Bharananganam is a famous pilgrimage center near Pala (Kottayam District) in Kerala, India. Bharananganam is situated along the banks of famous Meenachil river.
Bharananganamis 5 km from Palai, the place is on Ettumanoor Poonjar state highway. Bharananganam received worldwide attention when Pope Benedict XVI canonized the first saint from an Indian Rite, Saint Alphonsa, on October 12, 2008.
Bharananganam is also known as Dakshina Guruvayoor (Guruvayoor of South) because of the presence of Sree Krishna Swami Temple. The place name is closely associated with this temple. During their vanavasa (exile) Pandavas and Panchali stayed here for some days. On those days Yudhishtira performed Vishnu Pooja here. Yudhishtira decided to perform Dwadasi Pooja on Shukla Paksha Dwadasi day in the Malayalm month of Kumbham. But he had no idols of Lord Krishna to worship. Understanding the difficulty of His devotee, Lord Krishna gave a beautiful idol of Lord Vishnu to Vedavyasa Muni and Narada Muni and asked them to perform the pooja for Yudhishtira. Narada Muni and Vyasa Muni reached the place on the bank of holy Gauna (now Meenachil) river and installed the idol of Lord Vishnu in a suitable place and performed Vishnu pooja for Yudhishtira.
The sages performed abhishekam with Gauna river water. Pandavas and Panchali conducted the Paranaveedal ritual to end their vratha. They stayed there for some more days and later left to another place. While leaving that place they appointed a local Brahmin to conduct daily poojas and gave him the wealth to construct a temple. On that occasion there were not enough water in the river to conduct daily poojas. So Bhima digged a well near to the Lord's idol using his Gada. Later this place became famous as Paranaaranyam means forest where Paranaveedal was conducted. Paranakananam is the equivalent Malayalam word and later became Paranamkanam and after hundreds of years it became Bharananganam. Since the first abhishekam was conducted using Gauna river water, even today the first abhishekam in the early morning is conducted with river water and later with well water.
Sree Krishna Swami Temple
Bharananaganam is well known for Sree Krishna Temple in the banks of river
Meenachil. This is one of the major temple of South Kerala. The east facing Sree
Krishna Swami temple is located 1.3 km away from Bharanaganam junction in
Ettumanoor - Poonjar State Highway. The 8 day long annual festival in Makaram
(January) is a very vibrant event in the whole region commencing with the
hoisting of the temple flag on Makara Samkramam day, and concluding with
‘Arattu’ (Ritual Bath of the diety) on 8th day. Besides the regular daily
rituals the festivities include processions of the deity on elephant’s back to
the suburban villages like Kizhaparayar, Keezhambara, Chittanappara and
bharananganam (on 5 days) the precious ‘Utsava Bali’ (for 6 days) and art and
cultural programs every day. The ‘Arattu’, typical of the 'Arattu' in almost any
temple, is a magnificent night-long ceremony including procession of several
elephants and performances by major percussion teams. The slow-moving procession
of the caparisoned elephants carrying decorative silken umbrellas and other
paraphernalia, illumined by multi-tongued oil torches, is a gorgeous spectacle,
a delightful experience for the participants.
Saint Alphonsa's Tomb
Saint Alphonsa is the first woman saint from India. She lived and died in
Bharananganam. The mortal remains of Saint Alphonsa are kept in a chapel next to
St. Mary's Church. Pilgrims from different parts of South India, especially
Kerala and Tamilnadu, visit the tomb for blessings. The death anniversary of
Saint Alphonsa, which falls on the 28th July is an important day for the
devotees. Every year on this day, thousands of devotees visit this holy shrine,
next to the church where the mortal remains of the saint is preserved, to pray
and seek her blessings..
Nearest Airport - Cochin
Nearest Railway Station- Kottayam
Distance to Cochin/Ernakulam - 75 km
Distance to Kottayam - 32 km
Distance to Pala - 5 km
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