01Payasam and a game of chess
The temple’s katha says Krishna once came to the king of Chembakasseri disguised as a sage and challenged him to chess, the stake being rice: one grain on the first square, two on the second, doubling to the sixty-fourth. The king lost and found his granaries could never pay. The sage then showed himself as Krishna and said the debt could be paid a little each day, as payasam given free to pilgrims at the temple, until it was cleared. So the pal payasam of Ambalappuzha, rice and milk and sugar boiled long until it turns pink, is offered daily to this day.
02Guruvayurappan’s refuge
Chembakasseri was annexed by Travancore under Marthanda Varma in 1754, and the temple became one of the great temples of that kingdom. In 1789, when Tipu Sultan’s army entered Malabar, the utsava murti of Guruvayur was carried south to Ambalappuzha for safe keeping, and stayed until the danger had passed. The poet Kunchan Nambiar, who created the ottan thullal dance-recital, served here; his mizhavu drum is kept at the temple.
The life of this place
- 1754Chembakasseri is annexed by Travancore.
- 1789The Guruvayur utsava murti is brought here for safety during Tipu Sultan’s invasion.
About 14 km south of Alappuzha on the NH; the payasam is given out around noon.
