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Bharananganam
Origin of Place Name
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.
Major Attractions
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 rattu (Ritual Bath of the diety) on 8th day. Besides the regular daily rituals the festivities include processions of the deity on elephant back to the suburban villages like Kizhaparayar, Keezhambara, Chittanappara and bharananganam (on 5 days) the precious tsava Bali (for 6 days) and art and cultural programs every day. The rattu, 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.
The official website of the temple is http://www.bharananganamtemple.com/
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.
Education
Bharananganam is famous for its elite schools. Alphonsa Residential School (ARS) is one of the best ICSE syllabus schools in Kerala. In 1991, just the 8th batch of ICSE at Alphonsa Residential School produced the first ranker in the State of Kerala, Arul Mathew, who in 1993 was ranked 10th in the Kerala Engineering Entrance Exam and gained admission (top 0.5% in the country) to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai. Another alumnus of Alphonsa Residential School, Suman Ann Thomas (1992 ICSE batch), graduated from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management. Many other students from ARS have become high profile professionals making their impact in reputed companies and institutions all around the world. St.Joseph's College of Engineering and Technology is located just 3 km from Bharananganam. Sacred Heart Girls High School and St.Mary's Boys High School are also famous schools in the region.
Other Details
Bharananganam is well known for other things too. Renowned film actress (late)miss kumari belonged to this town. Assisi asramam run by OFM cap missionaries also situated here. They are publishing a malayalam magazine named "assisi" every month through their publishing house "Jeevan Books".
Accesibility, Nearest Cities and Towns
Nearest Airport - Cochin
Nearest Railway Station- Kottayam
Distance to Cochin/Ernakulam - 75 km
Distance to Kottayam - 32 km
Distance to Pala - 5 km
Categories: Cities and towns in Kottayam districtHidden categories: Articles lacking sources from September 2009 | All articles lacking sources | Articles needing cleanup from December 2008 | All pages needing cleanup
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