The Thirunelli Temple is an ancient temple dedicated to the Lord Maha Vishnu. It is located in the Wayanad district of Kerala and is surrounded by pleasing hills and lush green forests. It stands at the height of 900 meters, overlooking the mountainous landscape and thick forests, nestled on one side of the Brahmagiri hills, at the Karnataka border. The Thirunelli Temple is also known as the Sahyamala Kshetram and Kashi of the South. Nelli translates to gooseberry. It is believed that the idol Lord Vishnu was first found resting on a gooseberry tree before the temple was built. Scriptures have been found that indicate that Thirunelly was an important centre of pilgrimage during the rule of the Chera king, Bhaskara Ravi Varma.
While reaching the premises of this temple, you will experience tranquility. You will get refreshed with calm and peaceful surroundings covered with lush green forest. The Thirunelli temple is constructed as per ancient temple architecture. The rituals in this temple are performed on the banks of stream Papanashini, which originates from the Brahmagiri hills. The stream is considered to have medicinal powers. You can also see a holy rock in this temple, where people used to pray for their forefathers. On the western side of the Thirunelli temple, you can see the cave temple Gunnika. This temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Thus Thirunelli is blessed with the trinities – Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma. Near to the Papanashini stream, you can sight Panchatheertham, the sacred pond. It is believed that five streams met here in ancient times. You can see dense bushes surrounding the pond and also a foot imprint of Lord Vishnu in a stone slab at the centre of this pond. In the summer season, the pond becomes dry.
There is no entry fee as Thirunelli Temple is a place of religious significance. The temple is open from 5:30 AM to 12 PM and then again from 5:30 PM to 8 PM on all days of the week. The Thirunelli Temple hosts special pujas and festival celebrations on certain auspicious days. The events are the best time to witness the temple in its full glory. The list of events and festivals can be found on the temple’s website. The festivals of Vishu, the Malayalam new year, and Shivratri are important festivals that are celebrated with much enthusiasm by pilgrims and temple priests. Because of its history of being an ancient pilgrim site, and the natural beauty within which it sits, the Thirunelli temple is a favoured religious as well as tourist destination.
History of Thirunelli Temple, Wayanad
The name Thirunelli derives from the word nelli, the Malayalam/Tamil equivalent for Indian gooseberry (Amla) tree. Once when Lord Brahma while traversing the world, saw an idol of Lord Vishnu resting on an amla tree in the valley and thus the place came to be named Thirunelli. In Padma Purana (written by Veda Vyasa) there is mention of a beautiful Vishnu temple located in the picturesque Sahya valley deep in the middle of the forest. Thirunelli temple is also referred to as Amalaka temple and Sidha temple.
History depicts Chera king Kulasekharan as the founder of this temple. He lived between A.D 767 and A.D 834. After a brief reign, he relinquished the throne and started missionary work to propagate Vaishnava order. It was he who wrote the Sanskrit work Mukunda Mala in which he earnestly prays to Lord Vishnu to instill in him devotion. On stylistic grounds this looks like a typical Kerala temple. The inner sanctorum is surrounded by a tile roofed structure. And there’s an open courtyard around the sanctorum. At the east, in front of the entrance is a granite lamp-post. Curiously enough the flag post is absent, though one can spot a hole on the floor where it ought to be.
Festivals Celebrated in Thirunelli Temple, Wayanad
One of the widely known festivals of Thirunelli includes the Thirunelli Festival, which happens to be a two-day annual festival of Sree Thirunelli Devaswom. The festival takes place in the month of April. The other famous festival of the place is Bali Karma, which is held during new moon days in the months of July and August (known as karkidaka), in the month of October and November (known as thulam) and in the months of February and March (known as kumbham). In Bali Karma devotees perform rituals (bali) for the departed souls. Puthari, Sivarathri, Navarathri, Sreekrishna Jayanthi and Chuttuvilakku are a few other festivals celebrated in Thirunelli.
How To Reach Thirunelli Temple, , Wayanad
Thirunelli Temple is situated at an altitude of 3000 feet and can be accessed by driving through three wildlife sanctuaries. The temple can be reached from Mananthavady or Kalpetta. In case someone would like to travel through rails then the nearest railway station is at Mysore. For the ones who want to travel by air then Kozhikode International Airport, Coimbatore International Airport, Bengaluru International Airport and Kannur International Airport are the ones to bank upon. They are 120 km, 242 km, 290 km and 58 km, respectively.
