Sasthamcotta Sri Dharma Sastha temple is one
of the five ancient Sastha temples in Kerala- Achan Koil, Aryankavu,
Kulathupuzha, Sasthamcotta and Sabarimala. The other famous Sastha temples in different other parts of Kerala are at Thrikunnapuzha, Chamravattam (vaidyasastha), Thiruvullakkavu (vidyasastha), Thamaramkulangara, Cherpulassery, Pakkil, Thakazhi, Vayaskara, Medamkulangara, Chakkamkulangara etc. The concept of Dharma Sastha
represents the unison of Vaishnava and Saiva beliefs. The presiding
deity of the temple is Shri Dharma Sastha, accompanied by his consort
‘Prabha’ and son ‘Sathyaka’. The legend of this temple stretches beyond
the period of the Ramayana.
It is believed that Shri Rama along with his wife Sita, brother Lakshmana and the whole vaanara sena, on their way back to Ayodhya after the victory over Ravana, stopped at Sasthamcotta to pay their reverence to Shri Dharma Sastha. Shri Rama offered ‘pithru tharpan’ on the banks of the Sasthamcotta Lake, the water of which is supposed to be identical to ‘Surya Raga Theertha’ of Manasa Sarovar. Lord Rama then deputed the chief architect of his monkey (Vanara) team, ‘Neelan’ to serve his host. 'Neelan' is believed to be the predecessor of the prevailing monkey clan in this temple.
As legend says, once a Raja of Pandalam married a princess of Kayamkulam and settled there. The prince, who
used to regularly pray at the Sabarimala shrine, found it difficult to
continue his routine monthly visits. This displeased Lord Ayyappa and
the signs of the Lord’s displeasure started showing in the behaviour of Raja. He repented for the mistake, set out for Sabarimala and
worshiped there for a period of twelve days. The worries about
managing the Sabarimala visit worried him all along. On the night of
the 12th day of worship, Lord Ayyappa himself appeared in his dream
and suggested that Ayyappa will stay at Kayamkulam itself, and
instead of visiting Sabarimala, proceed to Sasthamcotta and worship
Shri Dharma Sastha where the same divine presence of Sabarimala existed.
The Lord also said that a youngster who comes to the forthcoming festival at Kayamkulam palace will help to locate the place. As said in the dream, a youngster who participated in the archery competition of the festival shot an arrow. A team, including the Raja and the youngster, started towards the eastern direction in search of the arrow to declare the winner. Finally they reached the bank of a beautiful lake. There was a small island in the lake and the arrow of the youngster was found there. Surprisingly, there was a small platform on which a swayambhoo idol was being worshipped by a monkey clan. At that time the young man disappeared. The Kayamkulam king then renovated and built the temple in its present form. The young man is believed to be Ayyappa himself who came to show the divine place to the prince.
The Lord also said that a youngster who comes to the forthcoming festival at Kayamkulam palace will help to locate the place. As said in the dream, a youngster who participated in the archery competition of the festival shot an arrow. A team, including the Raja and the youngster, started towards the eastern direction in search of the arrow to declare the winner. Finally they reached the bank of a beautiful lake. There was a small island in the lake and the arrow of the youngster was found there. Surprisingly, there was a small platform on which a swayambhoo idol was being worshipped by a monkey clan. At that time the young man disappeared. The Kayamkulam king then renovated and built the temple in its present form. The young man is believed to be Ayyappa himself who came to show the divine place to the prince.
The upadevathas are Ganapathi, Shiva, Yakshi amma, Rakshas, Risheeswaran, Madan swami, Nagaraja, Nagayakshi and Bhoothathan. asthamcotta Shri Dharmasastha temple is a major temple under the Travancore Devaswom Board. The hereditary Tantris of the temple are from ‘Keezhthamarassery Madom’ and ‘Mudippilappally Madom’ of Kunnathur. The melsanthi of the temple is from ‘Puthusseri Madom’ of Sasthamcotta, it being the hereditary right of the family.
One of the fascinating features of this temple is the abundance of
monkeys that camp around. A few years ago, the monkeys began to face
shortage of food and they began to snatch food from visitors to the
temple and children going to nearby schools and colleges. The Courts
then ordered the Devaswom (Temple) Board to make arrangements to feed
the monkeys of the temple adequately. The "Vanarasadya" is a renowned attraction of this temple.
Sasthamcotta is well connected with the other parts of Kerala by road
and rail. The National Highway (NH 47) passes through Karunagapally and
Chavara. Both these towns are just 12 km from Sasthamcotta. Two other
important places on MC Road (SH 1) that connect to Sasthamcotta are
Adoor and Kottarakara; both approximately 18 km away.
Kottarathil Sankunni majestically portrayed Sasthamkotta temple and the monkeys quite vividly in Aaitihyamala and few pages of the story are given below.
The story continues....
(Pictures Courtesy : http://sasthamkottatemple.com, http://www.sasthamcotta.com/Dharmasastha Temple.html and Aaitihyamaala by Kottarathil Sankunni)
For more details visit www.sasthamcottatemple.com
