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| Kottarakara Maha Ganapathy temple, Kerala. upload.wikimedia.org |
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| Kottarakara Maha Ganapathy temple, Kerala. vatemples.com |
The pretty old Kottarakkara Sree Mahaganapathy Kshethram, about 25 km from Kollam, is an important pilgrim center in Kerala, As far as I know in Kerala , the worship of Maha Ganapathy is not as popular as in other states like Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, in particular. As a matter of fact, Vinayaga Chathurhi was popularized in Maharashtra in the pre-independence day spear headed by Bal Gangadar Tilak during the peak of freedom struggle. It is mentioned that Kathakali, the world famous art form of Kerala, was first ever performed at the Kottarakkara Maha Ganapathy Temple. During the time of Kottarakara Thampiran the debut performance of Kathakali (originated here) was performed in this temple.
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| Temple elephants, Maha Ganaphy temple, kerala.kottarakaramahaganapathi.org |
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| Ganesh Chathurthi puja at Maha ganapahy temple, kerala.kottarakaramahaganapathi.org |
In this temple there are many other Hindu deities such as god Shiva, goddess Parvati, god Ganesha, god Murugan (Karthikeya), native god Ayyappan, and Nagaraja. But, here the main and presiding deity is god Ganapathy and the offerings made in the temple kitchen - Madapalli go to him. Why all gods except Parvati and Ganapathy are facing the east direction is not known.
As for the image of Ganapthy enshrined here, it is said that It is said that famous temple architect Perumthachan while working on the Sreekovil (garbagriha) of the Shiva temple here got a chance to notice a firm and straight root of a jackfruit tree. He cut the root and carved a Ganapathy murthi out of it which is now being worshipped as the famous Kottarakkara Ganapathy.
The main pujas here, as wished by the devotees, are Udayasthamana pooja, Mahaganapathi homam and Pushpanjali. People embarking on a new venture, business, education, wedding, etc., would normally prefer Ganapathy Homan. This is commonly done in all auspicious functions for the prosperity, welfare and success of the family. Doing Ganapathi homam with devotion and religious fervor on the sanctified premises of a temple is considered a right choice.
The main offerings of the temple are Unniyappam which is popular in this area as well as in the surrounding places. The offering of Unniyappam was introduced by Perumthachan to the Ganapathi murthy which he himself carved it. This sweet item id made from rice flower, well ripened banana (kadalipazham), ghee, sugar and coconuts, etc.
In this Ganapathy temple the puja schedule is a long one - very one hour or with in 15 minutes, the Tantris conduct some kind of puja periodically and his includes kala pujas Usha kala puja in the morning Uchasreebali (Ucchi kala puja), evening Depardhana and after Rakala puja, Nadayadappu around 8 Pm. An important puja protocol of this temple is daily between 4-30 am to 5.30 am Abhishekam and Ashtadravya Ganapathy homam are held eith dedication. Udayasthamana Pooja gains much importance here and is done by devotees for welfare and to have children in family. As part of it Unniyappam is made from the morning to late evening.
In the state of Kerala Hindus look upon god Ganapathy as Vigneswara - remover of obstacles. He is the god of wisdom and the leader of Ganas and is capable of handling any tough situation.
There are ae stories as to the origin of Ganapathy snd the commonly accepted one is he was conjured up by Consort Parvati (while God Shiva was out wandering around) with an elephant head and four arms to guard her when she was alone.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kottarakkara_Sree_Mahaganapathi_Kshethram
https://kottarakaramahaganapathi.org/photoGallery.php
https://www.hindu-blog.com/2021/03/kottarakkara-ganapathy-temple-history-unniyappam-story.html
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