Lord Sastha Temple is a beautiful shrine of Lord Ayyappa situated near Govt. Arts College at Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram. This ancient temple enshrines Lord Ayyappa as the presiding deity. Devotees believe that one can accomplish all one's desires by worshipping Thycaud Sastha.
The temple also has sub-shrines for Lord Ganapathi, Hanuman, Navagraha, Lord Shiva, Goddess Durga and Nagaraja.
Lord Sastha Temple, which has been maintained recently, is an excellent example of the Kerala style of architecture. Neeranjanam, which is done in order to remove the 'Shani dosham', or the evil influence of the Shani(Saturn), is the main offering at the temple. Mandala Pooja and Makara Sankranti are the major festivals celebrated at the temple.
As Saastha and Ayyappa are synonymously used by all, it is difficult to distinguish one temple from the other unless the Sankalpa (disposition) of the prathishta (idol) is known, which is often not available easily for the devotees. Generally, if consorts are installed in a Sastha temple it is obvious that the temple belongs to Sastha and not Ayyappa, as Ayyappa is Brahmachari. There are a number of temples in the state dedicated to Saastha/Ayyappa either as a principal deity or as a subsidiary deity.
The idols or vigrahas seen in temples of Kerala belong to swayambhoo, stone, wooden, mirror or metallic (panchaloha) in the make. The important swayambhoo idols of Sastha are in the temples at Chamravattam (near Tirur) and also at Thiruvullakavu (at Cherppu near Thrissur). The swayambhoo idol of Chamravattam is a rare one and having on either side of the principal deity there are prathishtas of his consort Prabha and son Sathyaka. At the Sastha temple, Kollengode (in PaIakkad district) the idol is like Shiva Linga with his consort Prabha and son Sathyaka on either side. At Achankovil (in Kollam district), two consorts Poorna and Pushkala are installed by the side of the main idol.
Some idols are of different types such as standing, sitting, on a horse, on an elephant or on a peetha. In standing poses they also vary in heights. The Sastha idol at Aryankavu is very tall. The deity at Achancovil sits on a horse with sword in hand. The pose of Ayyappa in Sabarimala temple is that of a yogi, sitting in Vajrasana, two-armed, right hand showing Chinmudra and left hand resting on knee and both legs tied up with a metal hoop known as yogi's patta. The Sastha idol at Maniyur (Taiparamba taluk) which is dated to 12th century, is seated on a peetha in Veeraasana posture. There are other dispositions of Saastha having three-eyes and four arms with sword and shield, bow and arrow, spear, amrutha kumbha, chakra, conch, rudrakshamaala, and kamandalu. The different dispositions used at the time of consecration of the idols are not always known by the devotees and in most cases the actual dispositions or sankalpa will be known only by the Tantri. He will be knowing the Moola mantra, or the exact hymns to please the deity and will be transferred to the family member who has the right to be his successor.
Trivandrum International Airport and Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station (1 km) are the nearest airport and railway station to reach Thycaud Sastha Temple.
