Thrikkakara Vamanamoorthy Temple, Thirukatkarai

Sthala Purāṇam

Thirukkaatkarai (Thrikkakara), near Edappally in Kochi, Ernakulam, is the 67th Divya Desam and among the rare temples in India dedicated to the Vamana avatar. The deity, Kaatkarai Appan (Thrikkakarayappan), stands (Nindra Kolam) facing south, depicted as Vamana about to set his foot, with consort Perunselva Nachiyar, also called Vatsalya Valli; the tower is the Pushkala Vimanam and the sacred tank is the Kapila Theertham. The sthala puranam follows the Bhagavata Purana: Vishnu took birth as the dwarf Brahmin Vamana to restore Indra's sovereignty, which the noble asura king Mahabali had won. When the generous Mahabali offered him anything, Vamana asked only for land measured by three of his paces (thiru-kal). Granted this, the Lord grew to cosmic size and strode across the worlds in two steps; for the third, the humble Mahabali offered his own head, and was sent to the netherworld while gaining immortality and the boon to revisit his people each year. The name Thrikkakara derives from thiru-kal-kara, the place of the sacred foot. Nammalvar offered ten pasurams glorifying this shrine in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. The temple is intimately linked to the origin of Onam, celebrated grandly here over ten days in the month of Chingam to welcome Mahabali, with early records of the festival noted in the temple.

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📍 10.03550, 76.32950

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