Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna Temple: A Unique Temple Where Lord Krishna Is Forever Hungry!

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The 1,500 years old Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna Temple is 8 km away from Kottayam in Kerala. It is located along the coastline of River Meenachil. It is one of the noted temples dedicated to Lord Krishna in Kerala.

The temple has many unique aspects apart from the major one that Lord Krishna is ever hungry here. Let's explore the history and the significance of Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna temple.

Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna Temple History

The history of Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna temple dates back to the period of Mahabharata when the Pandavas were in exile for fourteen years. During that period, Lord Krishna gave them his idol with four arms for their worship (which is now installed in the temple).

When their period of exile was over, the people of that area, said to be Cherthala, requested the Pandavas to part with the idol for their worship, which the Pandavas gladly gave. After some time when the people were unable to continue with their worship of the idol owing to circumstantial issues, they dropped it in the sea.

Many years later, when a saint (some are of the view that it was Vilwamangalam Samiyar while some others say it's Padmapadacharya (disciple of Adi Shankara) was travelling by boat in that area, the boat suddenly got stuck in the water in the middle of the journey. When the saint got into the water to find out the reason, the water in that particular area dried up and he came upon the idol of Krishna there.

While the saint had embarked on his journey towards the West, the waves of the sea took the boat towards the East. On reaching the shore, the saint found a Dharma Sastha temple without an idol and hence he installed the idol of Krisna there in that temple, which later came to be known as the Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna temple.

As per another legend, the Pandavas after their period of exile dropped the idol along with the vessel, Akshya pathra in the sea. The idol then reached the hands of some fishermen, who recovered it and built a temple in a place called Chara Mangalam and installed the idol there. Due to natural calamities, the idol was washed away and landed directly in the vessel (urli). The idol was then recovered by Vilwamangalam Samiyar, who temporarily placed the idol with the vessel in Valiya madam.

The idol was later permanently transferred to the present temple. During those days the people over there could only offer mango pickle and coconut water to the Lord as Naivedhyam (food offering). To this day during the Arattu (the annual festival), the idol of Lord Krishna is taken to the Valiya Madam and mango pickle and coconut water are offered to the Lord.

Another version of the legend goes that the saint , who recovered the idol in the water couldn't proceed further owing to bad weather that he left the idol in an urli(vessel) and went away. Later while returning he found that the idol was fixed in the urli, which belonged to one Kunnan Kari Menon, who donated the land for the temple to be built and completed its construction with the aid of Madappurathu Samiyar. To this day the Ashram of Madappurathu Samiyar offers Pushpanjali (offering of flowers) to the Lord.

Why is the Lord forever hungry in the Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna temple?

In Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna temple, the Lord is ever hungry because he is exhausted after slaying the wicked Kamsa.

Unique aspects of Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna temple

Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna temple is open all 365 days. The temple is only closed for two minutes from 11.58 pm to 12 am. The priest is given the keys as well as an axe to open the door of the temple. In case there is a delay in opening the door with the keys (if it appears to take more than two minutes), the priest has the liberty to break open the door with the axe because Lord Krishna inside cannot tolerate his hunger.

Hence when the Abishekam is over, the Lord's head is first dried and he is offered Naivedhyam (food offerings) only after which his body is dried as he is hungry. There are 10 Naivedhya pujas (food offering pujas) in this temple owing to Krishna's perpetual hunger.

A peculiar aspect of the temple is that even during the time of eclipses, unlike all other temples, the temple is open because Krishna is hungry. Once when the temple was closed during an eclipse and when later opened, Lord Krishna's waist ornament had slipped off his body and fallen down. When Adi Shankara visited the temple during that time, revealed that the ornament had fallen off the Lord's waist as he was very hungry. From then onwards the temple is never closed even during an eclipse.

It is a practice everyday that the priest calls out to the people present if there is anyone hungry before closing the temple for two minutes. This is to make sure that none goes away from the temple hungry. It is a belief that once a person partakes of the Prasadham in this temple, he shall never go hungry as there would be no dearth for food for him.

The temple of Thiruvarppu Sree Krishna is open from 12 AM to 11.58 PM.
Let's thus take the blessings of the Lord to never be struck with starvation for the want of food.