Neyyattinkara Sree Krishna Swami Temple
This is one of the oldest Lord Krishna Temples. One of the important temples of Lord Krishna, the temple is also of great historic importance as well. The temple enshrines Unnikannan (i.e. Lord Krishna in his toddler Stage) in the form of (Navaneetha Krishna) as the presiding deity.
Neyyattinkara Shri Krishnaswamy Temple is supposed to be built in between AD 1750 - AD 1755, by His Highness Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the then maharajah of the erstwhile Indian princely state of Travancore. Situated in a vast land with much greenery, is regarded as the Guruvayoor of Trivandrum district. The temple is built in traditional Kerala architecture and is decorated with beautiful artistic sculptures. The main gopuram (gateway) of the temple displays a beautiful scene from Bhagavad Gita - Lord Krishna offering teaching to Arjuna. The sanctum sanctorum is built in the traditional Kerala style. Now the door to the Shri Kovil is painted with gold. There is a huge Gopuram in front of the Shri Kovil. Inside the main complex, there are the deities of Ganesha, and Dharmashashtha. Outside the main complex, Nagaraja is worshipped. Currently, work has been going on to make a nadappanthal all around the main arena, so that pilgrims could avoid extremes of weather. This is done by advisory committee with the help of devotees of Unnikannan.
The walls of the Sanctum are painted with various pictures, depicting the life of Shree Krishna and various other Gods.
There is an elephant named "Neyyattinkara Kannan" in the temple.
The history/legend behind the construction of this temple is, the then ruler, His Highness Anizham Thirunal Marthandavarma was surrounded by his enemies, arguably the high profile "Ettuveettil Pillamar" while he was near the place where the temple is now situated. The king was trying to hide himself in a safe place. At that time, a small boy was seen there, and this boy advised the king to hide himself inside the hollow trunk of a huge jack fruit tree nearby. The king heeded to this advice and was saved from his enemies. Later, the king tried to ascertain the identity of the boy but could not. The king then strongly believed that it was in fact Lord Krishna/Unnikrishna himself who saved his life and he decided to build a temple for Lord Krishna, as a gratitude, at the exact place where he hid inside the jack fruit tree and thus Neyyattinkara Sree Krishna temple came into existence. The huge jack fruit tree which helped the king save his life came to be known as "Ammachi Plavu" (Mother/Grandmother jack fruit tree, personifying one who protected the king). Until AD 1970-75, the offshoots of the original tree was present bearing a huge amount of jack fruits, but these offshoots had to be cut in order to preserve the actual hollow trunk where the king hid himself. At present, the hollow trunk is in a preserved state (by Archaeological Department) and is visible to all devotees who visit this temple.
Location
Neyyattinkara
Main Deity
Lord Krishna
Other Deities
Shri Ganesha, Shri Dharmasastha and Shri Nagaraja.
Festivals
The Annual festival of the temple is held during the Month of Meenam. In the midst of the festival, jewels of Unnikkannan will be brought from another temple, where they are ceremoniously kept for safekeeping. Ashtami Rohini (Rohini being the birth star of Krishna), Vishu, Navarathri. During Navarathri, three deities will rest at the temple, on their way to Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Trivandrum. They are Shri Kumaraswami, from Kumarakoil temple; Shri Munnuutti Nanga; and Shri Sarawathi Devi. They will stay overnight at the Krishna Temple, and leave for Trivandrum next morning. There will be grand arrangements all along the way and at the temple for welcoming the deities.
Main Offerings
Thrikkayyil Venna (butter) is a unique offering to this temple.
How To Reach
By Air: Trivandrum International Airport is situated at 31.4KM from the temple.
By Rail: Trivandrum Central Railway Station is 1.3KMKM from the Temple.
By Road: Trivandrum KSRTC Bus Station is 450Mtrs from the Temple.