Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple, Alappuzha: History, Timings & Visitor Guide

Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple is open every day, usually from early morning to late evening with a break in the afternoon. Darshan and aarti timings change with the season and on festival days.

• MorningOpens early morning (around 5 to 6 AM)
• AfternoonShort break around midday at many temples
• EveningEvening aarti around sunset, closes by about 8 to 9 PM

Ask the temple office on arrival for the day's aarti schedule.

Dress Code & Temple Rules

• DressModest, traditional clothes covering shoulders and knees
• FootwearRemove before entering; use the shoe stand
• PhotographyNot allowed inside the sanctum
• Not AllowedLeather items, tobacco, alcohol, non-veg food
• QueueFollow queue lines and staff instructions on festival days

According to the legend, Krishna once appeared in the form of a sage in the court of the king who ruled the region (Chembakassery) 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 won. 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 would be determined using the chess-board in the following manner: one grain of rice on the first square, two grains in the second square, four in the third square, eight in the fourth square, sixteen in fifth square, doubling up to the final, sixty-fourth square.

The king lost the game and the sage demanded the agreed-upon prize. As he started adding grains of rice to the chess board, the king soon realised the true scale of the sage's demands. The royal granary soon ran out of grains of rice. The king realised that he would never be able to fulfill the promised reward as the number of grains was increasing in a geometric progression and the total amount of rice required for a 64-square chess board was 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains, translating to trillions of tons of rice.

Festivals & Rituals at Ambalappuzha Sri Krishna Temple

The Amabalapuzha Temple Festival was established during the fifteenth century CE. At this time, central parts of Alappuzha district were ruled by the Chembakassery Devanarayana Dynasty. The rulers of this dynasty were highly religious and decided that an idol of Krishna was to be brought to the Amabalapuzha Sree Krishna Swamy Temple from the Karinkulam temple. The celebration in commemoration of the bringing of this idol of Krishna is the origin of the Amabalapuzha Temple Festival, also referred to as the Chambakulam Moolam water festival. This festival is conducted every year on the Moolam day of the Mithunam month of the Malayalam era. The Aaraattu festival takes place on the Thiruvonam day in March–April.