Tiruvilwamala:

The place Tiruvilwamala is situated in Talappilly  Taluk of Trichur district attains great prominence. Vilwadrinatha temple of Tiruvilwamala has a rich heritage in the history of temples.   The place is famous for its serene and picturesque beauty.The hills and the Bharatapuzha river (which is only half a mile from the temple ) adds natural beauty to this place.These hills are called Vilwamala  which is why Lord Sreerama is also called Vilwadrinathan.

Temple’s Origin:

Inside the temple are two shrines adjacent to each other one facing east and the other facing west .  Both are Chaturbahu Lord Vishnu.  But the concept is that it is  Lakshmana’s shrine on the eastern side and  Lord Sreerama’s shrine is the one facing west. The shrine of the west is the one given to Lord Parashurama by Lord Shiva which he himself was worshipping. Parashurama came across this beautiful place constructed a temple and conescrated the deity.  The shrine on the sanctum facing west is swayambhu or self born image. It is almost five feet tall fitted with gold plated cover for the protection of the image.  It is also believed that there is a cave under this sanctum where there is  a golden vilwa tree.  Some are also under the impression that it is because of this, the place came to be called as Vilwamala.

It is said that, when the news of this holy shrine which Parasurama installed, spread widely,  Pandavas too decided to visit this place to conduct the ceremonies for the moksha of their  relatives departed souls. They came to the banks of the River Bharatapuzha( which is also known as the Ganges of Kerala) conducted the ceremonies under the guidance of Lord Krishna.  They built  a temple, there for Lord Krishna, which is now popularly known as Ivormadom Sreekrishnaswamy Temple. The story of the origin of Swayambhu deity in the west is related in Vilwadri Mahatmyam.  According to this, Aamalakan, son of  Kashyapa Prajapati started rigorous tapas to propitiate Lord Mahavishnu.The asuras became panicky.  They thought that this severe penance would bring about their ruin. They tried to create terror in Aamalakan.  Aamalakan opened his eyes which emitted sparks of fire.  The asuras died on the spot.  The heap of the dead was transformed into rock. This is one version as how the name  rakshasapara came into being.  Sage Aamalakan continued his prayer.  Pleased, Lord Mahavishu appeared before him asked his devotee to name any boon.Aamalakan said he desired nothing, but unstinted devotion.  He also requested the lord to remain there for the protection of those who suffer in this world.  Mahavishnu agreed and transformed into a deity. 

The popularity of this two shrines and the power of Lord Mahavishnu increased enormously as a result of which,  the asuras became furious. It is believed that on one ekadasi day, the Asura Kumbhanasika  tried to stir the image on the sanctum on the western side.  Lord Mahavishnu appeared and took hold of Kumbhanasika and other asuras and pulled them into a cave towards the south.  They were locked up there.  This particular place is what  we now call the “rakshasapara”. 

The Upadevas of this temple are Lord Mahaganapathy, Lord Veera Hanuman, Lord Ayyappa with Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvathi on the same pedestal.

Belief:

The popular  belief is that the darshan of both Tiruvilwamala and Tirunavayi on the same day is very auspicious. One can see the lights of Tiruvilwamala  from Tirunavayi which is equal to seeing the deity.  But it was ordained by the Lord that the devotee should come physically to Tiruvilwamala and offer prayers. Legend says that, long ago,  temple preists lighted lamp  on the top storey of the gopuram and some of them went to Tirunavayi  to see if the lights could be really seen from there. They did saw the lamps and showed it to others. The very next day the gopuram was struck by lightning and thunder and was razed to the ground.  The gopuram has not been rebuilt ever since that incident.

  The temple has an enormous courtyard. To the southeast side  of the courtyard is the idol of Veera Hanuman .   There were two instances when fire broke out in this temple. It is well known that after the installation of this idol of Veera Hanuman, such a calamity never arised. This idol has immense power and devotees offer Vadamala, Vettilamala, Aval nivedyam etc to please Anjaneya, the beloved devotee of  Lord Sreerama. To the north west side of the courtyard is the banyan tree.  To circle this tree is very auspicious (arrayal pradakshinam) and to see the lizard in this particular tree is considered as having the darshan of Lord Guruvayoorappan.

Punarjani:

To the east of Tiruvilwamala  temple is a cave, known as the Punarjani. It is believed that trekking through this cave would end one’s cycle of birth and deaths. This cave will be open to the public only on the Ekadasi day in the Malayalam month of Kumbha.

Festivals:

The important annual festival here is Ekadasi.  On this day, hundreds of devotees observe fast and forgo their sleep. They spend their time in temples in prayers and witnessing a variety of entertainment  programmes by famous artists.  It is a belief that Lord Guruvayurappan will come all the way from Guruvayur and visit Vilwadrinathan on this particular day. Niramala, is another great festival which falls in the month of chingam.The lights  and the decoration with flower garlands is one of exquisite beauty. Ramanavami is also celebrated with great splendour.

Some of the other  temples in Tiruvilwamala are Parakkottu kavu. Lord Shiva’s Someswara temple, The temple of Lord Shiva at Killikkurissimangalam was constructed by Dharmaputra, the eldest of the Pandavas. This is the famous poet Kunchan Nambiar’s birth place. Parakkottu kavu Thalappoli is well known.  The fireworks are spectacular and would match upto the fireworks of world famous Thrissur Pooram. 

Famous personalities:

Noted writer Vadakke Koottala Narayanan Kutty Nair (VKN)hailed from this place.  Others are Late. Vengichan Swami, chenda vidwan, Late Kalamandalam Appukutty poduval, maddalam artist and also writers such as Marshal, Manasi ,P.A.Divakarran,Mohan thiruvilwamala,M.Kannan,film&serial producer V.R.Das,film Director Viswanathan,Late Ambalappat Vasunni nambeesan(famous Astrologer)