About Kumaranalloor Devi Temple

ABOUT TEMPLE

Kumaranalloor Devi Temple, located near Kottayam enshrines Bhagawati - the mother Goddess, is one of the most popular deities in Kerala.This shrine is located at Kumaranalloor, just 4-km from Kottayam town. Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya Swami has described Kumaranalloor Devi temple as one among the Pancha mahakshetrams(five main temples) in India where you will feel the full presence of Devi and he has given the first position to this temple. Goddess Kathyayani is the presiding deity in this temple. This deity is worshipped in five different forms - as Saraswati ,Lakshmi,Parvathi,Durga and Vana Durga.Kumaranalloor is an ancient cultural center and is one among the 32 Brahmin gramams made by Lord Parasurama.This place was known as 'Thingalkkadu', before the temple came into existence. Later the name 'Thingalkkadu' changed and later came to be known as 'Indu kananam'.In some ancient scripts, the temple is described and known as Mahishari kovil (temple). This temple has yielded an inscription assigned to 11th century A.D. Local traditions indicate that this was a Siva temple, later converted to Durga temple.That is the reason for visiting the Shiva Shrine before visiting Kumaranalloor Amma