Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple


Ettumanoor Mahadeva temple is an ancient Shiva temple in Kottayam, Kerala, India. It has brought glory and fame to the place. Temple tradition have it that the Pandavas and the sage Vyasa had worshipped at this temple. The name of the place has its origin from the word 'manoor', which means the land of deer. The temple is one of the major Shiva temples in Kerala counted along with the Shiva temples of Vaikom Temple, Chengannur Mahadeva Temple, Kaduthruthy Mahadeva Temple, Ernakulam Shiva Temple, Vazhappally Maha Siva Temple and Vadakkunathan temple.

The Temple

The present temple building, with its gopuram and the fortress around it, was reconstructed in 717 ME. There are Dravidian mural paintings on the walls inside and outside of the main entrance. The fresco of Pradosha Nritham is one of the finest Wall painting in India. There is a golden flag staff inside the temple. On the top of it is the idol of a bull surrounded by small bells and metal leaves of the banyan tree and in terms of architecture this temples stands out to be an ultimate testimant for the vishwakarma Sthapathis, for their engineering skills. The temple roofs are covered with copper sheets and it has 14 ornamental tops. Bhagavathi, Sastha, Dakshinamoorthy, Ganapathy and Yakshi are installed here as subordinate deities.There is a separate temple for lord Krishna. It is believed that the great philosopher, Adi Sankaracharya wrote 'Soundarya Lahari' while staying in the temple.
The origin of Ettumanoorappan is from Kattampakk, a small village in Kottayam district.

Vaippu Sthalam

It is one of the shrines of the Vaippu Sthalams sung by Tamil Saivite Nayanar Sundarar.

Festival

Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple hosts the arattu festival celebrated on a grand scale on the Thiruvathira day in February–March every year. Lot of people come to this temple on the 8th and 10th day of the festival when seven and half elephants made of gold will be held in public view. This statue was donated to the temple by a travancore maharaja. The temple, one of the wealthiest Devaswoms in Kerala, has many valuable possessions.
The Thulabharam is one of the important rituals of this temple. People make offerings to God for favours received. On balance, the child or man for whom offerings were promised to God, is weighed against offerings ranging from gold to fruits.

[Aaraattu] , (Holy Bath)

The annual Aaraattu, of deity Lord Shiva at Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple is performed at banks surfaced at Peroor, Neericadu and Thriruvanchoor villages of Meenachil River.

Ezharaponnana

Ezhara Ponnana refers to the seven-and-a-half golden elephants which are kept in the temple vault and taken out once in an year for darshan by the devotees. The eight statuettes, seven having a height of two ft. each and the eighth one, half the size, Ponnana has a rich legacy behind it. According to legend, it was presented to the temple by Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the founder of the Travancore kingdom. According to another story, while Marthanda Varma had made the pledge to present the ‘ponnana’ the offering was made during the reign of his successor, Maharaja Karthika Thirunal. There are also differing stories about the reason for the offering: some believe it was offered as a penalty for the damages suffered by the temple during the annexation of Thekkumcore with Travancore; some others believe it was the offering made when the marauding army of Tipu Sultan was hammering on the gates of Travancore. The statuettes are made of jackfruit tree and covered with nearly 13 kg of gold plates.
Ezhara Ponnana Darshan, is one of the high points of the temple festival which is being held in the midnight of the eighth day of the ten day festival. Ezhara Ponnana Darshan begins with the ceremonial procession carrying the eight golden statuettes of elephants and they are later kept at the Asthana Mndapam for the annual darshan by the devotees.

Geography

Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple is located between Ernakulam district and Kottayam district. It is 54 Km far away from Ernakulam and 12 Km far away from Kottayam. The other nearest towns of Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple are, Kidangoor, Pala, and Kaduthuruty.

How to reach

Train and bus services are available from Ernakulam City and Trivandrum city to Ettumanoor town. Frequent buses- private and public Kerala State Road Transport Corporation are available from Etumanoor town to any parts of Kerala. The intercity buses to Bangalore, Chennai, Selam, coimbathore, Hosur are available at evening and night times from Ettumanoor. The nearest airport of Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple is Cochin International Airport.
Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple is a major hub for devotees from other states visiting Sabarimala temple in Kerala.