Saturday, June 20, 2009

Meenkulathi Bhagavathi Amman Temple

Meenkulathi Bhagavathi Amman Temple, also known as Pallassanakavu, is one of the most famous temples in South India. This temple is basically in the district of Palakkad, Kerala. It is situated in the village known as Pallassana (Pallassena), which is about 20 km from Palakkad Town.

Devotees coming from outside Palakkad often do not pose a good knowledge about the route to reach here. Actually, it is quite easy to reach the temple. All you have to do is to just reach the Fort Maidan (Kotta Maidanam), which is pretty much the heart of Palakkad. Now if you can just take a break to relax a bit, it would be fine. You can see the Tippu's Fort here, the scenic beauty, and of course you can see the junction here. Hang on.. Do not just go straight into the Fort now. You came in search of the Pallassana temple...

Now you would have surely got some idea about the route to reach here. Yes, what that bakery person just told you was right. You have got quite a few buses which take you directly to the temple from here. You can wait straight in that bus stop here (Those who came by their own vehicles dont bother!). It wont be long before you hear that minibus conductor calling "Pallassana, Pallassana, Pallassanakavu, koduvayoor vazhi Pallassana..." Oops! It is crowded.. Yeah, it is often crowded as you dont have frequent buses; you only get direct buses to temple once in an hour or so, but don't worry.. You won't have to wait too long if it's morning or evening, as buses do run according to pooja timings. In addition, KSRTC buses too are there. The ticket charge per head is Rs. 11/- from here. It is going to take about 45 minutes for you to reach the temple now.

Some buses won't take you to the entrance of the temple. Instead, they ask you to get down when you reach Pallassana. This is because they are going to some other place nearby. So what you will do now is to get down of the bus without cursing the conductor and then take a walk to the temple.. Oh common, it is not that you have to walk 10 miles, it is just a 10-minute walk and you are in the temple. After all, walking is the best exercise you could give your body. Hmm.. What a fool am I.. More often than not I tend to forget that times have changed and that this is 2009. So what you will now do is to shift to the second gear on your Scorpio by turning off that music. The road is quite a single lane here with a couple of turns and beware of that two-wheelers and pedestrians. Blow your horn to wake them up..

Relax your body and mind now and there you are.. Meenkulathi Kavu..

Pazhayakavilamme Saranam.