Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple, Kottayam – Festivals

Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple, Kottayam – Festivals

Aarattu Festival:

Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple hosts the Aarattu festival celebrated on a grand scale on the Thiruvadhirai day in February–March every year. Lot of people come to this temple on the 8^th day of 10 days festival when seven and half elephants (in Malayalam: Ezharaponnana) made of gold (nearly 13 Kgs) will be held in public view. This statue was donated to the temple by a Travancore maharaja. The temple, one of the wealthiest Devaswams in Kerala, has many valuable possessions.

Ezharaponnana:

Ezhara Ponnana refers to the seven-and-a-half golden elephants which are kept in the temple vault and taken out once in an year for darshan by the devotees. The eight statuettes, seven having a height of two ft. each and the eighth one, half the size, (hence the name Ezhara (seven-and- a- half) Ponnana (Golden elephant) has a rich legacy behind it. According to legend, it was presented to the temple by Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the founder of the Travancore kingdom.

According to another story, while Marthanda Varma had made the pledge to present the ‘Ponnana’ the offering was made during the reign of his successor, Maharaja Karthika Thirunal. There are also differing stories about the reason for the offering: some believe it was offered as a penalty for the damages suffered by the temple during the annexation of Thekkumcore with Travancore; some others believe it was the offering made when the marauding army of Tipu Sultan was hammering on the gates of Travancore.

The statues are made of jackfruit tree and covered with nearly 13 kg of gold plates. Ezhara Ponnana Darshan, is one of the high points of the temple festival which is being held in the midnight of the eighth day of the ten-day festival. Ezhara Ponnana Darshan begins with the ceremonial procession carrying the eight golden statues of elephants and they are later kept at the Asthana Mandapam for the annual darshan by the devotees.

Shivaratri:

This festival is also celebrated with great pomp and show at the Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple. The festival generally takes place during February or March. Thousands of devotees gather here to bath Lord Shiva with milk and offer flowers, fruits and sweets. All the other Shiva related festivals are also celebrated here.