Sree Tirumala Tatha Lakshmi Narasimha temple- Ullal, Karnataka

Sree Lakshmi Narasimha ( 4th avatar of Lord Vishnu ) temple is in Ullal , a quaint little town situated on the coast of Arabian sea and which is  at a distance of 8 Kms. from Mangalore.  Lord Narasimha with his consort Lakshmi is enshrined here.  This is a GSB temple . There are shrines for Kalabhairava  and Subramanya. This temple is  situated in a  calm and serene atmoshphere.

Some more information is available about this temple  at  gsbkerala .com 

How to reach- Ullal has a  railway station , Mangalore is the biggest town nearby which is easily accessible. Good number of hotels are available in Mangalore town . Check here for other temples in and around Mangalore.

PHOTOS
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNWsr9LzKO1fSy73PEgJJtW44kAMTUSXtTU6Dbf

Damodar temple Zambaulim -Goa

Damodar temple, belonging to GSB community (Gowda Saraswath Brahmins), is dedicated to Lord Shiva and is situated in Zambaulim, 22kms from Madgaon. It is situated on the banks of  river Kushavati . The holy water of the river is believed to cure skin diseases.

There is also an idol of Lakshmi Narayana inside the sanctum. There are shrines for  Goddess Chamundeshwari  and  Siva  on either side of the main temple.  

The enchanting idol of Lord Siva was consecrated at the present site after the Portuguese demolished  the original temple  in 1567. Both Christians and Hindus here rever Lord Damodar.

Accommodation facilities are available in the temple complex for the community members.

For other temples in Goa- view here.

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOpNOou_vrD7gCwz0JbBhqBdADie5o8NOypaWKu

Deepavali - Karthik Poornima Celebrations at Kochi Tirumala Devaswom temple

I enjoyed the recent Deepavali celebrations in Kochi Tirumala Devaswom temple as I got  an opportunity to celebrate it in my hometown Kochi.The temple was opened at 4.45 am and devotees thronged the temple to participate in the early morning worship.

The idol of Lord Venkatachalapathy was given a special abhishekam with perfumed oil known as champel made by soaking scented flowers in oil which was  later distributed among the devotees. Worshipping the Lord by singing devotional songs and performing aarti made of oil wicks  kept in the centre of rice flour balls are also part of the festivities. This is called as Divyan aarti and goes on for about 1 hour in the temple.

Special worship is performed to Tulsi and it is believed that Lord Narayana resides and meditates inside the Tulsi for a  month starting 10th day of Navarathri. It ended on Uthana Dwadashi which was on 18th November 2010. GSB's celebrate the whole month as the Karthika masa. During this period  paper lanterns  known as panjire are hung in front of the houses and lamps are lit in the morning and evening.

On Diwali day, Tulsi in the temple was  decorated well with diyas,( lamps) rangolis, flowers and thoranas made of palm and mango leaves. Special worship for Tulsi is also conducted on Uthana dwadashi  day too and on that day it is believed that Lord Narayana leaves for Vaikunta.

 On Karthik Poornima day, the  Lord is worshipped under the Nelli maram(gooseberry tree). The idols are adorned with garlands made of gooseberries.The legend is that after killing Narakasura, the Lord rested under a Nelli tree.

 A few photographs are displayed below for you to enjoy Diwali - Kartika Poornima in  Kochi temple. I have also added a few snaps of Uthana Dwadashi, Tulsi  pooja  celebrations at my home.

 The aaratu of Lord Venkachalapathi is starting on  Dec 3rd 2010. For a glimpse of April  Chaitra masa aaratu pictures click here.

Uthana dwadashi- Tulsi pooja at home.

Ramnath temple, Bandode, Goa.

Ramnath, is Lord Shiva and He came to be known thus because the idol was installed  by  Lord Rama . This temple of Gowda Saraswath community was in Loutolim first and was shifted to the present location post  Portuguese colonisation . The temple also houses images of Lakshmi Narayan, Kamakshi, Santeri and Siddanath. This temple also has a multi layered deepasthambha and  is maintained very well as  other temples of Goa.

The temple celebrates the annual jatra festival, it is a procession carrying the idol in palanquin around the temple. Have a close look at the last picture. Is it not amazing? I saw this type of  stone work in some of the temples I visited in Tamil Nadu.

Raja Gopalaswamy temple - Kodungallur.

Kodungallur, is  in Trichur district of Kerala and it is  a small town . An  ancient ,  prosperous and famous port  known by the name of Muziri Pattinam which was recently excavated is close by. The excavations have yielded enough evidence to confirm the existence of flourishing trade between Romans and Indians in  beads, ornaments and silks.

Kodungallur is famous for Bhagavathy Amman temple (look for a separate post) but this post is on a GSB  (Gowda Saraswath Brahmins) temple of  Raja Gopalaswamy (Lord  Krishna) which I found was  very  serene and had  a clean  environment. Cleanliness is next to Godliness,  is very much reflected in this temple. The temple walls have beautiful paintings from Ramayana, Krishnaavatara and Dasavathara.

How to reach:

Irinjalakuda is the nearest railway station. Nearest airport is Nedumbassery International airport. Plenty of buses ply from different parts of the state.

 For accommodation one can stay either at Trichur (30Kms) or Ernakulam (35 Kms) where many hotels suiting to every one's budget and tastes are available.