Chengannur Mahadeva Temple, Pathanamthitta

Architecture

The temple is located in the heart of Chengannur town, very close from Pamba River flowing towards the east. Chengannur is considered one of the 32 Namboothri villages in Kerala. Mahadeva is believed to be the god of the village. The presiding deity is Mahadeva, in the form of Lingam faces east, while the image of his consort, Bhagavathy is located exactly behind facing West. The temple is approached through a temple tower built in Kerala style and a golden flagstaff, both of which are axial to the central shrine. There are shrines of other deities around the temple in the second precinct for Sastha and Neela Greevan, while an image of Ganapathy is seen in the first precinct. The image of Bhagavathy is made of panchaloha, an alloy of five metals. It is believed that Perumachuten brought the image to the temple.The temple is built in Kerala style architecture, which is common in all temples in the South Indian state of Kerala. The temple has a two storeyed gopuram or a gateway tower, with the upper storey having wooden trails covering the Kottupura (a hall of drum beating during festivals). A rectangular wall around the temple, called Kshetra-Madilluka pierced by the gateways, encloses all the shrines of the temple. The metal plated flagpost or Dwajasthambam is located axial to the temple tower leading to the central sanctum and there is a Deepastamba, which is the light post. Chuttuambalam is the outer pavilion within the temple walls. The central shrine and the associated hall is located in a rectangular structure called Nallambalam. Between the entrance of Nallambalam to the sanctum, there is a raised square platform called Namaskara Mandapa which has a pyramidal roof. Thevrapura, the kitchen used to cook offering to the deity is located on the left of Namaskara Mandapa from the entrance. Balithara is an altar is used for making ritualistic offering to demi-gods and the festive deities. The central shrine called Sreekovil houses the image of the presiding deity. It is on an elevated platform with a single door reached through a flight of five steps. Either sides of the doors have images of guardian deities called Dvarapalakas. As per Kerala rituals, only the main priest called Thantri and the second priest called Melshanthi alone can enter the Sree Kovil. The central shrine has a circular plan with the base built of granite, superstructure built of laterite and conical roof made of terracotta tile supported from inside by a wooden structure. The lower half of Sree Kovil consists of the basement, the pillar or the wall, called stambha or bhithi and the entablature called prasthara in the ratio 1:2:1, in height. Similarly the upper half is divided into the neck called griva, the roof tower called shikhara and the fonial kalasam (made of copper) in the same ratio. The roof projects in two levels to protect the inner structure from heavy rains during monsoon. The roof of the temple and some of the pillars have lavish wood and stucco carvings depicting various stories of ancient epics, Ramayana and Mahabharatha.