Serene Poonkunnam Shiva Temple, Kerala

Poonkunnam Shiva Temple,Likizo

There are innumerable temples in Kerala State, South India that are more than 1000 years old. Despite the fact that most of them are made of high-quality lumber - teak wood, maintaining them for such a long time is not an easy task. Such temples of great antiquity need periodic maintenance and repairs. It is a costly undertaking to preserve and restore such heritage sites.  Special care must be taken to save the old structures against termite attacks.

Located in the Thrissur district of Kerala, the Poonkunnam Shiva Temple, a good model of the Kerala style of architecture with slanting roof,  is not only a beautiful place of worship but also a popular one. The quiet and lush greenery surrounding the place enhances the beauty of this temple and brings out its inherent spiritual ambiance.

. This traditional temple design, unseen in other Indian states is part of a glorious culture of Kerala.

At this temple, the presiding deity is lord Shiva. It is said that the town Thrissur owes its name to Lord Shiva. Several temples of Kerala, like the ones in Tamil Nadu and Andhra, were well taken care of by the god-fearing ruling dynasties of the past who were the torch bearer of the cultural and religious heritage of Kerala. 

The main idol is in Grabagraha - Srikovil and there are other deities as well such as goddess Parvathy, consort of Shiva, Ganapathy, Sastha, (Iyyappa), Nagaraja, and Parthasarathi (Lord Krishna as Charioteer to Arjuna in the Kurukshetra battle). This equally popular temple is being visited by a lot of people. During the Sabarimala season (December-January), a  large number of pilgrims are served with free food (annadhanam).



This temple is just 3 km away from Thrissur town. There is another

Seetha Ramaswamy Temple.en.wikipedia.org

temple  near this Shiva temple called  Seetha Ramaswamy (lord Vishnu) Temple that is believed to have been built in 1895.
 Ref:
 www.tourmyindia.com/states/kerala/poonkunnam-shiva-temple-thrissur