Shree Varaha temple Azheel, part of Muziris heritage, Kerala.
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| Shree Varaha temple Azheekal, Kerala. muzirisheritage.org |
This Hindu temple, near Pallipalayam in Kerala, is in the area where the Gowda Saraswat Brahmin community of Kerala has been living for centuries. It is near the great Muziris heritage site. This place is 25 kms from Kochi city and 4 kms from south paravoor. There are 31 temples established by them and this temple has all the seven deities venerated by them. These people migrated to this part of Kerala from Goa and other areas centuries ago during the religious persecution (16th century) under the Portuguese rule. Seven of the GSB families settled in Azheekal in the Vypeen island near Cochin. One Krishna Prabhu, a rich trader had two idols of Sree Varaha and Sree Vithoba with him which were temporarily installed and worshiped at this place of worship.
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| Sree Varaha temple Azheekal,piyukamath .blogspot.com/ |
Above image: Established by the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins (GSB -settled in Kerala) in 1565 CE, the Azheekal Sree Varaha Temple is said be the “complete temple” (Sampoorna kshetram in Malayalam) of the nagara type in South India. The temple houses all the seven deities of the Gowda Saraswat Brahmins of Kerala. The presiding deity of the temple is Varaha Moorthy (an avatar of Sri Vishnu). The famous temple ratham (chariot) with a unique architecture. was dedicated to the presiding deities in 1909. The restored temple is now under the care of the Azheekal Varaha Devaswom Board ..........
Sree Varaha Moorthy in Chaturbhuj form with Sankha chakra abhaya varada mudra is the presiding deity of this temple. Sree Venkatachalapathy with Lakshmi Devi and Bhoomi Devi on left/right side is also installed in the Sreekovil (Garbhagriha - Sanctum). Sree Varaha Murthy soon became the Gramadevata of the Azheekal community. Sri Krishna Prabhu donated the lands upon which this temple was built and the idol was consecrated in 1565 AD by Sri Yadavendra Tirtha Swamiji, the first pontiff of Kashi Mutt. The idols in the temple at Azheekal,unfortunately, were stolen in 1723 AD and and were replaced by new idols. After a long period of time, the stolen idols were recovered. The Mahajanas and the families, living in that area donated extensive lands to the temple for upkeep, maintenance, daily (nithya)puja rituals, etc. The temple came to be known as Sree Varaha temple. The temples established by them serve as centers of religious and cultural life of that community, thus preserving their age old tradition, language, worship and aesthetic values. It is under the control of Azheekal Varaha Devaswom Board. The Dwajasthambam was installed in 1900. This temple is famous for Rathotsava - pulling of big Chariot with the deity on the ratha along the rathaveethi (street). The chariot was introduced in 1909 and the rathaveethi was built specifically for ratha procession. This temple takes the credit of being the only Sampoorna Kshetra - 'complete temple' of the Nagara type in South India. Hanuman, Ganapati, Mahalaxmi, Garuda, Shiva, Durga, Yakshi and Nagadevatha are the upadevathas or sub deities in this famous shrine.
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