The temple of Ettumanoorappan: Stories & legends

 

Kerala is a land of many ancient temples and one such revered temple stands majestically in Kottayam. The Ettumanoor Sree Mahadeva temple dedicated to Lord Shiva is a temple which has many legends attached to it & stories that have been passed down over the ages. The name Ettumanoor itself has many stories attached to it & all are related to the deity. At the temple Lord Shiva is worshipped in three forms, as the elegant combination of Ardhanareeswara in the morning, in the afternoon as the avatar of Kirathamoorthy who gave Arjuna the divine weapon Pashupatastra & in the evening as the all destructing Samhara Mudra. The temple is also one among the most important Shaivate temples in Kerala having high dignity among other temples dedicated to Lord Shiva around the world. 

There are many legends associated with the consecration of the temple, the most known story is about the demon Kharasura who was also a learned sage. As per myths his disciple by the name Pingala asked for any favors as part of gurudakshina which was declined by Khara. Pingala kept egging Kharasura to ask for something & in anger Khara asked for 180 billion gold coins which was an impossible amount for Pingala. Khara realised his mistake but as per scriptures it was necessary to fulfil the request or else the disciple is considered incompetant. The need for such a large sum of gold could only be fulfilled by Gods & they both undertook a penance to please Lord Shiva & Lord Vishnu. The penance was successful & Lord Vishnu appeared before them & gave Khara the necessary gold, when Lord Shiva appeared before them Khara gave the gold to Him. Lord Shiva, pleased by devotion, provided the Gold back to Khara which he decided to give Lord Vishnu as he did not want any gold. Lord Shiva, pleased by this gesture appeared again & presented Khara with three lingas which is said to have been carried by Kharasura south. Khara had to keep the lingas equidistant from one another & so he held one with his teeth & the other two lingas in each hand. The lingam he held by his teeth is said to have been consecrated at Kaduthuruthy; the one in his right hand was placed at Vaikom & the one in his left hand is said to have been placed here at Ettumanoor. The story ends with the belief that Khara assumed the form of a deer & worshipped the Lord at the temple. Lord Shiva is said to have appeared before Khara again & lifted him in his palms which gave the place its name Ettumanoor which means lifting of the deer or it can be related to the land of the deer (maan-uru). The Shivalinga is said to have been found by a tribal woman who was foraging for wild roots and hit the linga with a sickle making it bleed, the lady out of fear ran & informed her tribe who are said to have kept the lingam in safeguard. It is also believed that the revered sage Vilwamangalam Swamiyar conducted the pujas & wrote the rituals of the temple on his sojourn of the south. The stories, legends & myths of the temple may be many but what is most important is the divinity of Ettumanoorappan as he is so fondly called.

The temple would have been a small structure when it was consecrated or mostly a single mandapam to house the Lingam. The earliest reconstruction of the temple in its current form is said to have been done in the 16th century in traditional Kerala architecture. The walls around the temple & the vast gopuram were added at the time of reconstruction. The temple is also a venue where one can find some of the most beautiful mural paintings on both the interior & exterior walls drawn in Dravidian style. The most important fresco is the painting of Lord Shiva in the form of Nataraja called Pradosha Nritham & is considered to be one of the finest wall paintings in India. The srikovil of the temple has a circular gopuram & one can see wooden sculptures adorning the roof. The stuccos narrate different stories from the Hindu epics with some showing rare events like the Rassaleela & Shri Rama’s coronation ceremony. The temple design is based on scriptures written by Vishwakarma so there are ornamental copper sheets covering the whole expanse of the temple roof. The flag staff at the temple is considered to be one among the tallest poles in south India & it is covered in gold. On top of the flag staff one can find an idol of bull encircled by small bells, leaves & a banyan tree. The temple also has a tradition of lighting lamps around & there is a kedavilakku or ever glowing lamp at the temple which has a unique story associated with its existence. A bronze metal worker once came to the temple & offered the large lamp to the temple at a price. The temple authorities laughed at this offer & told him that the temple had enough lamps & his lamp was not good enough. The metal worker, dejected by this response prayed to the Lord & it is said that a huge storm started around the temple and all the lamps were put off. The temple authorities understood that they had angered the deity & purchased the lamp placing it at the temple and it has till today constantly burned in front of the deity. The temple also has two bulls statues & an engraving which indicates that the temple was constructed about 400 years ago. Inside the temple one can also find the presence of some special characters, one among them are the two dwarapalakas at the Sreekovil with holes in their head & feet. As per myth, these two guards used to beat up devotees who came to see the Lord & so holes were made to stop them from doing so. Another special characters are the two large Nanni statues at the Mukhamandapam one made in wood & another made in Bronze. It is said that the King of Chempakassery gifted these after he was cured of a stomach ache. The bronze statue is filled with paddy & it is believed that the grain from the statue can cure any ailment of the stomach. The main deity is around 3 feet tall & in the form of a lingam but the Utsava murthy which is taken outside the temple is a eight handed figure with roudra bhavam but devotees still see Him as the most merciful. 

The temple is also known for another unique item which can be seen only here, the beautiful set of Ezharaponnana which are elephant statues some 2 feet tall made of jackfruit wood covered in gold. The whole set has 7 big elephants and one small elephant half the size which make up the total of 8 elephants. The Ezharaponanna were gifted to the temple by the ruler of Travancore Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma. The Travancore king promised the gift in a way to compensate for the annexation of Thekkum Core which is where the temple stood by Travancore. Though Marthanda Varma promised to grant the gift it was only during the reign of his successor Karthika Thirunal that the actual set was donated to the temple. The whole set of Ezharaponnana is safely kept in the vaults of the temple & only brought out for the general public to view & worship during the annual festival culmination day of Arattu. The temple is also considered to be one of the wealthiest Dewaswoms in Kerala having many valuable possessions. The Ezharaponnana set is considered to be the most prized possession & devotees flock to the temple for the Arattu festival to get a glimpse of the elephants. On other days devotees can see a replica of the set which is small compared to the actual set at the temple. 

The temple has also been the place of devotion for many over the ages as according to a legend the Pandavas & Sage Vyasa are said to have worshipped Lord Shiva here on their journey. It is also believed that Adi Sankaracharya stayed at the temple & during his stay wrote the Soundarya Lahari. The famous Tamil Saivite poet Nayanar Sundarar also has praised the Ettumanoor temple as one among the shrines in his famous work Vaippu Sthalams in the 7th century. The important way devotees offer their prayers is by performing Thulabharam where the weight of one is offered against any item from gold to grains. 

The temple today is part of one among the temples to be visited on the pilgrimage of Sabarimala as it is considered to be a place to pray for their safe journey to the hills & back. The Ettumanoorappan is revered by all & its existence stems from many myths and legends associated with the deity itself. The temple is a place of great divinity & any person who believes in the Hindu religion should stop & pay obeisance to Lord Shiva here.