I'm in train now, started from thrissur few minutes back. The travel time utilized for blogging is working out really well, I will as more details along with pictures to these blogs later, but at least now they are helping me document the first draft so that later I do not miss something.
Early morning today, I was supposed to take the 6 am train to thrissur, but I was so tired yesterday that I overslept somehow and I missed my train... :-( little impact on the schedule but thankfully the next train was at 6:45, and I was just in time, at the station, to catch the train. It's a short journey of 30 minutes and the train passes through lush green landscapes of Kerala, mostly coconut groves and some paddy fields.
I got down at Poonkunnam station, a suburb of Thrissur. First I visited the nearby Thiruvambadi temple, dedicated to baal (baby) Krushn. I was lucky to reach there exactly at the morning time elephant procession. Being a smaller temple, I could get quick permission to take some pictures. Built in similar architecture style, this temple is also very old, built in stone and wood. The main deity as I said earlier, a baby, carrying a golden flute in hand.
After visiting the Krushn temple, I continued towards the city center, the grand Vadakkumnathan Shiv temple. I must say, this is on my list of best archeological sites of India! Magnificent example of architecture, mural paintings, stone and wood carving and gardening! Covering a vast area on little elevated grounds than surrounding, this temple has 4 grand entrances. One of them can be seen in the picture. Inside, it has the temple complex and the garden. The garden is very rich and one can find most of those indigenous trees which are mentioned in ancient texts such as Ashvathth, Kadamb, Seeta-Ashok, Parijatak, Arjun, Vat, Bakul, etc. Many of them are centuries old and bring a different feel to the atmosphere. Another strictly followed tradition of allowing only traditional clothes and no electronic gadgets, take you to the dimension where time has no meaning. Few decades ago it would have felt the same as it feels today or centuries ago. The main temple complex consists of three shrines, dedicated to Shiv-Parvati, Shankar-Narayan and Rām. Abode of Rām is square shape and the other two are circular buildings. Rām temple is decorated with mural paintings and the painting style resembles Sigiriya school of murals. The paintings of Tanjore are also similar to these. The paintings on the other walls are damaged and in few places, have been restored. The wood carvings around the Nandi are the most spectacular. It took me around one hour to see all temple details and then visit the garden.
This is it in my 2 hour short Thrissur halt, next journey is by train, towards north. It will take another 2 hours of me to reach next destination, Vadakara. I'm going to the land of Kalari-payattu, an Indian martial art. Exciting... Next blog tonight about my further adventures...