice and milk) which is served as the prasadham. There is also an interesting legend behind it. It is said that Lord Krishna once appeared in the form of a sage and challenged the local king to a game of chess (chaturanga). It was decided that the loser of the game would pay rice to the winner as a penalty. The quantity of rice grains would be determined using the chess board in a particular manner as described. One grain of rice would be placed in the first square, two grains in the second square, four in the third square, and so on. Every square would have double the number of grains of the previous square. The king lost the game to the Lord, and as a result, he had to pay Trillions of tons of rice to the Lord in the end, as the number of grains was geometrically increasing for every square and the chess board had 64 squares. The king didn't have enough grains in his kingdom to pay the Lord. Hence it was mutually agreed that the king would serve paayasam to the devotees of that temple everyday till the debt was paid off. It is believed that Guruvayoorappan visits the temple daily at the time of Palpayasa Nedyam to have it.


Accessibility


Airport

Trivandrum International Airport, which is about 139 km away


Railways

Ambalapuzha railway station is the nearest and is just about 2 km away; Alappuzha station is about 14 km from the temple.


Temple Address


Sri krishna temple,
Komalapuram,
Ambalapuzha,
Alappuzha 688561,
India.

Significance

Devotees visit this temple to seek fulfillment of the following:-

  • Fame
  • Freedom from diseases
  • Wealth
  • Courage
  • Relief from adverse effects from bad planetary aspects
  • Relief from bondage
Shlokas

Achutham Keyshavam Rama Narayanam Krishna Damodaram Vasudevam Harim Shridharam Madhavam Gopika Vallabham Janaki Nayakam Ramachandram Bhajey

Meaning -Oh Lord who cannot be perished, who also has names like Keshava, Rama, Damodara, Narayana, Sridhara, Madhava, Krishna, Ramachandra the beloved of Janaki, let me say your name regularly.

Vasudeva Sutham Devam Kamsa Chanoora Mardhanam Devaki Paramanandham Krishnam Vande Jagathgurum

Meaning -I bow to you O Krishna, the ultimate guru, Devaki and Vasudeva's son, and the destroyer of Kamsa and Chanur.

Adharam Madhuram Vadanam Madhuram Nayanam Madhuram Hasitam Madhuram Hridayam Madhuram Gamanam Madhuram Mathuraa Dhipate Rakhilam Madhuram

Meaning -Meaning - Sweet are Your lips, sweet is Your face, sweet are Your eyes, sweet is Your smile, sweet is Your heart, sweet is Your gait, O Lord of Mathura, everything about You is sweet.

Alokya Mathur Mukha Madarena Sthanyam Pibantham Saraseeruhaksham Sachinmayam Devam Anantha Roopam Balam Mukundam Manasa Smarami

Meaning -I think of this Balamukundan as the one who looks lovingly at his mother's face while taking milk from her, who has eyes similar to the red lotus, who is the embodiment of truth and intelligence and other forms.

Timings

The temple is open on all days of the week from 3:00 AM - 12:00 PM 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

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