- Koodalmanikyam Temple
Koodalmanikyam Temple or Kudal Manikkam Temple is an ancient
Hindu temple inIrinjalakuda , a small town inTrissur district ,Kerala ,India . Koodalmanikyam Temple has two unique features: the temple holds the image of only one deity even though most large temples in India have several; and it is also the only temple in India dedicated to the worship of Bharata ("Lord Sangameshwara"), the brother of LordRama .The temple is one of four in Kerala that form a set called
Nalambalam , with each temple dedicated to one of the four brothers in theRamayana epic:Rama , Bharata,Lakshmana andShatrughna .Ponds
Four vast ponds surround the temple. The two largest are "Kuttan Kulam", located outside the compound on the eastern side, and "Kulipini Theertham", located inside the compound. "Kulipini Theertham" is believed to be sanctified by the sage
Kulipini Maharshi , who held a great ritual sacrifice, a yajna, at the spot.Annual festival
The temple holds its chief annual festival for ten days each year in the month of Medam (April/May). The first day of the festival is calculated by the appearance of the Uthram
asterism , and signified by hoisting a ceremonial flag. (The start day falls one day after the famousThrissur Pooram festival in nearbyThrissur .)Each day of the festival, a
seeveli (procession of caparisoned temple elephants) is held twice, one in the morning and once at night, to the accompaniment ofPanchari melam (sacred music). Seventeen elephants take part. Two features of the seeveli are unique to the Koodalmanikyam Temple: first that two baby elephants are included in the procession, one standing on each side of the elephant carrying the deity. Second, while the headdresses ('Netti pattam' inMalayalam ) of seven elephants are made of pure gold, the rest are made of pure silver.The last two days of the festival feature
Panchavadyam (sacred music from an orchestra of five instruments), and the festival ends at the Thiruvonam asterism.Travel to Koodalmanikyam Temple
* Nearest local railway station -
Irinjalakuda 10 km
* Nearest main railway station -Thrissur 21 km
* Nearest city -Thrissur - 21 km
* Nearest airport -Cochin International Airport - 40 kmee also
*
Nalambalam
* Bharata
*Ramayana External links
* [http://www.koodalmanikyam.com/ Temple website]
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