This temple at Payyanur in the Kannur district. It was established in 1974. The main prathishta is Vithoba Rukmini. The temple and prathista are facing the west. There are sila vigrahas and panchaloha vigrahas of Vithoba and Rukmini installed in the srikovil. The sila vigrahas were made by the famous sculptor Karkal Sriranjal Gopalakrishna Shenoy.
It is believed that Sree Vittal or Vithoba is Naada Murthi and is fond of bhajans and he does not need other poojas. So, bhajans are conducted regularly in the temple. Vaisakha Pournami festival, Ashada Ekadashi, Bhajana (recital of slogans of gods’ likings), Karthika Ekadashi Bhajana, Karthika Panchami, Uthana Dwadasi, Sree Varamahalaxmi Vritham (fast) are the festivals and major ceremonies conducted.
The divine “Shami Vriksha Katte” in the temple premises is a great craze for devotees. The worship of this tree fulfils the wishes and remove obstacles encountered, the devotees testify. It is believed that the Raksha Charadu (safety thread) worshipped at the feet of the Lord Vithoba and Goddess Rukmai ensures solace and prosperity to the devotees who wear it.
Executive Committee of SVT Payyanur
Harish M. Shenoy
President
N. Deepak Pai
Secretary
V. Narendra Shenoy
Treasurer
Arun M. Shenoy
Joint Secretary
S. Deepak Shenoy
Vice President
Our History
The Gowda Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) members in Payyanur formed a Bhajan group in 1924 and installed pictures of Vithoba and Rukmini in a room offered by Sri. Anantha Shenoy above his business establishment at Payyanur.
Weekly bhajans was offered on every Saturday and on Ekadashi days. Later, a common Bhajan Mandir was constructed by the community and poojas started installing idols of Vithoba Rukmini. Sri. Vaijappa Narayan Bhandari, a business man from Mangalore, donated a marble statue of Sri Krishna (about 1.5 ft) to the Mandir for worship.
In 1951, during his visit to Payyanur, Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji stressed the need for constructing a community temple at Payyanur. Since the location of the present Bhajan Mandir was not suitable, Swamiji directed that a suitable location has to identified for construction of the temple. A committee headed by Sri. Vasudeva Shenoy was formed and they raised fundsby way of monthy subscriptions and donations from community members and businessmen. It took about 18 years to materialise the dream. The land for construction of temple was purchased from Sri. Anantha Prabhu in 1970 and the construction work started under the leadership of Sri. Upendra Shenoy. A marriage hall (Sukrathindra kalamandir) was constructed next to the temple and was inaugurated in 1975 by Srimat Sudheendra Tirtha Swamiji.
The concrete roofing of the sanctum sanctorum has been changed to copper sheet roofing in 1998.
The temple governance is by a committee elected locally from the community members. There are about 100+ GSB families in payyanur.