Sasthamangalam Mahadevar Temple

Sasthamangalam Mahadevar Temple
Geography
Country	India
State/province	Kerala
District	Thiruvananthapuram
Culture
Primary deity	Lord Shiva(Maha Devan)
Important festivals	10 Days Annual Festival,Shivarathri,Mandala-Makara vilakku
Architecture
Architectural styles	Kerala Temple Architecture

The Sasthamangalam Mahadevar Temple is an ancient Hindu temple situated near Paipinmood Junction in the Sasthamangalam ward of Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation, Kerala State, India. It is located on top of a hill away from the city centre, thus preserving the spiritual tranquility of the shrine. The temple is more than 700 years old according to the available records, and was regularly visited by the Kings of Travancore. It is administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board.

The foundation legend is that when the site of the temple was still grassland, a woman cutting grass sharpened her knife on a rock lying on the ground, and the rock bled. On further investigation it was confirmed that the piece of stone was a shiva lingam and it was consecrated. The temple was constructed round the spot in due course.

In this temple the main deity is Lord Shiva and the sub-deities are Ganapathi and Dharma Sastha (Ayyappan). Outside the temple compound on the banks of Killi River, murthis of Bhadrakali and Veerabhadran, Nagarajah and Nagayakshi are consecrated.

The main annual temple festival here lasts for ten days, commencing on the Thiruvathira Star Day with the hoisting of a flag on the golden flagstaff in the Malayalam month of Dhanu and ending with the Aarattu ceremony on the tenth day (in December–January according to the western calendar). The ceremonies of Pradosham, Shivrathri, Makara Vilakku and so on are all auspicious at this temple.

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