Vaikom Mahadevar Temple

The Vaikom Mahadevar temple is one of the most celebrated Shiva temples in South India. Vaikom is located at a distance of 33 kms south of Ernakulam and 40 kms north of Kottayam. The deity here is Lord Shiva. Vaikom Mahadevar manifests himself as Dakshinamurthy in the panthirathi pooja in the morning. He is worshipped as Kiraata Murthy during the Uchcha pooja at noon and as Satchitananda in the evening. The temple sanctum is covered with a copper plated roof crowned with a golden kalasam. The height of the wall of the sanctum is just about a third of that of the roof. The building dates back to the 11th century, and the wooden panels and the murals date back to the 15th and 18th centuries respectively. 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. He entrusted the shivalingam at Vaikom to the care of Vyagrapadar. Vaikom therefore acquired the name Vyagrapuri which ultimately became Vaikom for short. Legend also has it that Parasurama, the incarnation of Vishnu built this temple and set up the worship protocol here.

Air: The nearest airport to the district of Kottayam is the Cochin Airport which is one of the busiest airports of Kerala.

Rail: The nearest Railway station to Kottayam is the Kottayam Railway Station.

Road: An efficient network of roads connects almost all parts of Kerala and neighboring Tamil Nadu with the city of Kottayam.