25-10-2013: This trip was actually to fulfill a votive, My son's 'THULABHARAM'. This was a family trip, both the families of my wife and me came with us. There were about 12 members. We took the Guruvayoor intercity from Tvm Central at 05.00pm. The train was very crowded with officials and students till Kayamkulam as it was a Friday. The journey was quite comfortable.
We reached the station by 12.10am. It was raining heavily. We waited sometime at the station for the rain to stop. After the rain stopped we began to walk to the KSRTC bus stand, as we had a room arranged near to the stand by a KSRTC staff of Guruvayoor depot whom I know well. The hotel was at the Vadakkenada.
After reaching the hotel we slept for sometime woke up very early, took a bath and set to Guruvayoor Temple to see Lord Unnikrishnan. It was not so crowded as expected, but still there was a queue. It only took 15 minutes to enter the temple. After praying I took the token for Thulabaram. and waited in the queue. My son was running inside the temple and my wife as running behind him. He seems to have so much fun.
It took nearly 45 minutes for our turn. The Thulabharam was with Kadali Pazham. After that we went to Mammiyoor which is dedicated to Lord Shiva only walkable distance from Guruvayoor temple.
Then we all went to the room and took rest. After breakfast we decided to visit the Punnathurkotta which is the camp of Elephants, now renamed as Anakkotta. It is only 3 kms from Guruvayoor temple. There were lot of buses going through the elephant camp.
We took one of the bus and alighted at Kottapadi. The visiting hours are 8.00 AM to 6.00 PM. the entry fee is Rs 5 per adult. An extra Rs 25 is charged for to uses a camera inside the camp. I took 12 tickets, didn't pay any for the camera as I decided to take pictures with my mobile. there were nearly 60 elephants in the camp - both small and big ones.
I paid the mahout Rs 100/- for carrying my son between the legs of the elephant. He told that it was not allowed but agreed to do so. I took my son three times - To and Fro. There were many mahouts including the one I paid, asking for the hair in elephant tail for some 200 rupees, but I didn't buy it.
We also saw may elephants with Musth. They were tied with many chains. One of the elephant was throwing coconut leaves towards the visitors. He was really violent.
After circling the camp we entered the Kovilakam, which was neatly maintained. There is a courtyard and a big pond was decorated in the shape of an 'Uruli' in the center of the courtyard. There are many fishes inside the pond. My son was trying to catch fish with his hands.
After that we came back, had Annadanam from Mammiyoor temple and check out the rooms and went to KSRTC bus stand only walkable distance from the hotel for catching the bus to Thrissur. We reached Thrissur at about 4 in the evening. As out train was at 8pm we decided to go to Vadakkumnatha Kshetram and Paramekkavu. Vadakkumnatha Kshetram is in the centre of a huge ground called Thekkumkadu Maithanam. Many people used to come and spend their evenings there.
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| Vadakkumnatha Temple |
Inside Vadkkumnatha Kshetram is a great experience. As mobile or cameras were not allowed inside I was not able to take any pictures.
After that we had a walk round the Thekkinkadu Maithanam to reach Paramekkavu dedicated to Goddess Parvathy. As I didn't bring any dhoties I waited outside the temple. From there we took two autos to railway station to catch our train.
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| Paramekkavu |
