Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple

Each Krishna devotee would love to visit Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple at least once in his lifetime. Located in the Alappuzha district in Kerala, this temple is famous for ‘Ambalappuzha Palpayasam,’ a delicious milky porridge prepared using rice, milk, and sugar.

This marvelous pilgrim center is believed to have been constructed during the 15th and 17th centuries. Parthasarathi carved out of black granite stone is the main idol of Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple. The idol holds a sacred conch in the left hand and a whip in the right hand. Many Hindu devotees visit this temple every day to offer prayers to Lord Krishna and taste the delicious Palpayasam.

Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple has a direct association with the well-known Guruvayoor Sree Krishna Temple. The idol of Lord Krishna from the Guruvayoor Temple was brought to Ambalappuzha temple in 1789 during the raids of Tipu Sultan and kept in this holy site for nearly 12 years. Devotees believe that Guruvayoorappan visits this temple daily at the time of serving pal payasam to taste it. The temple is also associated with Ottanthullal, a great art performed in Kerala. Kunjan Nambiar, a legendary Malayalam poet first introduced this art form at the premises of this temple.

The Chambakulam Moolam water festival, the annual festival of Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple is conducted on the Moolam star of the Malayalam month Midhunam every year. The flag hoisting ceremony of the Aarattu festival is conducted every year in the Meenam month of the Malayalam Era (March-April) on the Atham star and the Aaraattu celebrations take place on the Thiruvonam star of the Meenam. Pallipana is another important festival of Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple which is celebrated once in 12 years and performed by Velans, a community in Kerala.

History of Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple

The temple holds an extremely fascinating myth behind the distribution of Paal Payasam Prasad aka the rice pudding. It is believed that once Lord Krishna appeared in the court of the then-ruling King in the form of a sage and challenged to a game of chess. The king being a chess enthusiast happily agreed and both parties proceeded to decide the prize in case of their winning.

The sage wanted a few grains of rice in case he won; the actual number of grains was decided by the number of squares on the chessboard. It was agreed upon that each proceeding square would hold the exponential number of grains of the preceding square, starting with 1 grain and going on to 2, 4, 16, 256, etc.

The game began and needless to say, the sage won. The king began to give out the prize and on calculation, it was found that the number of grains as per the rules, hugely exceeded the grains in the royal granary. The sage has very wittingly used the concept of geometric progression and outsmarted the king. The final translated number of grains equaled many trillion tons of rice. The king could not, therefore, keep up with his words and was indebted to the sage.

Then the sage revealed his true identity in the form of Lord Krishna and told the king that he could repay over time by serving rice pudding i.e. paal payasam in the temple till the debt was paid off. This is how the temple got to serving paal payasam to its devotees over time.

Dress Code at Ambalapuzha Sree Krishna Temple

The temple follows a traditional dress code. As per rules, it is customary for male visitors to remove their shirts and vests before entering the temple. The women visitors are expected to dress in conventional clothes such as a saree or a suit. Otherwise, the entry is restricted.