Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple: Difference between revisions

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The annual [[Aaraattu]] (Holy Bath) of Lord Shiva at Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple is performed at the villages of Peroor, Poovathummoodu, and Thriruvanchoor on the banks of the [[Meenachil River]]. It is one of the rituals performed as part of festivals at the major temples of Kerala, India. During this ritual,Cherusseril Family member is to escort with ritual and the offerings of the arattu is to be from the Cherusseril family (Nivedya and all other offerings during the arattu). This right was given by the Thekkumcore King of the time. This is still continuing.T he priest takes the deific form of the god within him and takes a bath in the holy water. This event is mainly carried out at the end of the festival. One of the most prominent Arattu in Kerala is conducted in the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Trivandrum by the Travancore royal family. <ref>https://findwords.info/term/aaraattu</ref>

Ezhara Ponnana refers to the seven-large sized and one small sized -golden elephants (which are called Ezharaponnana) which are kept in the temple vault and taken out once a year for [[Darśana|darshan]] by the devotees. Of the eight statuettes, seven have a height of two ft., and the eighth one is half that size, hence the name Ezhara (seven-and- a- half) Ponnana (Golden elephants). According to legend, they were presented to the temple by Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the founder of the Travancore kingdom. According to another story, while Marthanda Varma had made the pledge to present the ‘ponnana,’ the offering was made during the reign of his successor, Maharaja Karthika Thirunal. There are also differing stories about the reason for the offering: some believe it was offered as a penalty for the damages suffered by the temple during the annexation of Thekkumcore by Travancore; others believe it was the offering made when the marauding army of the Tipu Sultan was hammering on the gates of Travancore. The statuettes are made of a jackfruit tree and covered with nearly 13 kg. of gold plates.<ref>{{citation|title=The Hindu|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/ezhara-ponnana-darshan-at-ettumanur-temple-on-tuesday/article4426957.ece|access-date=4 April 2018}}</ref>

Ezhara Ponnana Darshan is one of the high points of the temple festival, held at midnight on the eighth day of the ten-day festival. Ezhara Ponnana Darshan begins with the ceremonial procession of the eight golden statuettes of elephants. They are later kept at the Asthana Mndapam for the annual darshan by the devotees.<ref>{{citation|title=Manorama Online|url=https://www.manoramaonline.com/astrology/astro-news/2018/02/21/ezhara-ponnana-festival-of-ettumanoor-mahadeva-temple.html|access-date=4 April 2018}}</ref>