Sree Randumoorthy Temple, Thrikkangode

http://www.thrikkangoderandumoorthytemple.in

The ancient and aesthetic Sri Randumoorthy kshetram is situated at Thrikkangode near Ottappalam in Palakkad district. This is a very unique temple as the presiding deities Shivaa and Vishnu are consecrated in "linga" form in the same sanctum.The srikovil is in a circular pattern. 

The two deities, Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu are facing west. Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu in a same srikovil in itself is a rarest occurrence and such a prathishta, hopefully, cannot be seen anywhere in the world.


The poojas to these two deities are performed separately and never together. Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu are treated as two deities in the same srikovil. In other words, the 'chaithanyas' of lord Siva and lord Vishnu are present separately and harmoniously inside the same garbhagriha.Both the deities are offered with dhara (abhishekam) every day. It is said that in no other temple, lord Vishnu is offered with daily dhara.

Psychic patients are believed to be cured if they perform 'bhajanam' in front of these deities eating only the prasadam from this temple during the period of bhajanam, which can be for a period of 7 days, 14 days, 21 days or 41 days as per the intensity of the disease. 

On the east side of the circular srikovil, there is a wall mural of Goddess Parvathi who is said to be very strong in marriage cases.  "Bhoothathan Thara" has to offer another significant story. Several diseases are said tobe cured on eating the sand from the opening of this thara especially of children.

Inside the mathilakam, situated is another temple exclusively for lord Vishnu (Uchaankode Sri Krishnan), who is very powerful and is again facing west.There is also a prathishta of Lord Ganapathi facing east.  Another lord Ganapathy is upadevan to this lord Vishnu. 

The ailments and hardships of those who are victims to "KAIVISHAM"   is said to be fully cured on drinking a medicinal herb supplied by a nearby Brahmin family. The victims need to offer prayers at this temple before proceeding to the mana.

The water in a well at the northern side of sanctum is connected with the lingams and used only for the pooja purposes and only 'santhi' (priest) is allowed to take water from the well. Other temple employees are prohibited from doing it. The water is said to be very tasty and healthy and had not dried for centuries. The root of banyan tree around the lord Ayyappa sannidhanam is said to have curative powers in skin ailments and diseases related to hair and scalp. It will hasten the growth of hair.

Poojas:

'Mahamrityunjaya homam' for longer and disease free life can be offered along with other poojas and homams.Those who are unmarried can offer prayers to Godess Parvathy and the main deities in the form of 'swayamvara pushpanjaly' and will surely get married soon.

            

During mandala kalam, special pujas and navaka panchagavya abhishekams are performed. The panchagavya is said to be having curative powers if taken inside every day during this period. At the end of mandala kalam, that is on mandalam 41st day, Niramala Mahotsavam is performed for the deities, and it is the ulsavam of the temple. Also Sivarathri, Ashtamirohini, Navarathri etc are performed with right rituals. 

legend:

             

Sri Parasuraman or Bhargavaraman, the sixth incarnation of Lord Maha Vishnu is said to be the creator of the temple and he performed 'Prathishta'. The 'Tanthri' and one of the trustees of the temple belong to Bhargava gothram, which is said to be indicating the relationship between them and Sri Bhargavaraman. 

This medieval temple then was in a state of dilapidation for centuries without pooja and daily offerings and the area was covered with dense forest throughout this period. Then, once upon a time, one 'chathan' and 'chakki', two tribals, were collecting forest wealth and they happened to witness a divine light. They got frightened and ran. 'Chathan' ran towards north and 'chakki' ran towards south and jumped into two ponds. Hence the two ponds came to know with their names and both the ponds can be seen nearby the temple. 

This prompted the people to clean the area and they found two 'swayamboo lingams' and a well north of it.  'Devaprasnam' clarified that the lingams represented Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu. The present Garbhagriha (Srikovil) was built then. The root of the two lingams are said to be so long as to reach a deep well that is 10 meters away.

Architecture:

The sculptural beauty of the temple is to be seen to be believed. The 'Mukhamandapa' or the place where 'vedaparayanam' is offered is abundant with such wooden carvings and sculptures. The wooden carvings of the temple proclaim the divinity of the art. It can be seen that the art is mixture of Malayalam and Tamil art forms.

On the western side of the srikovil, inside mathilakam, there is a grand banyan tree of almost 20-meter circumference and is almost a century old. Inside the trunk is a cave with a single entrance through the roots of the banyan tree.  This is the srikovil of lord Ayyappa who is in the form of 'Kananavasan'. The cave has been naturally formed to house lord Ayyappa and is a divine treat to watch.

The temple now has a website (http://www.thrikkangoderandumoorthytemple.in) where it offers online puja booking for its devotees spread across the world. Website also has a wealth of information about the temple.