Thirunellai

This temple houses the Poorna Pushkala Sametha Hariharaputhra Swamy (Ayyappa). This temple has a belief that is said to be some 300-400 years old where the place was used for agriculture by then. It is said that a lady farmer used a stone for sharpening her tool. The stone began to shed blood and was later identified as a Swayamboo (self-grown) idol of Lord himself.

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Poorna Pushakala Sametha Hariharaputhra Swamy, the deity in our village. (Hariharaputhra with Poorna and Pushkala) Lord Hariharaputhra (Son of Hari [Lord Vishnu] and Haran [Lord Shiva]) or Lord Ayyappa. The devotees of Ayyappa call him by several favorite names that include, Dharmashasta (one who established Dharma), Manikanta (born with a bell on the neck) etc. This picture is uthsavamoorthi (festival idol) decorated with flowers and taken in theru (wooden cart) and taken through out the village as part of annual 9 day celebration.

രഥോത്സവം 2009 ചിത്രങ്ങളിലൂടെ Thirunellai Theru Photos for the year 2009 are available here. Click the PLAY button displayed down and the photos can be seen. Click here to view in Google Picasa If anyone has more photos to share, please share it with webmaster at tlananthu@gmail.com

Part 1 Part 2 Many thanks to Hari for posting this video in YouTube.

Thirunellai, (an ancient village) is well connected by road with the town of Palakkad . It is 4kilometers away from town's KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation) bus stand. The easiest method of travel is by means Auto Rickshaw/Tuk Tuk (as westeners prefer to call). You need to bargain the fare before you start your journey. Be sure to tell that you are travelling to the village and not further. Route from Coimbatore side Route from Ernakulam side Public buses also transit from town to Thirunellai. (Coming soon-Bus timings) Locate route in map (Follow either the red or blue line from KSRTC bus stand to reach Thirunellai) View in Google Maps To view the ariel view of Thirunellai Gramam, click here .

The Thirunellai in Palakkad, Kerala in South India is a small village located in the banks of the river nila/kannadi. It is about 4 kilometers from Palakkad Town. It is part of Palakkad Municipal Corporation limits. View Larger Map Like the 18 gramams/agraharams/villages in Palakkad Town, Thirunellai also is inhabited by Brahmins who are descendants of those who have migrated from TamilNadu. They are called as Tamil Brahmins / Kerala Brahmins synonymously. The brahmins who settled in Thirunellai on the banks of the river nila or kannadi, where vaishnavites (devotees of Lord Vishnu). Out of the 18 gramams in Palakkad, Thirunellai and Pallipuram are settled by Vaishnavites, whereas the rest by Saivaites. Though there is no direct proof of the time of settling in Thirunellai, it could have been a most recent when compared to the other gramams. Most probably the settling was about 200-300 years before 20th century. The gramam at present consists of nearly 150 houses arranged in