VARSHIKOTSAVAM MAHADEVAR TEMPLE

Panchayat/ Municipality/ Chengannur Municipality Corporation

LOCATION District

Nearest Town/ Maruti Kalyana Mandapam – 60 m Landmark/ Junction

Nearest Bus station Chengannur KSRTC Bus Stand – 1 Km

Nearest Railway Chengannur Railway Station – 1 Km station ACCESSIBILITY

Nearest Airport Cochin International Airport – 122 Km

Chengannur Mahadevar Temple Chengannur - 689121 Phone: +91-479-245055 CONTACT Website: www.chengannurtemple.com DATES FREQUENCY DURATION

TIME December-January (Dhanu-Makaram) Annual 28 Days

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL (Legend/History/Myth)

Lord Shiva and Parvati Devi are the main investitures of this temple. Differing from other temples, there are two main Shrines in this temple. Lord Shiva facing East and Devi facing West. The main shrine is a conical copper plated one. Devi’s main Idol is made with an alloy of five metals (Panchaloham). The Shivalingam, is covered with a gold plate bearing an image of Ardhanareeswara - or the Shiva-Shakti manifestation of Shiva. The other sub-investitures of the temple are Ganapathi, Shasta (Lord Ayyappan), Chandikeswaran, Neelagrivan, Ganga and Naagar. There are many variants to the legend of the temple. One of them says that sage Agasthya who could not witness the sacred marriage of Shiva and Parvati was visited by the pair after marriage. Since the Goddess was in her menstrual period , she waited for 28 days to give darshan to the sage. The Varshikotsavam is celebrated for 28 days between December and January.

Regional Over 1,00,000 RELEVANCE- NO. OF PEOPLE (Local / National / International) PARTICIPATED EVENTS/PROGRAMS DESCRIPTION (How festival is celebrated)

Varshikotsavam is an annual celebration lasting 28 days Kodiyettam during Dhanu-Makaram of the Malayalam calendar. The Aarattu festival starts on Thiruvathira of Dhanu and ends on Elephant Procession Thiruvathira of Makaram. The former corresponds to Special Poojas Kodiyettam or flag hoisting of the festival and the latter Cultural Events corresponds to the Aarattu ceremony. Special poojas are performed on festival days. The shrine is traditionally decorated with plantain, coconut leaves, flowers, leaves, traditional lamps and lights. Traditional performing arts, music and dance are staged during the period. The utsava murti of the deity is taken out of the shrine for ritual bathing on the final day. Hundreds of people arrive on the day to witness various rituals and festivities.