Thrikkakara Vamanamoorthy Temple, Thirukatkarai
Thirukkaatkarai
Photo: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
Considered the mythic origin-place of the Onam festival; a rare Vamana shrine.
Sthala Purāṇam
Thirukkaatkarai (Thrikkakara), near Edappally in Kochi, Ernakulam, is the 67th Divya Desam and among the rare temples in India dedicated to the Vamana avatar. The deity, Kaatkarai Appan (Thrikkakarayappan), stands (Nindra Kolam) facing south, depicted as Vamana about to set his foot, with consort Perunselva Nachiyar, also called Vatsalya Valli; the tower is the Pushkala Vimanam and the sacred tank is the Kapila Theertham. The sthala puranam follows the Bhagavata Purana: Vishnu took birth as the dwarf Brahmin Vamana to restore Indra's sovereignty, which the noble asura king Mahabali had won. When the generous Mahabali offered him anything, Vamana asked only for land measured by three of his paces (thiru-kal). Granted this, the Lord grew to cosmic size and strode across the worlds in two steps; for the third, the humble Mahabali offered his own head, and was sent to the netherworld while gaining immortality and the boon to revisit his people each year. The name Thrikkakara derives from thiru-kal-kara, the place of the sacred foot. Nammalvar offered ten pasurams glorifying this shrine in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. The temple is intimately linked to the origin of Onam, celebrated grandly here over ten days in the month of Chingam to welcome Mahabali, with early records of the festival noted in the temple.
Mangalāśāsanam — the Āḻvār pāsurams
The Lord Kaatkarai Appan (Vamana) with Perunchelva Nayaki (Vatsalyavalli) of Thirukkaatkarai is glorified in 11 pāsurams by:
The Thrikkakara Vamanamoorthy Temple (Thirukkaatkarai; deity Kaatkarai Appan, a form of Vamana/Trivikrama) is a Malai Nadu Divya Desam glorified by Nammalvar alone, in the Thiruvaimozhi 9.6 decade (about 10-11 pasurams, including the closing phalasruti at 9.6.11). Nammalvar names the place Thirukkaatkarai, the Lord Kaatkarai Appan, and the Goddess Perunchelva Nayaki / Vaatsalya Valli.
Verses & references (1)
- In the Thiruvaimozhi 9.6 decade Nammalvar glorifies Kaatkarai Appan (Vamana) of Thirukkaatkarai (Thrikkakara), the Lord who measured the three worlds. The decade dwells on the Lord's intimate, melting union with the devotee, and its concluding verse (9.6.11, the phalasruti) promises that those who recite these verses on the Lord of Thirukkaatkarai will be freed of their bonds. In Nammalvar's pasurams the place is called Thirukkaatkarai, the Lord Sree Kaatkarai Appan, and the Goddess Perunchelva Nayaki (Vaatsalya Valli). — Nammalvar, Thiruvaimozhi (Nalayira Divya Prabandham) 9.6 (decade), ~10-11 pasurams; phalasruti at 9.6.11 · source ↗
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