Mulavana Mahadevar Temple or Sree Mahadevar Temple is a temple in the village of

Mulavana Mulavana is a village in Kollam district 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 Reorg ...

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 ...

in southern India, managed by the Mulavana Mahadevar

Devaswom Devaswom (; ) are socio-religious trusts in India, whose members are nominated by the government and community. They oversee Hindu temples and their assets to ensure their smooth operation in accordance with traditional rituals and customs. The d ...

. The temple is the principal place of worship for Mulavana and neighboring areas; it is open to the public, and people are free to enter and worship. The Kadalayi

Mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...

had hereditary rights for managing the affairs of the temple and its property. The temple hosts a festival for

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

in the month of

Kumbham The Malayalam Calendar, or the Kollam Era (), is a sidereal solar calendar used in Kerala. The origin of the calendar has been dated to 825 CE, commemorating the establishment of Kollam. There are many theories regarding the origin of th ...

(February/March). The day is important for the people of Mulavana and neighboring villages, and is celebrated irrespective of caste or religion. Deities enshrined in the temple include

Sastha Shasta (IAST Śāstā) is a Hindu deity, described as the son of the deities Shiva and Mohini, Vishnu's female avatar. In South India, he is identified with the Ayyanar, Nattarayan or Sattan in Tamil Nadu, as Ayyanayake in Sinhala and the A ...

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 ...

, Yakshiyamma, and

Nagaraja A Nagaraja ( ', ) is a king of the various races of the nāga, the divine or semi-divine, half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld ( Patala), and can occasionally take human form. Rituals devoted to these supernatural being ...

, as well as the lord Mahadevar.

References

Hindu temples in Kollam district {{Kerala-hindu-temple-stub