Even though the snow-covered Wayanad dawn stopped me as much as possible, I loved Wayanad trips a little more and opened my arms with love and prepared for another trip.
Are you ready to join?
OK, but let’s go.
Today we visit two great temples – Thrissileri Mahadeva Temple and then Tirunelli Maha Vishnu Temple.
[“To the Tri-Thiru Sannidhis. “i.e. to the Trissileri-Tirunelli or Sankara-Narayana Sannidhis. ] On that journey, we get to know the heartbeat and tranquility of Wayanad villages; Then you can experience the wildness of the Wayanad forests. And you can buy unadulterated good authentic Wayanad forest products from that tribal community in Tirunellikkat. The Thrissileri temple and its surroundings were completely silent when we arrived. Like the Kailasam of the snow-covered Mahadeva. When you reach there, you will know that the mind gets cold as well as the body.
Thrissileri Mahatma:
Generally, during darshan in a temple, after offering prayers to its main deity or deity, other sub-deities are worshiped. Is that right?
But Thrissileri’s difference starts from there. Here, after crossing the temple wall, the first thing you see on the left is the sub-deity Jaladurga temple. As the name suggests, this small shrine is surrounded by water for 365 days. This water comes from Papanashinipuzha. This Jaladurga temple is one of the 108 Durga temples where Parasurama was originally consecrated. From there turn right and reach behind the main shrine. There was a pond full of clear water that attracted the entire blue sky. When I washed my feet and walked forward again, the temple of Sri Dharmashasta was a short distance away. The uniqueness of this temple is that it has no roof.
Leaving Shasta’s stables and entering the main temple premises is a beautiful corner view. The mesmerizing beauty of countless sculptures of gods and goddesses carved in granite on the walls of the vast enclosure. For a moment the devotion in our mind will give way to that beautiful visual charm. See, now we are walking in front of those huge twin banana trees in the Ambala compound.
Seven rounds are preferred here. After that we reach the same place where we started the temple visit. That is directly in front of the temple. We enter the main temple after passing the statue of Nandi here. The Shiva Pratishtha in the shrine has many special features. Here the idol is covered by a sphere. That sphere is changed only during Abhishekam. Similarly, we can see a large part of the idol stone extending outside the sanctum sanctorum. Perhaps, we will not see this sight in any other temple.
Before performing pitrukarma at Tirunelli temple, offerings like lamp, garland, payasam etc. should be made in the barn of Thrissileri Mahadeva. It is believed that this temple houses the lamp that should be placed on the pindapara while performing pitrukarma at Tirunelli temple. Similarly those who take ashes, bones etc. are not allowed to enter this temple here. It is believed that the ceremonies performed in Tirunelli are incomplete without worshiping the Thrissileri deity. After darshan he came out and walked to Nagakavi on the right side outside the wall. The distant view of Thrissileri temple from here is beautiful. When you enter the Thrissileri temple, you will feel a lot of peace in your mind. It may be because it is away from the hustle and bustle of the city, in a vast environment, without the bleeding of antiquity, without even a touch of modernity, or because a kind of reverent silence plays around. Whatever peace of mind you expect from a temple visit, you get it 100 percent here. Sure
Later we continued our journey to Tirunelli. Enjoying the rural beauty unique to Wayanad. As usual, that constant companion of the morning walk approached slowly. No one else. Hunger itself. Everyone, including the children, was in high spirits after eating delicious idli and dosa with good coconut milk from the same hotel in Kattikulam town where we stayed earlier.
From here the journey to Tirunelli is through Kodumvanam. If you are lucky, you can see elephants and bison in abundance. Also, you will be greeted by beautiful scenery on the left side throughout this journey.
After sharing all the details, while going like that, there was a mother and child on the left side of the road; A little later, another catch. The mother’s position is to hide her little girl as much as possible from us, taking care not to catch our eyes under any circumstances.
The scene was excitedly captured on video. Then, happily, the mobile was placed on the dashboard. That’s when our Kutappai’s voice came from behind. “Oops…the video doesn’t seem to be on”. Shocked, I looked at my mobile phone. Ok, there’s a little problem. In his happiness to see Kutyana, he forgot to press the ‘record’.
Anyway, after going a little further and turning the car around, we came that way again. Luckily, there are elephants grazing there as well. This time he made sure twice that the ‘record’ was squeezed. If you are in doubt, check it out yourself.
Then, continuing the journey, within a few minutes we reached Tirunelli Temple. The traffic is relatively less. Maybe it was because of that heavy rain the day before.
Tirunelli Maha Vishnu Temple: Nestled in the lap of the majestic Brahmagiri mountain range. Also known as ‘Sahyamala Temple’. Truly consecrated by Brahma. On the western side of the temple is the cave shrine of Lord Shiva. Thus, the grand presence of all the trinity arises here. Apart from this, it is the only temple in the world where one can perform all the rituals and offerings from one’s birth to one’s death and even after one’s death. It is believed that when one takes a dip in the ‘sin killer’ that flows from the Brahmagiri mountains, even the sins of birth are washed away. By the deeds performed here, the souls get complete peace, forever.
The structure of Tirunelli temple is very different from the usual Kerala temples. The enclosure here is made of heavy stone pillars and stone slabs. The floor is paved with polished stones. It almost seems to stick to a Tamil style of production, at first glance.
But now, this temple is undergoing radical restoration. That too entirely using Krishna Shila, at a cost of Rs 8 crores.
When I saw the surrounding ruins that were almost completely demolished, I felt a worry in my mind without knowing it. There is also a doubt that this renovation should have been done by completely demolishing that ancient structure. Legend: Once during his journey, Lord Brahma happened to descend on these mountains and then saw the idol of Vishnu sitting on a Nelli tree there. On realizing the presence of Vishnu at the place, Brahma installed Vishnu in the form of a quadrilateral and requested Vishnu to stay here forever to remove the sins of human life. Vishnu accepted it happily and said that this sin-killer here will remove all the sins of human birth.
The pooja ceremony here also has some peculiarities. As usual, after 5 daily pujas, the main pujari prepares the materials for one more puja at the shrine. It is for Lord Brahma who arrives at night to perform Vishnu Puja. When we climb the steps and reach the temple courtyard, the sight that immediately attracts us is that ‘stone path’. That history is displayed on a board there so that first-timers can understand its significance. Since it was less crowded, he prayed quietly.
The view of the Brahmagiri hills from Ambalamutham is breathtaking. Unexpectedly, it had rained the previous day and the Kulayata disturbance was severe on that way to the nearby Papanasini. The trek was discouraged by those present as we had children in our group. Not only that, a way should be made for those who have gone there and come back to reach the temple courtyard and watch the Kula Yatams. So, we were forced to postpone this trip to Papanasini.
Let us share with you the details and legends of Papanasini, then Pinapara, Panchatheertham and Gannika temple while doing another Tirunelli Yatra.
We started our return journey through Kananapath. I saw it before it was too late. A large herd of elephants by the road. Ignoring anyone, calmly nodding his head, pulling those green bushes and grazing like that. As we said in the previous section, if we do not disturb them, they will graze in peace. Let’s enjoy that sight which is not enough to see or see.
After some distance we saw ‘Tribal Society’ on the left side of the road. It is a place where genuine forest products collected by tribals are sold. Uncultivated forest resources are abundant. Also, very friendly seller. There are many types of honey. Put little honey, big honey, honey. The price may seem a bit high as it is not adulterated. 2500 per kg minimum. Then there is vaduwa, turamanga, rakta sandalwood powder, narunindi sorbet, ramcham, ginger, njerinijil powder, wayanad kasturimanjal, ginger mittai, tamarind mittai, kuvapodi, kanthari in asal vinegar, ….. and so the long line of forest products.
‘Vaduva’ is a dish prepared in Chundaka. It is very nutritious. Similarly, drinking boiled water is a remedy for urinary tract infection.
Earlier we had seen that tribal society in Muthanga forest but this society in Tirunelli forest was seen for the first time. You must remember one thing. Almost no Net/Google Pay as there is no mobile range here. So, if you want to buy things, keep cash on hand.
At that turn after Kananpath we climb up to the main road. There is a small tea shop on the right side. A small sign “Unniyappam” is also hung in that shop. Unniappam here is very famous. Although the name is unniyappam, it is three times the size of our normal unniyappam. But it tastes better.
Then we continued our journey back with the colors of the sights we saw. After visiting two great temples and then a wild forest trek, this Wayanad holiday was blessed with one more day. See you again in the next part with another day’s travel story.
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with love
Binu Monipally
