Pandavam () is a village in

Aymanam Aymanam is a village in the Kottayam, Kottayam District of Kerala, India. It is about 4 km from the railway station in Kottayam along the road to Parippu, and 85 km from the Cochin International Airport. Aymanam is the setting for Aru ...

panchayath in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

District in the Indian state of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

. It is located near Kudayampady on Kottayam - Olassa - Parippu route.

Etymology

The name ''Pandavam'' derived from "Pandavavanam", which literally means the forest of

Pandava The Pandavas (Sanskrit: पाण्डव, aɳɖɐʋᵊ IAST: Pāṇḍava) is a group name referring to the five legendary brothers, Yudhishtira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva, who are central figures of the Hindu epic ''Mahabhara ...

Legend

Legend has it that Pandavas had a sojourn there during one year of incognito. A popular belief is that

Naranath Bhranthan Naranath Branthan (The madman of ''Naranam'') is a character in Malayalam folklore. He was considered a divine person, a Mukhta who pretended to be mad. His chief activity consisted of rolling a big stone up a hill and then letting it fall back ...

installed a Shasta idol there. When

Thekkumkur The Kingdom of Thekkumkur () (also transliterated as ''Thekkumkoor'' or ''Thekkumcore'') was an independent kingdom in the southern part of Kerala in India from 1103 CE until 1750 CE.P. Shungoonny Menon - A HISTORY OF TRAVANCORE - First edition ...

raja became old, he was unable to go to

Sabarimala The Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple () is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Ayyappan, who is also known as Dharma Shasta and is the son of the deities Shiva and Mohini (female avatar of the god Vishnu). The temple is situated atop th ...

on the ' Makarsankranti' day. Shasta gave him a vision in his dream to acknowledge that he abodes in Pandavavanam to give darshan. Raja immediately cleared the forest and found an idol. Later, a shrine was constructed for Shasta there which is famed as Pandavam Sree Dharmasastha temple.

Shasta temple

Pandavam Shasta Temple holds Shasta (

Ayyappa Ayyappan, also known as Dharmasastha and Manikandan, is the Hindu deity of truth and righteousness. According to Hindu theology, he is described as the son of Shiva and Mohini (the female avatar of Vishnu), thus representing a bridge between Sh ...

) as the principal deity along with his consorts Purna and Pushkala. The tantric rights of the temple is held by "Kadiyakkol Mana". Lord

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, Malikapurathamma and

Nagar Nagar (-nagar) can refer to: Places Bangladesh *Nagar, Rajshahi Division, village * Nagar, Barisal Division, settlement India * Nagar taluka, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra State *Nagar, Murshidabad, village in West Bengal * Nagar, Punjab, village ...

are the sub-deities. The eight days annual festival is hosted in the Malayalam month of Dhanu which commences with the ''Aarattu'' ceremony.

Travancore Devaswom Board Travancore Devaswom Board is statutory and autonomous body managing around 1252 temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the ...

administer the temple.

Temple Structure

The structure is adorned by several

murals A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spanish ...

of various

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

deities, sketched by Narayanapattar of Ramavarma Agrahara in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. The southern temple wall has murals of Shivathandava, Ganapathi pooja and flute playing

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

along with

gopis Gopi (, ) or Gopika in Hinduism are commonly referred to the group of milkmaids of Braj. They are regarded as the consorts and devotees of Krishna and are venerated for their unconditional love and devotion (''Bhakti'') to him as described ...

. The western wall holds the murals of Ashvarooda (horse seated) Shasta,

Yoga Narasimha Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

and

Subramanya Subramaniam, Subrahmaniam, Subramaniam or Subramanian (; ) is a South Indian male given name. Due to the South Indian tradition of using patronymic surnames it may also be a surname for males and females. The etymology of the name is from Sanskri ...

Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

(deity of east) performing ''Kalasabhisheka'' is pictured in the eastern wall. It is accompanied by the painting of a raja. Murals of elephant seated Shasta and

Parvati Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...

parinaya (marriage of Parvati) are depicted in the northern wall. The Namaskara Mandapa in the complex is made of a single stone. The

rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as Beam (structure), steel beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof Roof shingle, shingles, ...

and roof portions are made of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

Notable people

Guinness Pakru Ajay Kumar (born 31 August 1976), better known as Guinness Pakru, is an Indian actor and television personality, who primarily works in Malayalam cinema, and some Tamil films. He has also served as a judge on several Malayalam television comedy ...

, Malayalam film actor.

References

{{Kottayam district Villages in Kottayam district