Kattalai Amman Temple is a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 Temple

Temple

A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

 situated in Kanyakumari District

Kanyakumari District

Kanyakumari District ) is a district of Tamil Nadu state, India and is the southernmost land area of mainland India.The district is the second most urbanised district in Tamilnadu, next only to Chennai and ahead of Coimbatore. It also has the highest literacy and education levels in the...

 at the southern part of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The temple is located in the picturesque village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

, surrounded by mountains and canals. The temple was known originally as “Kandan Sasthankoil”.

The current temple complex was built in 1981 and the first Amman Kudai Vizha (annual celebration of the Devi

Devi

Devī is the Sanskrit word for Goddess, used mostly in Hinduism, its related masculine term is deva. Devi is synonymous with Shakti, the female aspect of the divine, as conceptualized by the Shakta tradition of Hinduism. She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect, which represents...

) was conducted on 9 November 1981 (24th Aippasi 1157 of Tamil Calendar

Tamil calendar

The Tamil calendar is a solar and sidereal Hindu calendar used in Tamil Nadu. It is also used in Pondicherry , and by the Tamil population in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius and Sri Lanka. It is also used by Telugu speaking people in Tamil Nadu...

). The Nakshatra

Nakshatra

Nakshatra is the term for lunar mansion in Hindu astrology. A nakshatra is one of 27 sectors along the ecliptic...

 on this auspicious day was Revatī

Revati (nakshatra)

Revati is the twenty-seventh nakshatra in Hindu astrology, corresponding to ζ Piscium.It is ruled by Puṣan,one of the 12 Ādityas...

. Thereafter, every year, celebrations are conducted on the month of Aippasi on the day of Revatī nakshatra. Currently there are three main buildings in the temple: the renovated Nagaramman temple, the Amman

Mariamman

Māri ,Tulu, also known as Mariamman , both meaning "Mother Mari", spelt also Maariamma , or simply Amman or Aatha is the South Indian Hindu goddess of disease and rain. She is the main South Indian mother goddess, predominant in the rural areas of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and...

 Temple (built in 1981), and 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...

 Maadan Temple (built later), which houses the deity Boothathan.

The Temple complex consists of the main campus, which houses the main deities, and the surrounding area. These areas also hold bases for some deities, a spring (ootrukuzhi) where fresh water flows year round, the temple pond

Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...

, rocks and trees. The pond is also known as irumbittan kulam. Legend

Legend

A legend is a narrative of human actions that are perceived both by teller and listeners to take place within human history and to possess certain qualities that give the tale verisimilitude...

 tells that iron was melted and poured into this pond.

The temple is currently maintained by the Elur Chetty

Elur Chetty

' is a Tamil speaking Hindu community in South India. They are said to have migrated from Kaveripoompattanam in Thanjavur District and settled in Kanyakumari District...

 community.

History

Although the exact origins of the temple are not known, it is believed the temple was worshipped for more than 500 years. The Nagaramman (The Snake Goddess) temple and the centre lamp post are the only structures remaining from the original temple. There are broken remains of baked mud statues around the temple. These remains tell us that the temple was famous and worshipped by many devotees

Bhakti

In Hinduism Bhakti is religious devotion in the form of active involvement of a devotee in worship of the divine.Within monotheistic Hinduism, it is the love felt by the worshipper towards the personal God, a concept expressed in Hindu theology as Svayam Bhagavan.Bhakti can be used of either...

 during those days.

During the early days of the complex, the entire area was covered with wild bushes and trees. Devotees had to make way through the bushes to reach the temple. The Nagaramman temple itself was fully covered with bushes. Later, the complex was cleared of these bushes.

Location

The Temple is situated in the area of Perumchilampu, in Velimalai village, Kalkulam taluka in Kanyakumari district of South Tamil Nadu. It is situated near the historic Padmanabhapuram

Padmanabhapuram

Padmanabhapuram a city and a municipality near Thuckalay in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-History:Padmanabhapuram was the old capital of the princely state of Travancore in India...

town.

External links

• Official web site: http://www.kattalai.org
• Vedic Links: http://www.vediclinks.net/Kattalai_Amman_Temple.asp