Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple, Thiruvaranvilai

Sthala Purāṇam

Aranmula, on the southern bank of the Pamba river in Pathanamthitta district, is the Divya Desam where the Lord is worshipped as Parthasarathy, also called Thirukkuralappan. The deity stands in Nindra Thirukkolam (standing posture) as the four-armed Lord, recalling both the Vishvarupa form shown to Arjuna and the Vamana (dwarf) avatar; the temple's Vimanam is accordingly the Vamana Vimanam. As one of the five Pancha Pandava shrines of the Chengannur region, Aranmula is attributed to Arjuna, the third Pandava. According to the sthala purana, Arjuna built this temple to expiate the sin of having slain the unarmed Karna against the codes of war. Tradition holds that the sacred image was brought to the site on a raft fashioned from six pieces of bamboo, and the name Aranmula derives from aaru-mula (six bamboo pieces). The Lord here is venerated as Parthasarathy, the divine charioteer of Arjuna (Partha) at Kurukshetra. The shrine was sung by Thirumangai Alvar, who composed eleven hymns in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, counting it among the 108 Divya Desams. Aranmula is renowned for the annual Aranmula Vallamkali (snake-boat race) and the Uthrattathi water festival held during the Onam season, commemorating the legend of the devotee whose bamboo raft ferried the Lord's image across the Pamba.

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