Kalamassery Mahaganapathy temple
Encyclopedia
Kalamassery Mahaganapathy Temple is a Hindu temple in North Kalamassery
dedicated to Ganapathy and other Gods including Subramanian
, the Navagraha
s, Shiva
, Parvathi, Rama
and more.
, Parvathi, Rama
, Dakshinamurthi and Chandikeshwara. The entire building covers an area of just around 5000 square feet (464.5 m²), and there are no outer walls. There is a Peepal tree in front of the Ganapathy shrine. The temple complex includes a ground behind the building. The busy Eloor
-Kalamassery
road runs just in front of the temple. The space from the temple's front and the road is so short (around 30 feet) that it has earned the deity the dubious nickname of 'Road-side Ganapathy'.
on the first day of the Karkidakom month of the malayalam calendar
. Gajapooja also is conducted once every four years.
Kalamassery
Kalamassery is a suburban region of the city of Kochi and a Municipality in the District of Ernakulam of Kerala state, India. It is a concentrated region of industrialization with several factories manufacturing chemicals and fertilizers, as well as IT companies...
dedicated to Ganapathy and other Gods including Subramanian
Murugan
Murugan also called Kartikeya, Skanda and Subrahmanya, is a popular Hindu deity especially among Tamil Hindus, worshipped primarily in areas with Tamil influences, especially South India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius and Reunion Island. His six most important shrines in India are the...
, the Navagraha
Navagraha
Graha is a 'cosmic influencer' on the living beings of mother Bhumidevi . In Hindu astrology, the Navagraha are some of these major influencers.All the navagraha have relative movement with respect to the background of fixed stars in the zodiac...
s, Shiva
Shiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, Parvathi, Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
and more.
History
The temple was built in 1980 by late Mr. N Ragunatha Menon, a prominent and pious person who lived in the town of Kalamassery. For a large period of time the temple existed as a basic concrete structure and housed the shrines of Ganapathy, Subramanian and Navagrahas only. In the year 2000 Menon embarked on a project to build additional shrines for other Gods and Goddesses and also renovate the temple with traditional architecture. Menon died the following year, after which the management of the temple passed onto the hands of his children. The children continued further renovation of the temple, and also set up the Mahaganapathy Temple Trust which would manage the temple. At present the temple is a very popular center of worship for people living in and around Kalamassery, and several festivals and events are conducted throughout the year.Temple structure
The temple has a simple construction with the original shrines of Ganapathy and Subramanian (along with the Navagrahas) housed inside two concrete structures located side by side facing west. Between these two structures is located the stairs leading to the more recent elevated structure which houses the shrines of several other Gods and Goddesses. These new shrines were added in the year 2000 and include those for ShivaShiva
Shiva is a major Hindu deity, and is the destroyer god or transformer among the Trimurti, the Hindu Trinity of the primary aspects of the divine. God Shiva is a yogi who has notice of everything that happens in the world and is the main aspect of life. Yet one with great power lives a life of a...
, Parvathi, Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
, Dakshinamurthi and Chandikeshwara. The entire building covers an area of just around 5000 square feet (464.5 m²), and there are no outer walls. There is a Peepal tree in front of the Ganapathy shrine. The temple complex includes a ground behind the building. The busy Eloor
Eloor
Eloor is a suburb of Kochi and a municipality in Ernakulam District in the Indian state of Kerala, India. It is an industrial area north of Cochin. It is an island of 14.21 km² formed between two distributaries of river Periyar and is the largest industrial belt in Kerala...
-Kalamassery
Kalamassery
Kalamassery is a suburban region of the city of Kochi and a Municipality in the District of Ernakulam of Kerala state, India. It is a concentrated region of industrialization with several factories manufacturing chemicals and fertilizers, as well as IT companies...
road runs just in front of the temple. The space from the temple's front and the road is so short (around 30 feet) that it has earned the deity the dubious nickname of 'Road-side Ganapathy'.
Events
The devotees refer to elephants as Lord Ganesh's incarnation. It has been the regular annual practice at the Mahaganapathy temple for the last 20 years to conduct a large-scale Ashta Dravya Maha Ganapathy Havana and AanayoottuAanayoottu
The Aanayoottu is a festival held in the precincts of the Vadakkunnathan temple in Thrissur city, in Kerala. The festival falls on the first day of the month of Karkkidakam , which coincides with the month of July...
on the first day of the Karkidakom month of the malayalam calendar
Malayalam calendar
Malayalam calendar is a solar and sidereal Hindu calendar used in Kerala, India. The origin of the calendar has been dated as 825 CE....
. Gajapooja also is conducted once every four years.
External links
- Satellite image of Kalamassery Mahaganapathy temple (Full screen)