Sasthamkotta or Sasthamcotta is a village in the Kunnathoor

Tehsil A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluk, or taluka () is a local unit of administrative division in India and Pakistan. It is a subdistrict of the area within a Zila (country subdivision), district including the designated populated place that ser ...

Kollam district Kollam district (), (formerly Quilon district) is one of 14 List of districts in Kerala, districts of the state of Kerala, India. The district has a cross-section of Kerala's natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major La ...

in the state of

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. Kunnathoor taluk headquarters is located at Sasthamkotta. The Sasthamkotta freshwater lake is the largest freshwater lake in Kerala.

Location

Sasthamcotta is from

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

, the district headquarters,a few kilometres from

Adoor Adoor is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of the List of taluks of Kerala, Adoor Taluk and Adoor Revenue Division. Adoor is located southwest of the district he ...

municipality , and from

Karunagappalli Karunagappally is a municipality in the Kollam district of Kerala, India. It is 24 km north of Kollam and south of Alappuzha. Karunagappally taluk consists of Alappad, Ochira, Adinad, Karunagappally, Thazhava, Pavumba, Thodiyoor, Kallalibh ...

town and away from Paravur. It is the location of the Sasthamcotta Sree Dharma Sastha Temple.

Tourism

The place is naturally beautiful and is surrounded by hills and valleys. In the midst of the hills is the Fresh Water Lake. The extensive freshwater lake here is the biggest of its kind in Kerala. Water supply to the Kollam town is met by purifying the water from this lake.

Sasthamcotta Sree Dharmasastha Temple

The temple is dedicated to Sree Dharmasastha(Lord Ayyappa) and the surroundings of the temple are covered by hills and forests. One of the features of the Sasthamcotta temple is the abundance of monkeys that camp around, which are considered holy. It is believed that Lord Hanuman at the time flying to Lanka in search of Goddess Sita, halted at this place also, and since then this Temple is a home for Monkeys. The monkeys are devotee-friendly, and the thousands of devotees visiting the temple take pleasure in feeding these monkeys with nuts and fruits.

Culture

Many movies and TV serials shot at Sasthamcotta, like Inapravukal (1965), Ente Hridayathinte Udama (2002), Ilamurathampuran (1998), Nakshathrakkannulla Rajakumaran (2002), Kuttisrank (2009) etc. are some of those. The Second World Religion Conference had been held in Sasthamcotta, in which the global religious leaders had particularly participated.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Sasthamkotta had a population of 32,330 with 15,818 males and 16,512 females.

Transport

Sasthamkotta is connected to all nearby cities and towns by road.

Karunagappally Karunagappally is a municipality in the Kollam district of Kerala, India. It is 24 km north of Kollam and south of Alappuzha. Karunagappally taluk consists of Alappad, Ochira, Adinad, Karunagappally, Thazhava, Pavumba, Thodiyoor, Kallalibh ...

via NH-183A,

Kottarakkara Kottarakkara (IAST: Koṭṭārakkara), also transliterated as ''Kottarakara'', is a town and municipality in the Kollam district of Kerala, India. Kottarakkara lies to the east of Kollam city centre. History Kottarakkara, also known in the ...

chengannur Chengannur () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipalityhttps://lsgkerala.gov.in/system/files/2017-10/localbodies.pdf in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, India. It is located south east of the district headquarters in Alappuzha and about ...

kayamkulam Kayamkulam () is a municipality in the Alappuzha district of Kerala, India. It is located south of the district headquarters in Alappuzha and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kayamkulam has ...

etc., KSRTC operates venad chain bus service from Kollam-Pathanamthitta, Karunagappally-Kottarakkara, which are pass-through Sasthamkotta and chengannur-Kollam Pass through Bharanikkavu

Railways

Sasthamkotta railway station Sasthamkotta railway station (station code: STKT) is an NSG–5 category List of railway stations in India, Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is located in the Kollam district of Kerala. ...

(Code:STKT) falls under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division of the

Southern Railway Zone Southern Railway (SR) is one of the eighteen zones of Indian Railways. It is headquartered at Chennai and operates across the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the union territory of Puducherry. The origin of the Southern Rai ...

Indian Railways Indian Railways is a state-owned enterprise that is organised as a departmental undertaking of the Ministry of Railways (India), Ministry of Railways of the Government of India and operates India's national railway system. , it manages the fou ...

.^{/sup> It is coming in between Munrothuruthu railway station and Karunagappalli railway station. The nearest important major rail head to Sasthamkotta is Kollam Junction railway station

Kollam Junction railway station (station code: QLN) is an NSG–2 category List of railway stations in India, Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone.) It is a junction station situated in the cit ...
and Karunagappalli railway station

Notable Personalities from Sasthamcotta

K. R. Meera

Abdul Nasser Mahdani - founder of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

P. Balachandran (Film Writer & Actor)

References

https://www.malayalamchristiannetwork.com/pastor-reji-mathew-reji-sasthamkotta/

External links

GeoHack - Sasthamkotta

* Appu's Sportings & Recreation Club Kovoor

Villages in Kollam district

{{Kollam-geo-stub}