Moozhikalam and Thirugadkarai.

Left Guruvayur at noon for Ernakulam our final halt and visited the last two divya desams -Moozhikalam and Gadkarai on the way.

Had a very peaceful and long darshan at Moozhikalam that i was denied by the stampeding crowds at Guruvayur ,that pushed me in and out within few seconds.The idols of all the temples i visited so far except for Sri Padmanabha and Adi kesava perumal are all similar and small and generously coated with chandan or bearing a smiling golden face .

Moolavar is Moozhikalathan /Sri Sukthinatha perumal and thaayar is Maduraveni nachiar.

In ancient times Harita maharishi is said to have spent several years in tapas in this place till Bhagwan appeared before him and gifted Sri sookti the samahiti that delineates the rituals to be performed 5 times a day and the benefits that are derived by doing so.

Later Lakshmana is said to have worshipped and consecrated this deity as a prayashchitham for doubting Bharat's intent when the later arrived with his army to Chitrakoot to persuade Rama to return to Ayodhya.Bharat forgave Lakshman with sweet words /moozhi kalam in this very place.People in here refer to the Bhagwan as Lakshman.

Then we reached Thirugadkara the final divye desam in malainadu ,near Ernakulam.It is a beautiful ,huge and serene place and we were in time to witness the evening arti.

Moolvar is known as Gadkarai appan and thayar as Perunselvanayagi. . This Bhagwan is regarded as Vamana.This is the very place where MahaVishnu set his feet on the head of King Bali and pushed him under ground in Vamana avatar.Onam is celeberated with great pomp and grandeur in this temple.
The hustle and bustle of the city outside and the lack of space is compensated by such spacious and quiet temples .

I started this trip by having a darshan of Sri Padmanabha in the huge temple complex at Trivandram ,struck by the beauty of the deity as well as Adi kesava's at Thiruvattaru and wound it by a satisfying darshan of Vamana in sylvan sorroundings atThiru Gadkarai.