Payyalore Gopala Krishna Swamy temple
This temple for Gopalakrishna (the cow herd) is situated in Payyalore (village of cows) which is showered with natural beauty of the Aanamalai range of western ghats situated in Kerala. This place is on the way to Kachankurichi temple from Kollengode and is about 19 km from Palakkad. It is situated in the Agraharam and the worship is done by a Tamil Iyer priest who is a Vaishnavite.(Azhwar)
The Ithihyam(ancient story) is that a migrant Brahmin had a dream in which Lord Krishna commanded him to look for an idol lying immersed in the village tank. The next morning the Brahmin to his delight got the Idol from the tank. The Brahmin with his other community members constructed a small shelter for this God-given idol. There is also a story that this temple was constructed later on by one Sanku pattar, son of Ganga pattar. It seems that, a stranger visited Sanku patter and gave him a sealed jar and requested him to keep it in safe custody for a short period. After a year of waiting for the return of the stranger, out of curiosity, Sanku pattar opened the jar. To his surprise, he found valuable gold coins. He as also his villagers thought that it was a God given gift. Sanku patter in consultation with the villagers spent the entire gold for the construction of the Krishna temple. Sanku’s family who are known as Kolathuran Pattar Family are still contributing liberally for the maintenance of the temple.
Even today they have special privileges as a mark of respect for the contribution of their forefathers who constructed the present Sree Krishna Temple.
The Upadevathas are Maha Ganapathy and Naagar (serpent). There is also a shrine of Aanjaneyar.
Payyalore village is now a destination to all devotees seeking the divine grace of the Lord Gopalakrishna Swamy.
Temple timings-The temple is kept open from 5am to 9am and 5pm to 7.30pm
Festivals[edit]
- Ratholsavam : famous festival celebrated in the month of Jan, Feb
- Nerchas
- Pazzam
- paanakam
- payar