1. PRACTICUM
AMMACHI PLAVU NEYYATTINKARA
Neyyattinkara Sree Krishna Swamy Temple is a Lord Krishna temple situated
at Neyyattinkara, 20 km south ofThiruvananthapuram city, in Kerala. One of the important
temples of Lord Krishna, the temple is also of great historic importance as well. The temple
enshrines Unnikannan (baby Krishna) as the presiding deity. Thrikayilvenna or Thrikayil Venna
(butter) is a unique offering to Neyyattinkara Neyyattinkara ShrI Krishnaswamy.
Temple was built in 1755, by Marthanda Varma, the then maharajah of the erstwhile Indian
princely state of Travancore. The history/legend behind the construction of this temple is that,
about 250 years ago, during the reign of King Ramavarma, the Travancore prince
Anizhamthirunal Marthanda Varma, who took strong action against “Ettuveettil Pillamar” was
surrounded by his enemies. At that time a boy came and led the prince to a jack tree, which had a
hollow trunk. The prince hid inside it and escaped from the enemies. Later the astrologer said to
the king that, the boy who showed him the hideout was actually “Lord Krishna.” The maharajah
then decided to build a temple for Lord Krishna, as a mark of gratitude for saving his life, near
the jack tree. This was popularly called 'Ammachi plavu' (Mother jack tree) as it protected the
maharajah from his enemies. The remnants of the tree.
Ammachi Plavu was a jack-fruit tree standing quietly in the woods of Neyyantinkara, near
Thiruvananthapuram (in Kerala, India) till it shot to fame some 250 years ago. During the reign
of King Rama Varma, the Travancore prince Anizhamthirunal (who later went on to become
King Marthanda Varma) protested against some of the practices prevalent at the time. A plan
was hatched by his enemies to finish him off and he was chased into the woods. He ran into a
small boy who hid him in the hollow trunk of a jack-fruit tree and helped him escape his
enemies. When he came out of the trunk, he could not find the boy anywhere. Later on, he had a
dream where he saw the small boy as Lord Krishna. King Marthanda Varma then went on to
build an Unnikannan (Baby Krishna) temple near the jack-fruit tree. The temple is today known
as the Sree Krishna Swamy Temple. All kings of Travancore (post-Marthanda Varma) are said to
have visited the temple and taken the blessings of the jack-fruit tree before their coronation. My
grandaunt says that the jack-fruit tree fell a few of years ago and that only its stump is currently
preserved, though Google denies that. Well, you’ll just have to go and find out.
SUBMITTED BY SHIBI W
