 This temple is located at Thazhathangady in the suburbs of Kottayam town,
about 3 km from the town towards the famous tourist resort Kumarakom. The temple was
established in 1841 AD. The location is near the Taliyil kotta Siva temple.
Kottayam is one of the Ashta gramas and the
temple is managed by the Alleppey Anathanarayanapuram Thuravoor Tirumala Devaswom
(AATTD).
Deities & Temple
details
The main deity is Sree
Venkatachalapathy with Lakshmi devi on the left and Bhoomi devi on the right. The
vigraha made of Panchaloha also bears a sword.
 The temple and prathista are facing East. Outside the srikovil there are
pratishtas of Ganapathi and Garuda inside Nalambalam. Outside the Nalambalam, at
west side there are pratishtas of Nagayakshi and Nagaraja. At the north east corner
of the temple premises, the statue of the Poojari who brought the Venkatachalapathy idol
to Kottayam is installed. There is a small Anapandal in the temple. A part of the agrasala
on the north side is converted to a smal hall-cum-auditorium.
The temple is located on a sloppy terrain and the
main gopuram entrance is about 6 feet below the road level with steps leading to the
gopuram. However, the west gate is above the road level with steps upwards.
Cross
sectional view of the terrain from south side
1. Nalambalam 2. Front gopuram 3. Rear
gopuram 4. Steps |
The western (rear) gopuram uphill
|
History
The Venkatachalapathy idol was brought to
Kottayam by a Poojari who migrated from Varapuzha. At his request the Kottayam Thampuran
(Raja) gave free land and aid for construction of the temple. The temple was established
in 1841 AD.
About
Kottayam
Kottayam is
called the Land of Letters and Lakes and is situated on the banks of
Meenachil River which flows from the sacred river Pampa. This
small town is an important commercial centre of Kerala. Most of India's natural rubber
originates from the acres of plantations of Kottayam, also home to the Rubber Board, one
of the country's primary commodities board. Kottayam, among the state's more mountainous
districts, provides some of Kerala's finest natural scenes sandwiched as it is between
serene palm-fringed backwaters on the west and the Western ghats on the east.
 The word Kottayam is derived from
two Malayalam words - Kotta and Akam - which means the interior of a fort. The history of
Kottayam dates back to 9th century AD when it was a part of the Kulashekara Empire (AD
1090–1102). It was then referred to as Vempolinad (the logical root of the Vembanad
Lake), which split into the kingdoms of Thekkumkur and Vadakkumkur by about AD 1102.
Kottayam was the headquarters of Thekkumkur. Both these kingdoms were later annexed by
Marthanda Varma of Travancore between 1748 and 1754.
The town is also the birth place of the
state’s publishing industry and home to a number of globally renowned newspapers and
magazines especially Malayala Manorama and The Week.
Temples nearby
|
There are many
famous temples in and around Kottayam. The Tirunakkara Temple
dedicated to Lord Siva is in the heart of Kottayam Town. This temple is a major stop over
for pilgrims to Sabarimala. About 12 km towards Ernakulam along the MC Road is the
famous Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple and 24 km towards Trivandrum is the Tiruvalla Sri
Vallabha temple. The famous Kumaranallor Bhagavathy temple is in the suburbs of the Town
about 6 km towards Ettumanoor.
<< Tirunakkara Siva temple |
Rome of the East
Kottayam is a centre of Syrian Christian community, which traces
its origin to Saint Thomas who visited the region in AD 53. However, with the arrival of
the Portuguese in the 16th century, many of the Syrian Christians were forced to convert
to Roman Catholicism. The town has many early churches established by Syrian Catholics in
India. The major of them is the Valiyapally and the Cheriapally.
St. Mary's Church (Valiyapally)
 This ancient
Syrian Knanaya Church is the oldest in this part of the country and the mother church for
almost all the Christians of this area. The present church was built in 1550 A.D by the
descendants of the Syrian Knanaya Christians who migrated to India in 345 A.D. from
Jerusalem under the leadership of Kana Thoma. This church is also famous for its two
granite crosses known as Persian crosses, brought here from a much older church near
Crangannore built by the forefathers of the builders of this church. On each of the stone
slabs there is a cross with an inscription in the Pahalavi language, which was the
official language of Sassanian dynasty in Persia.
|
The persian cross
|
St. Mary's Church (Cheriyapally)
 Cheriyapally
is one of the few old churches that still exist in the near original state. This church
was built in 1579 by the local Raja, ruler of the native state for his Christian subjects
and it shows strong temple architectural influences. Cheriyapally which literally means
small church in fact much bigger than Valiyapally (big church) - which is close by.
The Thazhathangadi mosque
 The Mosque at Thazhathangadi is one of the ancient mosques in India which
is built in the typical Kerala style. It is believed that malik Dinar had built this
mosque about 1000 years ago. Now it is an important pilgrim centre at Kottayam. The
artistic value of this mosque deserves special mention.
Kumarakom tourist paradise
 Twelve
kilometres to the west of Kottayam town lies a small village called Kumarakom.
The village is a part of Kuttanad, the wonderland which lies below sea level. The
Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, spread over 14 acres of lush greenery and blue waters, is
located on the banks of the Vembanad Lake. The sanctuary is home to local varieties of
waterfowl, cuckoo, and water ducks, as well as migrating Siberian storks.
|
