Blog Archive

Tuesday, April 6, 2021

Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple- The Land of Saundarya Lahari

 Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple- Kerela

In the land of deer, Manoor stands a mandir

Where Vyasa muni and the Pandavas 

Bowed to Bhagwan Shiva 

 

Source: YatraDham

Somewhere in Kottayam in 1542 AD 

The aalyam was reconstructed 

The Dravidian mural paintings

 As proof of the timeline on walls 

Inside and outside the main entrance

 

In a typical structure, familiar in the region

The Mahadevar mandir boasts of owning 

Seven and a half golden elephants 

Said to be donated by the Travancore Maharaja 

Taken out once a year during the Arattu festival 

On the Thiruathira day

 

Gold is not the reason for its fame, though;

Golden words of bhakti were woven here

By none other than the great Adi Sankaracharya 

The philosopher and spiritual leader,

Who gave us Soundarya Lahari 

By writing the pious words in this mandir. 

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Sources:

https://www.rvatemples.com/listings/ettumanoor-mahadevar-temple/ 

https://www.templepurohit.com/hindu-temple/ettumanoor-mahadeva-temple/ 

https://www.keralatourism.org/temples/kottayam/ettumanoor-mahadeva 

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#FreeHinduTemples 



10 comments:

  1. Oh, totally different architecture than the temples in your previous posts!
    Love this one too ;)
    Quilting Patchwork & Appliqué

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Frederique. :)
      Yes, the temples in Kerala state have a different architecture. It's amazing how the styles change based on the region and rulers.

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  2. Lovely poem Rekha! It felt as if the whole temple was in front of me. What is 7 and 1/2 elephants though?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Meena.
      The king of Travancore gifted 8 golden elephants to the temple. 7 of them were 2 feet high and the 8th was just 1 foot high. So people started calling them 7 & 1/2 elephants. These golden elephants are taken out once every year during the annual festival.

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  3. Soundarya lahiri was written there ? Interesting ! Kerala mural paintings have gained a lot of popularity in art classes these days

    https://pagesfromjayashree.blogspot.com/2021/04/e-for-express.html?m=1

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, apparently. I got to know only when researching for the blog. :)

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  4. It looks like an interesting place with so much history. Weekends In Maine

    ReplyDelete
  5. Seven and a half gold elephants.. I wonder what's the significance of that half in it

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The king of Travancore gifted 8 golden elephants to the temple. 7 of them were 2 feet high and the 8th was just 1 foot high. So people started calling them 7 & 1/2 elephants.
      Even I wondered why he had to give one smaller elephant.

      Delete