Shri Dharma Sastha temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

located at the village

Sasthamkotta Sasthamkotta or Sasthamcotta is a village in the Kunnathoor Tehsil of Kollam district in the state of Kerala, India. Kunnathoor taluk headquarters is located at Sasthamkotta. The Sasthamkotta freshwater lake is the largest freshwater lake i ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is surrounded three sides by the largest fresh water lake of Kerala, Sasthamkotta lake. The temple is well known for the population of monkeys that inhabit the premises. The temple monkeys are believed to be holy. In 1996 a trust fund was founded to ensure the monkeys would continue to be fed, even when natural food supplies dwindled. The Sasthamcotta temple is one among the five ancient Sastha temples in Kerala - AchanKoil, Aryankavu, Kulathupuzha, Sasthamcotta and Sabarimala. The concept of Dharma Sastha represents the unison of

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

and

Saiva ''Saiva'' is a genus of Asian planthoppers, family Fulgoridae. They are colourful insects, marked boldly in red, blue, white and black, with a prominent slender stalk like structure arising on the head that points upwards or forward. The know ...

beliefs. The presiding deity of the temple is Shri Dharma Sastha, accompanied by his consort ‘Prabha’ and son ‘Sathyaka’.

Legend

The legend of this temple stretches beyond the period of the Ramayana (

Treta Yuga ''Treta Yuga'' (IAST: ''Tretā-yuga'') (Devanagari: त्रेतायुग), in Hinduism, is the second and second-best of the four '' yugas'' (world ages) in a '' Yuga Cycle'', preceded by '' Krita (Satya) Yuga'' and followed by '' Dvapara ...

). It is believed that Shri

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

along with his wife

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

, brother

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

and the whole vaanara sena, on their way back to

Ayodhya Ayodhya () is a city situated on the banks of the Sarayu river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ayodhya district as well as the Ayodhya division of Uttar Pradesh, India. Ayodhya became th ...

after the victory over

Ravana According to the Mahakavya, Hindu epic, ''Ramayana'', Ravana was a kingJustin W. Henry, ''Ravana's Kingdom: The Ramayana and Sri Lankan History from Below'', Oxford University Press, p.3 of the island of Lanka, in which he is the chief antag ...

, visited Sasthamcotta to pay their reverence to Shri Dharma Sastha. Shri Rama offered ''pithru tharpan'' on the banks of the Sasthamcotta Lake, the water of which is supposed to be identical to ''Surya Raga Theertha'' of Manasa Sarovar. Lord Rama then deputed the chief architect of his vanara (monkey) team, '' Neelan'' to serve his host. Neelan is believed to be the predecessor of the prevailing monkey clan in this temple.

Festivals

Utsavam (annual festival)

The utsavam lasts for ten days. The flag is hoisted on the first day heralding the utsavam. The utsavam culminates with the ‘araattu’ on ‘Utram’ in the month of Kumbham (February–March). The tenth day hosts the ‘Kettukazhcha’—a procession of various effigies of bullocks, horses, decorated chariots, etc. -- A number of elephants with their nettipattam (decorative head-dress) also come to the temple to pay reverence to the prime deity, who sits atop a caparisoned elephant at the temple courtyard, escorted with many other decorated elephants.

Religious Festivals

* Thiruvonam * Navaratri * Mandala Mahotsav (41 days) * Makara Sankrama pooja * Sivaratri * Painkuni Utram * Pathamudayam * Karkidaka Vavu

References

* Kottarathil Shankunni (1909). "Itheehyamala", ''Sasthamcottayum Kuranganmarum''. {{Reflist

External links