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Ettumanoor (sometimes referred as Ettumanur) is a major town in Kottayam District of Kerala state, south India, strategically located 11 Kilometers off from Kottayam town, 65 KM off from Cochin and 73 KM off from Cochin International Airport.The state Highway No.1 popularly known as the Main Central (MC) Road passess through Ettumanoor, and is a major connecting link between Palai and beyond to the Western Ghats and to the commercial capital of Kerala - Kochi. Image File history File links Derived from public domain images featured at: http://commons. ... , For the district with the same name, see Kottayam district. ... , Kerala ( ; Malayalam: കേരളം; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of southwestern India. ... South India is a linguistic-cultural region of India that comprises the four states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the two Union Territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, whose inhabitants are collectively referred to as South Indians. ... Cochin International Airport (IATA: COK, ICAO: VOCI), also known as Kochi International Airport or Nedumbassery Airport, is located at Nedumbassery, near Kochi (also known as Cochin) in India. ... Kochi may refer to: Kochi, India, a city in the state of Kerala, India, formerly known as Cochin. ...

The Ettumanoor Mahadevar temple

Legend has it that Khara (of the Khara Dhooshana demon duo) of Ramayana worshipped Shiva at Chidambaram and obtained from him three Shivalingams and journeyed holding one shivalingam on each hand and one in his mouth. He sojourned at Vaikom, and set the shivalingam on the ground and to his dismay realized that it had gotten rooted to the ground. Kharan therefore installed the other two shivalingams at Ettumanur and Kaduthuruthy. It is believed that visiting these triad of temples in a single day is of great significance.

Legend also has it that Khara installed an image of Krishna in the north western corner of this temple.

There are several other legends associated with this shrine. Legend has it that Shiva created a deer and set it to play in an island; when Parasurama reclaimed land from the sea, this island is said to have become part of what is Kerala now. The isle of the deer is referred to as Harinadweepa. The Malayalam word for deer is Maan, and hence this place came to be known as Maanoor.

Legend has it that this is a very ancient shrine and that it was in wilderness thanks to a curse of Lomaharsha rishi, a disciple of Vyasa, and that worshipped was restored here by Vilwamangala swamy who is associated with several other temples in Kerala. Inscriptions testify to renovations that were carried out in the 16th century CE here.

The temple: The west facing temple here has a circular sanctum covered with a conical copper plated roof crowned with a kalsam. The mukhamandapam in front of the temple bears two images of Nandi, one of stone and another of metal. Although there is no shrine to Parvati, the rear of the sanctum is revered as Parvati's shrine.

A rectangular circumambulatory passage surrounds the sanctum. The sanctum bears wood carvings of superior workmanship portraying legends from the Ramayana and the Bhagavata puranam.

Also of great workmanship are the murals on the western entrance to the temple; mention must be made of the painting of the dance of Shiva.

There are also shrines to Saasta, Ganapati and Dakshinamurthy in the temple.

A golden staff, visible from a distance is in front of th e shrine.

At the entrance to the temple is a large metal lamp; visitors make offerings of oil and the soot that collects from the burning of the oil is believed to have medicinal value.

Festivals: The 10 day long festival in the malayala month of Kumbham concluding on the Ardra asterism is the temple's annual festival.

On the eighth day of the festival, the processional image of the deity is taken to a specially decorated site (ASTHANAMANDAPAM)in the north west corner of the temple, when thousands throng to visit the shrine.

On this day, a unique treasure of the temple (offered by the Maharaja of Travancore) - the seven and a half elephants (ezhara pon aana) representing the eight dik paalakas or the guardians of the cardinal directions are displayed. Seven of these golden elephants are two feet in height while the eighth is a foot high.

Ettumanoor is located 12 km north-east of Kottayam town. The ancient Siva temple here has brought glory and fame to the place. Myths have it that the Pandavas and the sage Vyasa had worshipped at this temple. The name of the place had its origin from the word 'manoor', which means the home of deer.

The present temple building, with its gopuram and the fortress around it, was reconstructed in 717 ME (1542 AD). The mural paintings on the walls inside and outside the gopuram are quite famous. The images of Balagopalam and other Devas are painted with high artistic ingenuity. The golden flag staff inside the temple is a beautiful sight. On the top of it is the image of a bull surrounded by a small bells and metal leaves of the banyan tree. The temple roofs are covered with copper sheets and it has 14 ornamental tops. Bhagavati, Sastha, Ganapathy and Yakshi are installed here as subordinate deities. It is believed that the great philosopher, Sankaracharya wrote the 'Soundaraya Lahari' staying in the temple.

The arattu festival of this temple is celebrated on a grand scale on the Thiruvathira day in Kumbham (February-March) every year. Large number of people flock to this temple on the 8th and 10th day of the festival when seven and a half elephants made of gold (nearly 13 Kgms) will be held in public view. The temple, the wealthiest Devaswom in Kerala, has many valuable possessions.

The Thulabharam is one of the important rituals of this temple. People make offerings to God for favours received. On balance, the child or man for whom offerings were promised to God, is weighed against offerings ranging from gold to fruits. Ettumanoor is an important pilgrim Centre of Hindus, it is on the highway between Kottayam and Kochi. Poojas are carried out on the Ashtami festival inside the temple as it is believed that Mahadeva fasts, feeds guests and prays for his son's victory in the battle against demons