Kottarakkara Sree Mahaganapathi Kshethram

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Overview

The Kottarakara Ganapathy Temple is dedicated to Lord Ganesha and is located in Kottarakara, Chenthara, Kollam, Kerala. Although the temple is a Ganapathy temple, the presiding deity is Shiva. After installation, the chief priest looked at the Ganesha idol and realised that Ganapathy was starving. Though he ate so much, nothing could calm him down. So the priest made a mixture of rice powder, coconut, banana and jaggery. That's called as Appam. Immediately the Lord looked satisfied. The temple is situated in the centre part of the Kollam Corporation, near the Kollam Civil Station.

About the deity

The place that we now call Mahaganapathy temple is actually Kizhakkekara Siva Temple. The main deity is none other than Lord Siva himself – Siva facing eastward. In fact Ganapathy is only a minor deity here. But the temple today is famous as a Ganapathy temple rather than a Siva temple.

About Temple

The deities of Kottarakkara Sree Mahaganapathy Kshethram are Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati, Lord Ganesha, Lord Murugan, Lord Ayyappan and Nagaraja. Even though the main deity is Lord Shiva, the main priority is given to Lord Ganesha. The main offerings of the temple are Unniyappam Udayasthamanapooja, Mahaganapathi homam and Pushpanjali.

Legends and Stories

The legend behind this is that Kizhakkekara temple was the property of two Nampoothiri houses – Akavoor and Oomanpally. Padinjattinkara Siva temple belonged to the royal house of Elayidathu. One day, before sunrise, rituals were taking place for the consecration of Siva at the Pandinjattinkara temple, the work of which was managed by the legendary Uliyannor Perumthachan. Outside the temple, while listening to the manthras , he started chiseling a piece of jackfruit tree. To his surprise, he found that it was the form of ‘Ganapathy’ that was taking shape. Thus he asked the chief priest to enshrine ‘Ganapathy’ also after the consecration of Siva. The chief priest denied. “This is a Siva temple. Ganapathy cannot be consecrated here.” Perumthachan, desperate, walked towards the east and thus reached Kizhakkekkara Siva temple. While the priest was preparing Unniyappam, an offering to the Lord. Perumthachan asked him “ Can you not sanctify this Ganapathy here ?”. The priest agreed. Perumthachan viewed the place- Siva facing east, in front of that it is Ganga, Parvathy turned towards the west. Southwest there is Sastha and northwest Subrahmanya. If Ganapathy too is installed, Siva family will be complete. The place will be none other than Kailas itself. Thus Ganapathy was installed southeast by Perumthachan. Perumthachan then asked the priest “ Unni Ganapathy must be hungry. What is the sacrificial food that you have prepared?”. “Unniyappam” was the reply. On a leaf, the priest placed six to seven Unniyappams stringed together. Perumthachan, with all his heart devoted his first offerings-Koottappam. Koottappam is still known to be the most wanted nivedhyam for Kottarakkara Ganapathy. After the offering Perumthachan affectionately declared “Though father is the main diety, the son will be much more famous”. His words proved to be true. Kizhakkekkara Siva temple is now known as Kottarakkara Ganapathy temple.

Festivals

Lord Vinayaka’s birthday falls on the chathurthi day of the bright half of chinga masa. This particular day is marked with great Mahaganapathy Homam, using 1008 coconuts. Besides Unniyappam, Modhakam is also offered to Ganapathy. The other major ceremonies includes sarvaiswarya pooja, gajapooja, annadanam etc.

How to Reach Sree Mahaganapathi Kshethram

One can reach the temple from Kottarakkara, Kollam, Trivandrum and Kottayam. The nearest railway station is Kottarakkara. The nearest airport is in Trivandrum.

Temple Address