Thriprayar Temple

Thriprayar temple is located at the southern side of Thrissur and is dedicated to Lord Rama. The temple is famous for the exquisite woodcarvings, sculptures and Mural Paintings. The temple festival is held in November/December and includes a parade of 17 elephants. During the Onam festival in the months of August/September, there is a snake boat race. In front of the temple flows the Thriprayar river. Legends say that when Vishnu incarnated as Vamana and expanded his form to pervade the whole universe, his feet touched sathyaloka, Brahma's abode. A flabbergasted Brahma, on seeing the Lord's all-encompassing form, offered argya for washing Vishnu's feet. Part of the water fell on earth to form the Thriprayar Thiru Paadayar - a river with its source in Vishnu's feet. The beautiful antique idol of Rama in the temple is sculpted from a rare stone. According to mythology, the idol changed hands from Vishnu, Brahma, Dasaratha (king of Ayodhya) and Vasudeva (of Mathura) before finally reaching Thriprayar. The bewitching beauty and serenity reflected in the idol's face is symbolic of the Lord's mission to propagate dharma, after vanquishing Ravana, who was adharma incarnate. Idols of mother earth, Dakshinamurthy (south-facing Shiva) and Ganesha are also installed in the temple. Another unusual offering made by devotees who visit the Thriprayar temple is the feeding of fish in the river, recalling Vishnu's matsyavatar, incarnation as a fish. When the fish crowd together to eat the grains of rice thrown into the river, the water splashes on the devotee, who considers it to be a blessing by the Lord.

Air: It is about 60 kilometers from the airport at Kochi

Rail: Thrissur has a major railway station which links to other parts of Kerala

Road: Triprayar is freely accessible by road from Thrissur