The Legend behind Tripunithura and the Poornathrayeesa Temple

Tripunithura, a satellite town of Kochi City is just 10 kilometers away from the heart of the city and has its own reputation as the cultural centre of Kochi. Being the capital of erstwhile Kochi princely kingdom, it still houses many ancient structures such as palaces, clock tower, temples etc. Ruins of load rests and sheds that used to serve drinking water to the travelers during ancient days.

It is believed that the Poorna Veda Puri, mentioned in many Sanskrit texts is Tripunithura. The river that flows in between Tripunithura and Poonithura is believed to be the Poorni River which has a mention in Hindu epic Ramayana. There are several legends for deriving the name Tripunithura. One says that since it is on the bank of Poorni River, it got the name Poornithura which means banks of Poorni in local language Malayalam first and later it got corrupted to Poonithura.

Lord Poornathrayeesa Idol

Another legend for deriving the name is connected with Arjuna, the third Pandava. At the end of Dwaparayuga, Lord Krishna has handed an idol of Lord Vishnu to Arjuna. The idol was being worshiped by Lord Krishna himself. He asked Arjuna to install the idol at some serene place. Arjuna started his journey to find an ideal place carrying the idol in his quiver and he reached on the banks of Poorni River. Not so far from the river he found a pond. He went there and had a bath. Before entering the pond, he opened his quiver which is called ‘Pooni’ in the local language and kept the idol on the sand. The place where Arjuna opened his quiver or ‘Pooni’ became pooni thura which means opened the quiver.

Whatever it may be the original name of the place was ‘Poonithura’. Later the King of Kochi shifted his capital from Thrissur to Poonithura. He selected the vast place on the eastern side of the river and constructed fort, palaces and trenches to make it his capital. When the King started staying there the place is come known as Thiru Poonithura where the prefix ‘thiru’ is used as a symbol of respect. Later it became Tripunithura.

After taking bath, Arjuna started worshipping Lord Ganesha and he appeared in front of him. Arjuna asked for a favor from Ganesha. His request was to help him to find a suitable place to install the idol. Extending his help, Lord Ganesha went to search for a place. Not so far from the pond he found an ideal place, but decided to sit there himself rather than informing Arjuna about the place. After waiting for a long time Arjuna came out of the pond and started searching for Lord Ganesha. To his fury he found him sitting at a place which was serene.

Even after repeated requests from Arjuna, Ganesha was not ready to move from that place to facilitate the installation of the idol. Angry with that Arjuna kicked him on the back after reciting Ganesh Prayer. God always loves to be the slave of a devotee who worships him selflessly. Pleased with the sincerity of Arjuna Ganesha allowed him to kick and in the force he moved to another direction. When the particular place got vacant, Arjuna installed the idol there.

Thus the idol at Poornathrayeesa temple is the one which has been worshipped by lord Krishna himself and being installed by Arjuna. The pond where Arjuna took bath is come to known as Arjuna Theertham and it is still there within the compound of the temple.

Padinjare Nada, the oldest structure in the temple premises

Poornathrayeesa temple has many special features. The oldest structure in the temple premises is the Gopuram or the huge entrance gate on the western side. This is believed to have constructed by Mayan, the architects of Asuras or demons in a night. Whatever it may be it is an example for the architectural excellence of past. Unlike many other temples in Kerala, Poornathrayeesa temple does not have sub temples or ‘Upakshethras’. Moreover, it has the tallest flag mast covered with gold in Kerala. Another special feature of this temple is the different types of festivals held here and the legends behind those festivals.

Usually, the Temples in Kerala used to celebrate only one festival, but here there are several festivals. Moosari utsavam or the festival of brazier is one such festival. The legend behind is about the devotion of a brazier who has assigned with the work of making an idol of Poornathrayeesa. He made the trunk part of the idol first and then made the head. However, he could not join both the parts even after continuous efforts which lasted for several days. Depressed with this he busted in to tears and prayed ‘Koottu koodente Poornathrayeesa’ which means in local language to join together. Just after the prayer both parts of the idol got joined and the brazier too got dissolved with the idol. Moosari utsavam is being celebrated to commemorate this incident.

Similarly, there is a Nangeli Utsavam or the Festival of Nangeli. The legend behind this is a great romantic story of an innocent Brahmin girl who fell in love with Poornathrayeesa. She was so fond of the lord that she never missed a chance to visit the temple. As the time passed her marriage has been fixed with a boy who stayed in a faraway place. Depressed with the thought that she could not visit the temple after the marriage, she went to the temple and prayed to help her. It is told that all the bells in the temple rang at the same moment and people saw Nangeli entering the sanctum Santorum of the temple. After that nobody has seen her. It is believed that lord has accepted her. Festival of Nangeli is to celebrate this incident.

Then comes the ‘Ambalam Kathiya Utsavam’ to commemorate the incident when the temple gutted in fire once. On that day the entire compound of the temple will filled with camphor and will light the same at a time. Thousands of devotees gather every year to see this.

Scene from Vrischikotsavam

However the most attractive festival is the Vrischikotsavam or the Festival in the Malayalam Month of Vrischikam. This is an eight day festival which has been started as an entertainment on the orders of a king of Kochi. During these eight days neither the temple nor the denizens of Tripunithura will sleep. The temple premises will be filled with some programs or activities around the clock on these days. Different cultural programs, procession of caparisoned elephants, drums etc are the main attraction of this festival. Usually this festival falls between November 15^th to December 15^th every year.