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Temple of antiquity
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The temple at Vellayani is believed to be one of the ancient shrines in Thiruvananthapuram.
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"A sage used to meditate under this banyan tree, thousands of years ago. One day, a beggar came up to him and asked for some water to drink. The pot was almost empty. The sage poured the last few drops in the pot into his palm and with a prayer, threw the drops as far as he could. To the beggar's amazement, a lake appeared, growing bigger and bigger. Out of the depths of the lake, arose an idol. The sage lifted it and placed it under the banyan tree."
So goes the legend about the origin of the Vellayani temple.
The temple faces the Vellayani Lake. At sunset, the mournful sound of a conch and the gentle beat of a drum fill the air. "Do you see that palace on the opposite bank?" the guide asks. He points to the vast edifice that houses the Agricultural College. "That was once the palace of the senior Maharani of Travancore."
"The walls would collapse during the construction of the palace. Perturbed by this bad omen, the Maharani consulted her astrologers. The verdict was: "When the Lord does not have a roof, how can the Lord's servant have one?" This cryptic remark was soon deciphered when the palace servants discovered the ruins of an ancient temple. The idol stood proudly on its pedestal but the roof of the sanctum sanctorum had been blown off. As soon as the Maharani restored the little temple, work on the Palace resumed without any problem," the guide says.
The temple faces west, which is rare for Vishnu temples. The idol is in standing posture and has four hands. The hands at the back hold the conch and the Sudarshanachakra. While one hand in the front holds the gada [club], the other is on varada mudra mode.
On the base of the South wall of its mandapam, there is an inscription in vattaezhuthu script. The inscription dates back to the reign of the Venad King, Veera Rama Varman; the year is believed to be 371 M E corresponding to A.D 1196. The inscription registers a gift made by the officers of the King to the Vishnu temple for meeting the expenses relating to the daily offerings of rice and for burning the sacred lamp.
Astrologers, who were associated with the ashtabandha pooja, conducted a prasnam and declared the temple to be more than three yugams old.
Today, the Travancore Devaswom is in charge of the temple. Plans to build a new Ganapathi shrine are under way.
GEETHA NARAYANAN
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Coimbatore
Delhi
Hyderabad
Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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