5/5 Wild B. 1 year ago on Google
Temple
Timings
All
days
:
4:00
AM
to
12:00
PM
5:00
PM
to
8:30
PM
The
History
Of
Ettumanoor
Temple
Ettumanoor
Mahadeva
temple
is
an
ancient
Shiva
temple
in
Kottayam,
Kerala,
India.
It
has
brought
glory
and
fame
to
the
place.
Myths
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
Chengannur
Mahadeva
Temple,
Kaduthruthy
Mahadeva
Temple,
Vaikom
Temple,
Ernakulam
Shiva
Temple
and
Vadakkunathan
temple.
The
present
temple
building,
with
its
gopuram
and
the
fortress
around
it,
was
reconstructed
in
717
ME
(1542
AD).
There
are
Dravidian
mural
paintings
on
the
walls
inside
and
outside
of
the
main
entrance.
The
fresco
of
Pradosha
Nritham
(Dance
of
Shiva)
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.
Bhagavati,
Sastha,
Ganapathy
and
Yakshi
are
installed
here
as
subordinate
deities.
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.
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
(in
Malayalam:
ezharaponnaana)
made
of
gold
(nearly
13
Kgms)
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.
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,
(hence
the
name
Ezhara
(seven-and-
a-
half)
Ponnana
(Golden
elephant)
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.
3 people found this review helpful 👍
