Thiruvanchikulam Mahadevar Temple – The Temple

Thiruvanchikulam Mahadevar Temple – The Temple

The temple is built in Kerala style of architecture with entrance towers in all four sides. The temple is facing east and devotees used to enter through western entrance, since this is very convenient from the national high way. Tiru Anjaikalam Mahadeva Swami temple is the only shrine in Kerala praised in Thevaram hymns. The majestic gateway is decorated with carvings of elephants, gods and goddesses. Only the left side of the entrance there is a stone carving of Shiva and Parvathi as right and left respectively. Inside the enclosure there is a porch with carvings dedicated to the characters of the great Hindu epic of Ramayana.

There is a Namaskara Mandapam, with 16 pillars in front of the Sree Kovil (Sanctum), which is one of the major attractions of this temple. The sanctum occupies the centre portion of the temple, which is fortified. The sanctum is approached through a flagstaff, which is axial to the entrance tower and the sanctum. The flagstaff has images of Asthavidyesavara. Presiding Deity is called as Mahadevar / Anjaikala Easwarar.

The presiding deity is in the form of lingam. The Lingam here is said to have been self-incarnated. It is of 4-inch length, 12-inch diameter and in semi-circle form. There is water around as synonymous to Ganga. There is a scar mark on left side on the top of the head. Lord Mahadeva was the family deity of Chola kings. The idol was brought from Chidambaram and installed here in the year 1801, according to epigraphic details. The image of Narasimha is sculpted on the vimana.

Mother Ambica graces with Lord Shiva in the same sanctorum in Sadasiva form. Mother is called as Umadevi. It is believed that Lord Shiva lived here along with Parvathi, Karthikeyan and Ganapathy, hence there is no separate Sannathi for Devi Parvathy. The images of Sundarar and Cheraman Peruman are maintained at Bhagavathy temple and brought to the temple during Swati festival during July - August.

There are shrines of Lord Ganapathy, Cheraman Perumal, Sundaramoorthy Nayanar, Brangiradi, Sandhyavelakkal Sivan, Palliyarai Sivan, Sakthi Panchakshari, Bhagavathy, Goddess Parvathy, Lord Parameshwara, Pradhosha Nrithya, Saptamatrika, Rishabha, Nandikeshan, Unni Thevar, Lord Ayyappan, Lord Hanuman, Nagaraja, Lord Pasupathi, Nadakkal Sivan, Lord Subramanya, Goddess Durga Bhagavathy, Goddess Ganga, Konnakkal Siva, Kottarathil Thevar, Nagayakshi, Dakshinamoorthy, Althara Gopudan Swamy etc. in the Temple premises.

There are more than 25 deities around the prakara. All the deities names were written in Tamil also along with Malayalam. This is the only temple in Kerala that has a long round prakara. There are two temple tanks in the temple, located in the second precinct. Sthala Vriksham is Sarakondrai and Theertham is Sivagangai.

The shrine also has beautiful murals, woodcarvings and sculptures depicting Hindu mythology. The sanctum walls bear murals portraying Lord Ram and other mythological characters in five panels. The exterior of Palliyarai walls also have mural paintings. The temple is a protected monument by the Archaeological Survey of India.