Mathur Shiva Temple, Chiramanangad, Kerala

Mathur Shiva Temple, Chiramanangad, Kerala

Mathur Shiva Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, located in Chiramanangad of Thrissur District in Kerala, India. This Temple is considered as one of the 108 Shiva Temples created by Lord Parasurama.

Legends

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Parasurama created the land between Gokarna and Kanyakumari. Parasurama the sixth avatar of Maha Vishnu, he was youngest son of sage Jamadagni and Renuka. It is said that Kerala was reclaimed from the ocean using his axe for donating to Brahmins after killing of King Kartavirya Arjuna and other Kshatriyas. He split this land in to 64 villages (64 gramas). Out of these 64 villages, 32 villages are in between Perumpuzha and Gokarnam and the spoken language was Tulu.

The remaining 32 villages were in Malayalam speaking area between Perumpuzha and Kanyakumari. According legends, after donating the land to Brahmins108 Maha Shiva Lingam and Durga Idols were installed in these 64 villages. These 108 Shiva Temples are mentioned in the Shivala Stotram and song is written in Malayalam language. Of the 108 Siva Temples, 105 temples are situated in Kerala state, 2 temples in Karnataka and 1 in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu.

Among these temples, the Lord Shiva of Gokarnam Mahabaleswara Temple in the north and Goddess Kumari of Kanyakumari temple in the south were considered as the protectors of Kerala. The first temple created by Parasurama was the Thrissur Vadakkunnathan Temple and the last one was the Thrikkariyoor Mahadeva Temple. This Temple is considered as one of the 108 Shiva Temples created by Lord Parasurama.

The Temple

This is a west facing temple. Presiding Deity is housed in the sanctum in the form of Lingam. He is facing west. It is believed that the Siva Linga is Rudrakshasila which is irregular in shape, red in colour and is untouched by the human sculptor. Goddess Parvathi is also housed in same Sanctum, facing East. The sanctum is built in circular shape. There are shrines of Dakshinamoorthy, Sastha, Ganapathy and Nagayakshi in the temple premises. All these shrines are facing south.

Festivals

Shivarathri is the festival celebrated in this temple with much fanfare.

Connectivity

The Temple is located at about 500 meters from Pannithadam, 6 Kms from Kunnamkulam, 6 Kms from Kunnamkulam New Bus Stand, 14 Kms from Guruvayur, 14 Kms from Guruvayur Railway Station, 16 Kms from Vadakkanchery, 23 Kms from Thrissur and 76 Kms from Cochin Airport. The Temple is situated near Pannithadam in the Kunnamkulam – Vadakkanchery Bus route.

Location