Ambalappuzha: Encyclopedia - Ambalappuzha

Ambalappuzha

Ambalappuzha is a small town in Aalappuzha district of Kerala state, south India . The town is famous for its Sri Krishna temple. The Ambalappuzha temple is one of the three important Sri Krishna temples in the state of Kerala.

Ambalappuzha - Famous temple

The Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple is believed to have been built in the in the year 790 M.E by the local ruler Chembakasserry Pooradam Thirunal-Devanarayanan Thampuran.

This temple is directly associated to the Guruvayoor Sri Krishna Temple. During the raids Tipu Sultan in 1789, the idol of Sri Krishna from the Guruvayoor Temple was brought to the Ambalappuzha Temple for safe keeping.

The payasam served in the Ambalappuzha Temple is famous among Hindu devotees. This sweet pudding made of rice and milk has an interesting mythological legend behind it.

Ambalappuzha - Legend of the Ambalappuzha Paal Payasam

According to the legend, Lord Krishna once appeared in the form of a sage in the court of the king who ruled the region and challenged him for a game of chess (or chaturanga). The king being a chess enthusiast himself gladly accepted the invitation. The prize had to be decided before the game and the king asked the sage to choose his prize in case he wins. The sage told the king that he had a very modest claim and being a man of few material needs, all he wished was a few grains of rice. The amount of rice itself shall be determined using the chess-board in the following manner. One grain of rice shall be placed in the first square, two grains in the second square, four in the third square, eight in the fourth square and so on. Every square will have double the number of grains of its predecessor.

Upon hearing the demand, the king was unhappy since the sage requested only a few grains of rice instead of other riches from the kingdom which the king would've been happy to donate. He requested the sage to add other items too to his prize but the sage declined.

So the game of chess started and needless to say the king lost the game. It was time to pay the sage his agreed-upon prize. As he started adding grains of rice to the chess board, the king soon realised the true nature of the sage's demands. By the 20th square, the number had reached one-million grains of rice and by the 40th square, it became one-trillion. The royal grainery soon ran out of grains of rice. The king realised that even if he provides all the rice in his kingdom and his adjacent kingdoms, he will never be able to fulfill the promised reward. The number of grains was increasing as a geometric progression and the total amount of rice required to fill a 64-squared chess board is ((2^64) - 1) which is equal to the number 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 translating to trillions of tons of rice.

Upon seeing the dilemma, the sage appeared to the king in his true-form, that of lord Krishna. He told the King that he doesn't have to pay the debt immediately but can pay him over time. The king shall serve paal-payasam (made of rice) in the temple freely to the pilgrims every day until the debt is paid off.

Ambalappuzha - Ambalapuzha Velakali

Velakali is a group dance held in the open air as an exhibition of the martial feats in front of the raja (king) of Ambalapuzha (erstwhile Chempakassery), who wanted to see how his soldiers had performed in the wars. This show meant to be witnessed by the deity of the temple which is taken out in procession to the courtyard of the temple on a caparisoned elephant. The play consist of a procession in the beginning in which, the dancers walk in line through the village road holding the sword made of rattan in the right-hand and a shield in the left. They move elegantly keeping their pace to the rhythm followed by a hilarious group of villagers encouraging the dancers by jumping and singing and waving small colourful flags. By dusk 'Kulathil vela' or the play on the bank of the tank commences. The dancers take their position on the bank of the temple tank and with weapons in their hands start the play moving their bodies. Their movements get reflected in the water probably reminding one of the war in the sea or rivers. On the other side of the tank the caparisoned elephant with the deity takes position. The dancers do not change their position but exhibit only the swaying of their bodies to the rhythm of Velappara, the main percussion instrument. Then the dancers disperse to assemble again in the southern quadrangle of the temple to start the regular exhibition of the feats. There the deity appears on the elephant. By about 8.p.m 'Tirumunpil vela' or the play before the divine presence of the deity, start.

Now "Ambalapuzha Velakali" is performed every year inside the temple premises during the March-April festival days of Sreekrishna Temple(Ulsavam) except on the first and last days.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Ambalappuzha", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki