Sasthamcotta Sree Dharmasastha Temple - Lord Ayyappan
Sasthamcotta Sree Dharmasastha temple here is surrounded in a picturesque location surrounded by Sasthamkotta lake, the largest fresh water lake of Kerala, on three sides. The temple here is well known for the inhabitants of monkeys and they are believed to be the divine retinue of the lord. Once a prince of Pandalam married a princess from the royal family of Kayamkulam and settled there. The prince, who used to regularly pray to lord Ayyappa in Sabarimala found it difficult to continue his routine monthly visits. This displeased lord Ayyappa and the signs of the lord’s displeasure started showing within the royal family. The prince repented for the mistake, set out to Sabarimala and worshipped there for a period of twelve days.
The worries about managing the Sabarimala darshan, disturbed him all along. On the night of the 12th day of worship, lord Ayyappa appeared before him in his dream and suggested that he better continue to stay at Kayamkulam itself. Instead of visiting Sabarimala, the lord asked to visit Sasthamcotta and worship him where the same divine presence of Sabarimala existed. The lord also said that a youngster who comes to the forthcoming festival at Kayamkulam palace will help to locate the place. As said in the dream, a youngster who participated in the archery competition of the festival shot an arrow. A team, including the Prince and the youngster, started towards the eastern direction in search of the arrow to declare the winner. Finally they reached the bank of this lake. They found that arrow on a small island in that lake.
Surprisingly, there was a small platform on which the idol of lord Ayyappa was being worshipped by a monkey clan. At that time the young man disappeared. The Kayamkulam king then renovated and built the temple in its present form. The concept of Dharma Sastha represents the unison of Vaishnava and Shaiva beliefs. The history of the idol was based on the period of the Ramayana. It is believed that after the victory over Ravana, lord Rama along with his wife Sita, brother Lakshmana and whole monkey sena visited Sasthamcotta to pay their reverence to Dharma Sastha. On the banks of the Sasthamcotta, Sri Rama offered the rites to ancestors which is supposed to be identical to Surya Raga Theertha of Manasarovar. Lord Rama then deputed the chief architect of his monkey team, Neelan to serve his host. That is the way the idol here got its significance. The temple has a spectacular ambience with Kerala style of architecture.