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Tiruvilwamala
- Sri Ramalakshmana
Ambalam
The temple at Tiruvilwamala is a standing
monument of the highest spiritual evolution, that
Kerala has achieved. And building, one behind
the other is their another innovative trait
deserving emulation and instant implementation,
and to be sure, it pleased the deities
worshipped here too; for, no one is freed from
egotism, however much altruism overflows their
hearts. This sacred hill temple has many more
plus points that set it apart from others; for, it
lies atop a hill, commanding colourful
picturesque landscape around, heightened by
spectacles of famous river Bharatapuzha
flowing majestically at close quarters, and
abundant growth of gorgeous tall trees at a
distance. Besides this immense wealth of
Nature, the temple's spiritual wealth bids instant
devotion; for, it is enshrining a five-foot high
magnificent Hanuman image to the south of
eastern gateway in the role of kshetrapalaka,
safeguarding the spiritual wealth and growth of
the temple; it is here Amalakan, the son of
Kasyapa Prajapati turned the mischievous
danavas into rocks and succeeded in making
Mahavishnu present eternally; it is here the
celestial architect Viswakarma built a cave
called Punar janani for freeing mankind from the
vicious circle of births and deaths; it is here
Panchapandavas worshipped the brothers for
attaining Sadgati; it is this temple deemed once
as the richest among Kerala temples with one
lakh paias of paddy as income from lands; it is
to this deity several princes vied with one
another in performing sevas with offerings; it is
here Mahavishnu taking the man-lion form -
Narasimha killed an asura for polluting the
precincts with bones of animals he had eaten; it
is here Bilvamangalaswamy appeased the
Lord's anger with stotras; it is in this temple
Parasuram installed the image of Mahavishnu,
granted to him by lord Siva and liberated his
parents together with appointing tantris as
personnel for management of the temple,
besides dwelling here for some time; it is this
temple that was spared from attack by Tippu
due to its location in his friend's territory.
These holy twin shrines built atop the legendary
Vilwadri can be accessible by road on the
western side. They have certain odd features
that set them apart from similar Vaishnava
temples. The temple has no flag staff to begin
with, a rarity, but its contains an unusually huge
pipal tree grown majestically amidst rocks and is
visible for miles and beckons the devotees
coming from afar. A substitute for the
Dwajasthambha, perhaps. Moreover there is no
temple well, and has only a few mini-shrines
inside the complex. At the eastern entrance,
there is a grand shrine dedicated to Hanuman. It
has a five-foot tall imposing image wringing
adoration by its size and pious anjali pose.
Visitors offering prayers here first proceed to the
two Sri Koils. These two are quadrangle in
shape and built of rubble base. They: are
two-storied shrines, the lower part, a truncated
pyramidal shape and the upper adorned with
gabled roofs and shining Kalasas over the
copper plated roofs. The Sri koils are prtoto
type in construction but have a single ·
Pradakshinamarga - circumambulatory path.
Even in the archamurtis, singularities are
striking in their posture, pose, form, etc., except
the size - Sri Rama's image is slightly bigger
than Iakshmana's. As the lakshmana's image
came into existence under extraordinary
conditions by the unstinted devotion of a
spiritual luminary 13hargava Rama, and the
other Sri Rama's being Swayambhu in addition
to receiving Mahavishnu's tejas at the instance
of Amalaka Maharshi, they are worshipped with
unprecedented devotion. Moreover, this
Tiruvilwamala shrine is deemed as the best and
holiest among the three more dedicated to Sri
Rama, others being Triprayar and Tiruvangad
for Sri Rama, and the only one for Lakshmana
at Venmamala near Kottayam. There are two
more mini-shrines built for Ganapathi to the
south. Down below this shrine there is a flight of
stone steps leading the Hariharaputra shrine
who is installed on a charming Vedika flanked
by Siva and Parvathi. Except these, there is
nothing that detains the visitors long.
It lies near Palghat in Kerala, accessible by bus
and train.
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