Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple Of Kerala: An Enchanting Place Of Divinity

Navrangindia.blogspot.com August 27, 2026

Ae Ambalapuzha Sri Parthasarathy temple,
keralatourism.com
 

Inside Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple.Kerala
blessingsonthenet.com

Sri Krishna Temple Ambalapuzha. temple tank-Kulam,
 Kerala, en.wikipedia.org

Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple, a Hindu temple in Alappuzha, Alappuzha district of Kerala, is a popular one. An ancient symbol of heritage, it is said to have been built by the ruler of the land, Chembakassery Pooradam Thirunal-Devanarayanan Thampuran around 790 BC (during 15th–17th BC).

Idol of Sri Krishna  Ambalapuzha
myoksha.com

The presiding deity in the sanctum - Sreekovil Parthasarathy (Lord Vishnu), is  in his  traditional warrior form with a whip in  right hand and a conch in the left. The Sankam or Sangu (conch) is a symbol associated with Lord Vishnu and His many incarnations. Closely linked to the Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple, Guruvayoor, Ambalapuzha Sree Krishna Temple is a rare Vishnu temple with its presiding deity wielding a whip,un seen in many states.

Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna Temple
stepwell en.wikipedia.org

It is interesting to note that during the raids of Tipu Sultan of Mysore in 1789, who was known to hate the Hindus in his early periods of his rule, the rare idol of Sri Krishna from the Guruvayoor Temple, was brought to the Ambalappuzha Temple for safe keeping. The payasam  - prasadam served in the Ambalappuzha Temple is  so famous  that visitors  throng the counter to get the prasadam. It is a sort of sweet  pudding, gently watery made of rice and well boiled milk. It is strongly believed that Sri Krishna himself comes to this temple daily to partake of this wonderfully tasty Paal Payasam

Entrance of Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple.
en.wikipedia.org

There is a legend behind paal payasam. Sri Krishna, in the guise of a sage, challenged the local ruler, who was an expert in Chess or chaturanga. The king accepted the challenge and upon some deliberations, the sage told the king that if he won the game, being  a mere hermit, he just needed a grain in the first square and in multiples in subsequent squares. The rich king, though unhappy, agreed and began the play. As the sage had begun to win every square, the grains of rice multiplied and in the 20 th square, the grains multiplied to one million grains and in 40th square it multiplied in geometric progression and in the 64-squared chess board, the number stood at  18,446,744,073,709,551,615 - running to trillions of tons of rice. Lord Krishna, upon seeing the king's precarious position, appeared in true form and asked  him not to pay the debt immediately but could pay him over a period. The king would serve paal-payasam (made of rice) in the temple freely to the pilgrims every day until the debt was paid off.

The famous Ambalapuzha temple festival, also referred to as  the  Champakulam Moolam water festival, first established in the 15th century by the Chembakassery Devanarayana Dynasty, is conducted with great joy and fanfare  every year on the Moolam day of the Midhunam month of the Malayalam era.

The important Arattu festival, that commences with temple flag hoisting ceremony on the Atham star in Meenam (March-April), takes place on the Thiruvonam day of the same month. In this temple 'Pallipana' is performed by 'Velans' (sorcerers) once in twelve years.

Lots of people visit this beautiful temple with impressive architecture. Devout Hindus from Kerala and neighboring states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka visit this holy temple as part of their pilgrimage tour. 

Ref:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambalappuzha_Sri_Krishna_Temple
     
http://hindubooks.org/temples/kerala/ATempleOfSerpents/index.htm

https://myoksha.com/ambalapuzha-srikrishna-temple


K. N. Jayaraman (Author: navrangindia.blogspot.com)