Chengannur Mahadevar Temple

Lord Shiva and Parvathi Devi are the main investitures of this temple. Differing from other temples, there are two main Shrines in this temple. Lord Shiva faces the East and Devi faces the West, while the main shrine is a conical copper plated one. The Devi’s main idol is made with an alloy of five metals, aptly called Panchaloham. The Shivalingam is covered with a gold plate bearing an image of Ardhanareeswara or the Shiva Shakti manifestation of Shiva. The other investitures of the temple are Ganapathi, Shasta or Lord Ayyappan, Chandikeswaran, Neelagrivan, Ganga and Naagar. There is also a shrine of Sree Krishna in the temple. The mukhamandapam in front of the temple and other mandapams in this temple are full of exquisite woodwork. People believe that in the southern part of the temple, several great mantra books that were once used to get rid of poison are buried. If a devotee stands on the rock cover and sees the tip of the Sree Kovil for the entire day, people believe that the person would not be affected by poison. There is an interesting account relating to a custom at the Western entrance of the temple. There was a famous Muringoor Brahmin family who were great devotees of Chengannur Dev. Once, an Alwar came to Chengannur to challenge the Muringoor family at a time when a boy of twelve years was the only male in the Muringoor family. The boy who was not equipped to meet the challenge of the Alwar sought refuge at the feet of Devi. The Goddess, moved by the prayer appeared to the boy in a dream and instructed the boy to make use of the brass pipe in the ‘Araa’ which had a snake in it and which will be under the control of the boy. The next day, the boy challenged his opponent to release the snake with his magical powers. The Alwar’s efforts failed and the snake in turn tried to bite the intruder. On the pleading of the Alwar, the boy controlled the snake with his prayers and sealed it into the pipe. He then made a hole in the wall of the Western Gopuram and put the snake into it. He informed the people around that if anybody put their hand inside the hole and utters a lie, they would be bitten by the snake.