Temple Tales from Ettumanoor temple, Kerala
Posted On May 24, 2012
Ettumanoor is a religious town situated in the district of Kottayam in God’s own Country Kerala. Situated around 11 km from the Kottayam town, Ettumanoor lies around 65 km from Cochin. The Cochin International Airport is around 73km away from Ettumanoor.
Getting there
Accessible by road, rail and air, this is a pilgrim spot in Kerala which is frequented by most of the devotees revering the presiding deity Lord Shiva here. Kottayam is the nearest railhead and Cochin is the nearest airport. Lying on the router between Poonjar and Wagamon, this is a lovely land tucked away in this part of India, and is a link between the Western Ghats and Palai. The temple is also reached by waterways. So the areas of Allepey, Ambalapuzha, Mankombu, Chempakulam and Mannar are all the destinations from where there are waterways facilities to Ettumanoor.
When to Visit
The best time to visit this temple is between the months of October to March.
Mythology and Legends
Ettumanoor temple has brought lot of glory to the place. Mythology has it that the Pandavas and the sage Vyasa have visited this temple and worshipped it too. the name “Ettumanoor” comes from the word ‘Man” which means deer in Malayalam.
It is believed that the great Indian philosopher and teacher Sankaracharya wrote the Soundarya Lahiri a religious scripture sitting here in this temple. The temple had to be reconstructed in the year 1542 AD.
The Temple
The presiding deity is Lord Shiva and there are also statues of Yakshi, Saastha, Ganapathy and Goddess Bhagavathi here. The temple is most popular for its astounding architectural style with the conical roof plated with copper being the mainstay. With a great variety of mural paintings and a plethora of sculptures, the Ettumanoor temple is a living symbol of past art and architectural elegance.
The temple also has the fresco of Pradosha Nritham or the Dance of Shiva and is among the finest Indian wall paintings. The temple is really a living example of the engineering skills of the Vishwakarma Sthapatis who constructed it.
There are scenes from the Indian epic Ramayana, the Bhagwatha and also a lot of tales from the Indian mythology that are depicted here. The golden flagstaff in the temple is a major feature and the image of the bull on top of the flagstaff gives an impression of how majestic this temple is and how the ancient constructions and present day traditions have kept the image of the temple going. The flagstaff has tiny bells around it at the top and also has metal leaves the banyan tree on it.
Festivals
Constructed sometime in the 16th century, this is a lovely example of great architecture of ancient times and is famous for the Ezharaponnaana Ezhunallathu festival that is celebrated here with great pomp and grandeur and has devotees coming in large numbers to attend it.
Thiruvathira day is a great day here in the temple as on this day the Arattu festival is celebrated with great grandeur. There is a display of seven and a half elephants in full gold and shown for public view. This is done on the eighth and the tenth day and the temple is crowded with devotees at that time. There is nearly 13 kilograms of gold put on display.
There is a thulabaram here in the temple which is a very important ritual of the temple. Devotees come here and make offerings to God for all favors received. The offerings could be either golf, fruits or anything that is permitted by the temple rules.
The Ettumanoor temple thus is a lovely land of religion, architecture and culture and is a must see spot here in Kerala.
