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Sri Ganapati Temple, Kottakara, Kerala, India

His temple virtually at every nook and corner in almost all parts of the country. One of the very old temples is in Kottarakara in Kerala and the principal deity is Lord Shiva and is popularly known as Kottarakara Sri Ganapati temple. Here the main deity Shiva faces the East, His consort Goddess Parvati the West and Lord Ganapati the South. There is a shrine for Sri Dharma Sastha located outside the main shrine. The greatness of worshipping this Ganapathi is that His grace will complete any work remaining half done due to hindrances. Young girls observe fast on Tuesdays for a whole year as it is believed that this brings them good husbands and happy homes.

The favorite offering to Lord Ganapathi here is ‘appam’, a kind of cake made out of rice and jaggery fried in oil. This is a rare sweet item dedicated to the deity and then served to the devotees as prasadam. An unusual thing different from other temples is that these appams are prepared just in front of Lord Ganapathi, as it the Lord wants to see and enjoy the fragrance of the appam while making. The temple is built in the Kerala style of architecture. The shrine where the main deity has been placed its round in shape and the roof is thatched with copper sheets. A huge 18feet high bronze deepasthambam with five circular plates for holding the deepams was installed at the temple on the Vinayaka Chathurthi day.

The annual festival is one of the important festivals celebrated here is a grand scale. It takes place in the solar month of Mesha. The festival spreads over 11 days and the includes elaborate ceremonial offerings, grand processions with various musical instruments and entertainment programmes including Kathakali. Vinayaka Chathurthi, the Lord’s birthday, is celebrated with pomp and gaiety. This falls on the fourth day of the bright half of the Bhadrapada month.

The temple is said to be birth place of Kathakali, an ancient and major dance form of Kerala. That is the reason why, a visit to this temple is considered to be a must of Kathakali enthusiasts.

The temple opens at 5.30am. Kottarakara is well connected to other cities by rail or road. It is just 25 kilometers from Kollam. The temple is just half a kilometer from the Kottaraka railway station. The nearest airport is at Thiruvananthapuram.