Triprayar - Rama Temple

Sri Rama temple, Triprayar, Thrissur district, Kerala

• Meditation: I meditate on Lord Rama of Triprayar.

• Triprayar: Triprayar has the famous temple of Lord Rama.

• Legend of Triprayar Rama: Triprayar Rama is associated with the legend of Vakkey Kaimal. According to this legend, Vakkey Kaimal, a local chieftain and an ardent devotee once had a dream in which a person indicated that four idols had been washed ashore in the nearby sea, and each of them are to be consecrated at alloted places. Kaimal went to the seashore early in the morning and found the four idols lying there - of Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Satrughna. He duly installed them in four temples whose locations were directed in the dream - Sri Rama at Triprayar, Sri Bharata at Kutalmanikyam (Irinjalakuda), Sri Lakshmana at Moozhikulam and Sri Satrughna at Payammal.

During the preparation of installation of the Rama temple at Triprayar, an unknown voice told that the idol should be installed in the place above which a peacock would fly in the sky. On the auspicious day however, there was no sign of the peacock. When a devotee appeared holding a bunch of peacock feathers, it was taken as a sign of peacock itself and the pratistha was performed. Later on however, the peacock appeared in the sky and below it the balikkal or altar was installed. The altar kept moving round and round. One day Naronathu Bhranthan, a yogi came there and knowing the cause of the movement, fixed a nail on the balikkal. The movement stopped after that. The place where the nail was fixed can be seen even today.

• Image: The image of Sri Rama has four hands holding Sankha, Chakra, Kodanda (Bow) and Mala (Garland). There are idols of Sri Devi and Bhumi Devi said to be installed by Vilwamangal Swamiyar after he had a vision of the Devis offering prayers to the Lord.

• Festivals: The two famous festivals are Ekadasi in Vrischikam (Nov - Dec) and Pooram in Meenam (Mar - Apr). On the Ekadasi festival Sri Rama is taken out in procession. Many elephants are taken out in this procession. The Pooram festival is celebrated for seven days starting on Makiram asterism in meenam (Mar - Apr) and ending on the Pooram asterism.

• Triprayar is located in the Thrissur district of Kerala.

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