Shreemath Varaha Swamy Temple
Shreemath Varaha Swamy Temple is located at Varapuzha Town. The temple is more than 450 years old and established by the batch of Gowda Saraswtha Brahmins who migrated from Goa. he original deity in this temple was Lord Narasimha, which was later shifted to Mulki and was replaced by a magnificent seven hooded idol of Varaha Swamy brought from Goa. After installation of the Varaha murthy, the place came to be known as Varapuzha.
The Utsava Vighraha is that of Varaha Moorthy. Among the Sub-Deities, The Mahaganapathy is of rare type with it’s with trunk twisted right (Valampiri), the Ganapathy temple is inside southern part of the Nalambalam.
History has it that who came from goa to this place, established this temple. Hence the history goes back to hundreds of years. But no solid records are available for the exact year at present.
It is said that the first presiding deity was Narasimha Moorthy. But later when Shri Vijayindra Tirtha Swamiji visited this temple, His Holiness replaced the Narasimha Idol with a Varaha Idol and took the Narasimha Moorthy with him to Mulki (Shree Venkataramana Temple) and installed it there, in the place of the Varaha Idol.
After the prathista the temple came to be known as Varaha Temple. Afterwards the place itself came to be known after Varaha Devar. The place was often referred as Varahapuzha, which was later shortened into Varapuzha.
As time passed the Original Structure of the temple was dilapidated. Since neither the temple nor the people had a sufficient fund to reconstruct the structure, the temple was then handed over to Alapuzha Ananthanarayanapuram Thuravoor Tirumala Devaswom (AATTD).
As a result of this, AATTD authorities reconstructed the temple and punaprathista was conducted on Makayiram day of Edavam month of 1127 M.E. (1952). Thereafter the daily poojas and annual festivals are conducted without failure.
The entrance Gopuram was recently constructed along with the Anapandal. The Anapandal is constructed on 8 pillars. Each of the pillar has a shilpa of Dasavathar on it. The remaining two avatars of Varaha and Narasimha are crafted on the pillars at the entrance of the Nalambalam.
Location
Varapuzha Town
Main Deity
Lord Varahamoorthy
Other Deities
Sri Venkatachalapathy, Mahalakshmi, Bhoomi Devi, Hanuman and Mahaganapthy
Festivals
An Eight-day Arratu festival is conducted every year, concluding on the day of Purnam Nakshatra of Phalguna Masa.
Main Offerings
Pushpanjali, Bhagya Sooktha Pushpanjali, Sree Sooktha Pushpanjali, Swayamvara Sooktha Pushpanjali, Aikya Sooktha Pushpanjali, Purusha Sooktha Pushpanjali, Saraswatha Sooktha Pushpanjali, Sahasra Nama Pushpanjali, Neyyu Payasam, Thrimadhuram, Panjasara Payasam, Kadina Payasa.
How To Reach
By Air: Cochin International Airport is the nearest airport situated at 24.9KMs from the temple.
By Rail: Aluva station is 14.9KMs from the temple.
By Road: Vytilla Hub (Bus Station, Metro rail, Water Metro) is 16KMs from the temple.