Kottangal is a census village in Kottangal gram panchayat in the Mallapally taluk of the district of

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality, city in southern Kerala, India, spread over an area of . It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37,538 (as of 2011 census). The Hindu pilgrim centre Sab ...

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 ...

. As of 2011, it had a population of 17,174. The Kottangal Devi Temple is famous for its

Padayani Padayani, also known Padeni (from the Malayalam word for military formations), is a traditional folk dance and a ritual art from the central portion of the Indian state of Kerala. A ceremonial dance involving masks, it is an ancient ritual per ...

performances- an art form dedicated to the Hindu goddess

Bhadrakali Bhadrakali (IAST: Bhadrakālī; ) is an important goddess, mainly worshiped by Hindus, and is a form of Kali. She is considered to be the auspicious and fortunate form of Adi Shakti or Durga, the supreme mother who protects the good, known ...

, unique to the

Central Travancore Central Division or Central Travancore, also known as Kollam District or Quilon Division was one of three (or four) administrative subdivisions of the princely state of Travancore in what is now Kerala. It was administered by a civil servant o ...

region.

Demographics

As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottangal has a population of 17,174. It has a sex ratio of 1092 females per 1000 males. Children below 6 years of age constitute 9.38% of the total population. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes constitute 7.83% and 0.24% of the population respectively. The total literacy rate was 97.18% (97.52% for males and 96.87% for females), which is higher than the state average of 94% and the national average of 74.04%.

Culture

Kottangal Padayani

''Kottangal Padayani'' is performed along with the 8 (''Ettu padayani'') days from a total of 28 days during January - February (''Makara Bharani''). This is performed every year at Kottangal Devi Temple located in the boundary of Kottayam and Pathanamthitta Districts. The last 8 days are important with the performance of different Kolams and other traditional programs. The padayani is done by two karas (areas which contains different sub areas) Kottangal and Kulathoor. The last 8 days are equally divided into two karas that is 4 for each. The last two days ( valiya Padayani) are most important for both Karas and they conduct programs in a competitive manner. Beautiful processions will be there on the evening of last two days. The main programs include vela Kali, Adavi, Pallippana, Vellam Kudi, vinodam and kolam Thullal. The kolams performed in the padayani are

Ganapathi Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions are found throughout India. Hind ...

Kolam, Kuthira, Bhairavi, Sundara Yakshi, Araki Yakshi, Marutha, Pakshi, Kalamadan and Kalan Kolam. Padayani Bhairavi 64 paala preformance

References

Villages in Pathanamthitta district {{Pathanamthitta-geo-stub