Mararikulam Mahadeva temple is located at Mararikulam in Alappuzha district, Kerala. The temple is dedicated to Shiva. The annual festival in the temple is held in Kumbha Masam and coincides with the Mahashivratri festival.
Shiva is worshipped in the temple in form of Shivling and is known as Marari. Goddess Parvati faces Shiva in the temple.
The story of the temple is that Shiva is in deep meditation
after the death of Goddess Sati. Mother Goddess then took the form of Goddess
Parvati and sits in Swayamvara Bhava, wishing to
get Shiva again as her husband.
There was total imbalance in
the universe after Shiva entered into deep meditation. To bring back Shiva into
the active world, Kamadeva was deputed to instill feelings of love in Mahadev.
When Kamadeva attempted to hit Shiva with arrows of love, Shiva turned him into
ash by opening his third eye .It is believed that Shiva resides here in this
bhava as Marari.
The annual festival is famous for all the pujas and rituals associated with Shiva temples in Kerala. The temple is famous for Melam and Kerala temple art forms. The utsava murti and thidambu of deities are carried atop a caparisoned elephant during the festival ceremony to the accompaniment of melam. The festival ends with arattu ceremony in the Arabian sea.
The Upa Devatas worshipped in
the temple are Ganapathy, Navagraha, Dhanwanthari, Subramanya, Sastha and Yakshi.
Swayamvara pooja and
Thalicharthu offered to Goddess Parvati helps to remove the hurdles in marriage.
Some of the important festivals
and special days include Shivratri, Ramayana Masam, Navratri and Thrikarthika.
Priests of the temple are from
Vailkom Monattu Illam and Ooranmah (Administration) is by Paduthol Pazhoor
Mana.
This is a traditional Kerala style temple with an east facing sreekovil. The temple has a nalambalam, two dwaja or kodimaram (flag posts) and places for Upa Devatas.