Major Martandeswarkoil, Eraniel, Kanyakumari District, India

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MAJOR MARTANDESWAR KOVIL, ERANIEL, INDIA

          Martandeswar Kovil is situated at Eraniel in the Kanyakumari District of the Tamil Nadu State in India.

           The temples in the Kanyakumari District are classified into major and minor temples. It is a major temple. Kovil in Tamil means temple.  Therefore, it is called Major Martandeswar Kovil.

          It is a small granite temple of fine workmanship.

    Besides, it is a God Siva temple of great historical significance.

          According to a view, Maharaja Martanda Varma, founder of modern Travancore, established it and named after himself.

          On the contrary, some other people say that the temple had been in existence long before Martanda Varma; and he - like many of his predecessors- got the name from this temple. According to them, Cheraman Perumal - the last King of undivided Kerala - had built it before he left Kerala. According to some historians, Cheraman Perumal is a title given to the kings of the second Chera dynasty from 800 to 1102 AD.  

The ancient Trivancore Palace.

           

          There is a relatively small Palace - about         75 metre away from this temple. This Palace might have been built for the Maharajas to stay during their visit to this temple. Or, this might have been a fort of the Travancore Army.This is the conclusion of the present writer. It may be recalled that the Dutch forces under De Lannoy had marched to Eraniel before they surrendered to the Travancore forces in 1741.

However, many people in this area say that the Mahararaja moved to Padmanabhapuram Palace only from Eranil Palace.

Whatever happened, a Mr. Potti – a Bramin of this area - says that the Maharaja of Travancore had transferred the things pertaining to the temple like the tall kuthu vilakkus, the stone -mill, doopa kuthi, aappakarai, chuudathattu to the temple before he abandoned the Palace. They are kept in the temple even now.

          A number of Brahmins live around the Palace even now. Chetties are the dominant caste group of Eraniel. They are known for their trading transactions. In the past, they sold things to foreign ships and bought precious stones.

The bathing tank inside the Palace.

          The temple is flanked by two temple tanks. One of them is a big one. There is a Sastankovil in front of the temple. Recently, two elephant statues have been installed at the entrance.

The temple priest sits on the ottakkal.

          There is an ottakkal mantapam –shed that stands on a platform carved out of a single stone  – in front of Mulastanam – the inner shrine where the deity remains. The area of this  stone slab is   11 metre     square and 16 centimetre thick brought from a hill, at least, 3 km away from this place.  It must be noted that even now there exists only a small path to reach the temple.

  

          The deity is a 0. 8 metre tall lingam. As in other temples, it is east facing. Unlike in many other Siva temples - it is a plain lingam. However, it is usually seen covered by silver.

        Again - unlike in other temples - it is made of “Saligramam”- a precious and valuable spiritual stone- taken from the Ganga river.

The mill-stone found inside the temple.

       The ordinary sandal wood tablets - called chanthanam –available in the market will corrode Saligramam. Therefore, the real sandal wood is ground using a big mill-stone -a kind of grinding stone- to prepare sandal-paste for abishegams. The mill-stones of this kind are not seen in other temples of this area.

          The water poured over the lingam –called abishega water - falls over the head of Sani God called Saniswara Bhagavan.

      The ottakkal mantapam and the Mulastanam together form a beautiful structure called sanctum sanctorum. In other temples, the devotees circumambulate  Mulastanam. Here they walk  upto Sani Bhagavan and return without completing the circular path. This is because Siva in this temple has no Parvathy. This is  a characteristic feature of some Siva temples. For instance Kozhikode Siva temple. According to mythology, Siva - at one time -disdained Parvathy and sat there.

          It is believed that a man will not see this deity – called Nirmaridharsanam - for 41 days continuously if he chooses to see the deity each day at the same time. The probability of missing the time is so great that none has accomplished this feat.

        A 10-day festival that comes in the month of Masi ends in Mahasivaratri. On the 10th day, the Kaalai-vahanam will come round the temple three times. Besides, there will a procession led by an elephant.

          The temple door remains open in the morning and after 5 PM in the evening.

          Eraniel is just 3.5 km away from Thuckalay –a place about 55 km South of Trivandrum or 20 km North of Nagercoil in the NH – 47. Eraniel is quite near to Neyyoor and Monday Market/Thingal Nagar. There is a railway station at Eraniel.

          The temple is worth a visit.

A view from the backside