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Krishnapuram palace

The 18th century palace built during the reign of Travancore monarch, Marthanda Varma, is a double storied structure which displays typical characteristics of Kerala architecture-gabled roofs, dormer windows and narrow corridors. It houses one of the largest mural paintings in Kerala called the Gajendra Moksham. It measures 14 ft by 11 ft and is at the western end of the ground floor, walking distance from palace pool. Inside is a museum of antique sculptures, paintings and bronze.

Located 47 km Alappuzha, near the Kayamkulam bus stand.

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Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple, is a Hindu temple in Ambalappuzha, Alapuzha district of Kerala, in south India. The temple is believed to have been built in the in the year AD 790 by the local ruler Chembakasserry Pooradam Thirunal-Devanarayanan Thampuran. The Puthumana Thanthri family of Namboodiri Brahmins are the priests of the Temple.
This temple is directly associated to the Guruvayoor Sri Krishna Temple. During the raids of Tipu Sultan in 1789, the idol of Sri Krishna from the Guruvayoor temple was brought to the Ambalappuzha temple for safe keeping.

The pal payasam served in the Ambalappuzha Temple is famous among Hindu devotees. The sweet broth made of milk, sugar and rice, otherwise known as ‘Ambalapuzha palpayasam’ is well-known because of its speciality. No other sweet broth of any kind is as delicious and melodious as this payasam. This sweet pudding made of rice and milk has an interesting mythological legend behind it.

Legend

According to the legend, Lord Krishna once appeared in the form of a sage in the court of the king who ruled the region and challenged him for a game of chess (or chaturanga). The king being a chess enthusiast himself gladly accepted the invitation. The prize had to be decided before the game and the king asked the sage to choose his prize in case he wins. The sage told the king that he had a very modest claim and being a man of few material needs, all he wished was a few grains of rice. The amount of rice itself shall be determined using the chess-board in the following manner. One grain of rice shall be placed in the first square, two grains in the second square, four in the third square, eight in the fourth square and so on. Every square will have double the number of grains of its predecessor.

Upon hearing the demand, the king was unhappy since the sage requested only a few grains of rice instead of other riches from the kingdom which the king would've been happy to donate. He requested the sage to add other items too to his prize but the sage declined. So the game of chess started and needless to say the king lost the game. It was time to pay the sage his agreed-upon prize. As he started adding grains of rice to the chess board, the king soon realised the true nature of the sage's demands. By the 20th square, the number had reached one-million grains of rice and by the 40th square, it became one-trillion. The royal grainery soon ran out of grains of rice. The king realised that even if he provides all the rice in his kingdom and his adjacent kingdoms, he will never be able to fulfill the promised reward. The number of grains was
increasing as a geometric progression and the total amount of rice required to fill a 64-squared chess board is (2^64 - 1) which is equal to 18446744073709551615 grains (about 18 * 1018, or 18 billion billion grains). This amount of rice would weigh about 461 * 1012 kg, or 461 billion tonnes (1,000 grains of rice weigh about 25g).

Upon seeing the dilemma, the sage appeared to the king in his true-form, that of lord Krishna. He told the King that he doesn't have to pay the debt immediately but can pay him over time. The king shall serve paal-payasam (made of rice) in the temple freely to the pilgrims every day until the debt is paid off.

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Ambalapuzha Sree Krishna temple

The main gate of the temple is on the western side. The golden tope dome, a single-stone mandapam, the architectural stone images and the golden flag staff in front are a few signs of its eminence and splendour. The temple has neither a gate tower, nor shrines for gods outside the main sanctum sanctorum. The divine image is about 3 feet high. Each day the holy face is adorned with gold when the rituals are being performed. In the right hand the divine holds a lash and in the left a conch which proclaims that the deity is none other than Parthasarathy himself.

The Aaraattu festival commences with the flag hoisting ceremony on the Atham star in Meenam (March-April). The important Aaraattu festival takes place on the Thiruvonam day of the same month. In this temple 'Pallipana' is performed by 'Velans' (sorcerers) once in twelve years. Human sacrifice was conducted in ancient times. However, cocks have now replaced humans on the sacrificial altar. Kalakkaththu Kunchan Nambiar(1705-1770) also spent his youth at Ambalappuzha.

The famous Champakulam boat-race is celebrated on ‘Moolam’ astericism in ‘Midhunam (June/ July).

The St. Mary's Church, Chambakulam is one of the oldest church in Kerala. It is said to be one of the seven churches established by St.Thomas. The annual feast is held on the 3rd Sunday of October. The feast of St. Joseph is celebrated on March 19th.

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How to Reach

Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna temple is about 15 km south of Alappuzha. Nearest railway station is Ambalappuzha.

Nearest airports: Cochin International Airport, about 85 km to the north of Alappuzha.

Karumadikuttan

The small village near Ambalapuzha is known for the 9th century black granite idol of Lord Buddha known as Karumadikuttan.

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Coir making is a home industry to almost all the village living people. It is very interesting to watch the coir making by the village ladies with the help of weaving Wheels. They make the coir ropes by hand. The export of Coir mat, mattresses and other products are earning a lot of foreign exchange. In addition to this, on the way, you can see the process of extracting coconut oil from the "copra" [dried coconut]. Among the routine traditional engagements, duck, poultry farm and prawn breeding are common.

Fishing in sea and backwaters is another main profession of the people of the district.