Venkattathevar
Kottakkal
There are no regular historical records about this temple.However there are some legends about the same.
A saint did thapas and God appeared in front of him. God granted him the boon that his divine presence would always be in that area. It was that saint who installed the deity and built the temple.
Due to neglect in later years, the Deity went under mud. It was noticed by people that cows at a particular spot were giving large amount of milk compared to other spots at other places. This strange phenomenon surprised people and they dug up the place. They found a Sivalinga below which they reported to the then king of the place (Valluvakonathiri). The king built the temple. About 1200 AD, Samoothiri conquered Kottakkal and thereafter the temple was looked after by Kizhakke Covilakam (Kottakkal). Later, the Sultans of Mysore (Hyder and Tipu) conquered the land and again the temple became deserted. In due course the British won their battle with Tipu and the temple was again handed over to Kizhakke Covilakam.
There is a mention about the temple in “Suka Sandesam”. The temple is mentioned as Swetha Durgam in that text. The meaning in Malayalam is White Fort (Venn Kotta). In those days Kottakkal was called “Venkatta Kotta”. In any case the temple must be more than 1000 years old.
There is something very special about the temple and that is the clear paintings of the Gods and Godesses on the walls of the Sreekovil. These pictures were drawn by two artists: Elannumadhathil Sankaran Nair, disciple of Poonthanam Krishna Pisharoty; and Arangotte Bharatha Pisharoty, disciple of Elannumadhathil Sankaran Nair. There are rare pictures among them: Pakshi Durga, Karthiviryarjunan, Sree Rama on Anantha Sayanam.
In 1929 the Mukha mandapam of the temple was renovated by Dr P.S.Varier (of Arya Vaidya Sala). In 1998 Kalasam and Utsava also took place. For about 30 years Utsava was not conducted at this temple. Before the Utsava, the arecanut trunk, which was used to fly the temple flag, was removed and a new flagmast was installed for Rs 2.5 lakh. The entire cost was born by Sree Kumara Varier who is a popular citizen of the locality.(The murals on the outside wall of the sanctum sanctorium are reproduced elsewhere)
