Kerala Temples - Mammiyur (Mammiyoor) Guruvayoor Siva / Mahadeva Ksdhetram (temple)

Mammiyoor Temple - Mammiyoor Shiva Temple or Mammiyur Mahadeva Kshetram

·         Mammiyur or Mammiyoor is a suburb of Guruvayur town, in Thrissur District in the Center of Kerala State. The importance of this place is the Siva or Mahadeva temple here. Due to the importance of the temple it is synonymous to the Mammiyoor Siva/Mahadeva temple. This place is about 200 -250 meters (app to 1 km) from the Guruvayoor Sri Krishna Temple. Though it is as old as the famous Guruvayur (Guruvayoor) temple, it is not as well known as Guruvayur is. But for the Saivites (followers of Siva cult) it is an important temple - one of the 108 divya kshetras dedicated to Lord Siva.

·         The presiding deity in one of the 2 main shrines inside the temple complex is Lord Siva (Mahadeva) in the form of Uma-Maheswara. Next to this shrine to its North within the ‘Nalambalam’ (inner side of the compound wall of the temple – inner ‘prakaram’) is another equally important shrine where the presiding deity is Lord Vishnu. This is a rare phenomenon where both Lords Siva and Vishnu are worshiped with equal importance within the same temple. It is believed that Lord Parasurama (one of the incarnations or ‘Avatars’ of Lord Vishnu) consecrated this temple.

·         On to the North side of the temple there is a tank (pond) known as Rudra (Rudra is another name of Lord Siva) Theertham (a body of holy water).

·         The pilgrimage to Guruvayur/Guruvayoor is not complete without worshiping the Mammiyur Siva/Mahadeva temple.  However to make it easy for those who cannot visit or not aware of this custom, there is a short cut followed. After completing the worship of Lord Krishna – Guruvayurappan and the sub deities of the Guruvayur temple, one has to stand at the North – East corner near to the Bhagavathy shrine and look towards the North – West direction (the direction where Mammiyur temple is situated) and mentally offer the worship to Lord Siva/Mahadeva of Mammiyur temple. 

Legend about Mammiyur and Mahadeva (Siva)

The legend is associated with the consecration of the Guruvayur / Guruvayoor Srikrishna – Guruvayurappan temple. As per the legend, at the end of Dwapara Yuga (the Yuga in which Lord Srikrishna the 9^th incarnation of Lord Vishnu took birth), Dwaraka submerged in the ocean due to a deluge. Around that time, just before his ‘Swargarohana’ (ascending to heaven) Lord Krishna gave an idol of Lord Vishnu to Udhava, his disciple and informed to install the same at a holy place. This idol was the one installed by Lord Krishna in a big temple at Dwaraka and offered worship to it till the Swargarohana. Udhava took the idol to Brihaspathi (Jupiter - guru of gods) and Vayu (god of wind).  They came to a place in South where the Lord Siva with his consort Parvathy doing penance on the bank of a tank (Pond). This tank was later known as ‘Rudra Theertham’ due to the Lord Siva (Rudra)’s presence. On understanding the mission of Guru and Vayu, Lord Siva suggested to install the idol on the spot and volunteered himself to shift to the North West where a temple was built and the deity of Lord Siva was consecrated.  This temple is now known as the Mammiyur temple, Mammiyoor Siva / Mahadeva Kshetram. The place where the idol of Lord Vishnu was installed by Guru and Vayu is known as Guruvayur or Guruvayoor – the place of Guru and Vayu and the idol is known and worshiped as Guruvayurappan or Srikrishna. The Mammiyur Siva shrine has the Siva Linga and the ‘Chandrakala’ (few crescent moon shapes fixed on to a metal stick with stand).

Though the temple was built for Lord Siva, an identical shrine was built by the side for Vishnu and both these shrines are equal in importance. How a shrine for Lord Vishnu was built there, is not known. There is a legend to the effect, that the idol of Guruvayurappan was temporarily installed here till the present permanent place was identified and arrangements for consecration done.

Upadevathas (Sub-deities)

The Upadevathas are having their own smaller shrines within the temple complex – in the inner ‘prakaram’. They are:

Lord Ganesha / Ganapathy Shrine
There is a shrine for Lord Ganapathy – Vigneswara or Vinayaka at the south western corner within the Nalambalam (inner Prakaram - a quadrangular structure that surrounds the sanctum and other shrines for the Upadevathas).

Lord Muruga / Karthikeya / Subramanya Shrine
At the western side (backside of the main shrines) a shrine is built were Lord Subramanya is installed. The idol of the Lord Muruga here bears resemblance to the idol of Muruga of the Palani Subramanya Temple in Tamil Nadu.

Lord Ayyappa / Sri Dharma Sastha Shrine
At the north-west corner of the Nalambalam in a shrine Lord Ayyappan/Sri Dharma Sastha is installed. The idol is similar to the idol of Sabarimala Ayyappaswamy. For getting relief from Sani dosha devotees light ‘ellu thiri’ (a wick made by putting sesame seeds in a cloth and bundled. This wick (thiri) is placed in till (gingili) oil and lighted.

Goddess Bhagavathy shrine
In most of the temples there will be a shrine for the main deity and a separate shrine for the consort.  But the main deity of Mammiyur Siva temple being the Uma Maheswara, there is no separate shrine for Siva’s con sort, Parvathy.  But she is worshiped on the back side of the main sanctum of Lord Shiva and a separate shrine where the idol of Goddess Bhagavathy is installed in a shrine at the north-west corner of the temple. 

Nagaraja and Nagarani (Snake god and goddess) Shrine
Near the Bhagavathy shrine idols of Nagaraja and Nagarani are installed in a separate enclosure. 

Rakshassu and Brahma-Rakshassu are the other deities worshipped here.

To the northern side of the temple is the temple tank - sacred Rudhratheertham. 

Festivals of Mammiyoor Temple

       In any Siva temple the most important festival of the year will be Maha Siva Rathri. In the Mammiyur temple also it is so.  It falls in the Kumbh Masa (Aquarius Rasi).  This will be around Feb middle to March middle of the English Calendar.  The only aspect is that since the deities of both Siva and Vishnu are given equal importance here, in the procession (Seeveli ezhunnallppu) the idols of both the gods will be taken on elephant back.

2.       The consecration (installation) day of Lord Vishnu this falls on the Revathy star day is another festival day. This is in the month of Makaram (corresponding to the period of mid Jan to mid Feb).  

3.       Other occasions celebrated are the Navaratri days, Mandala Pooja days, Vinayaka Chathurthi day, Skanda Shasti day, Ashtami Rohini and Vishu.

The worship time of the temple is from 4.45 am to 12.30 pm and 4.45 to 8.30 pm.

Reaching Mammiyur/Mammiyoor Siva/Mahadeva temple:

Nearest Railway Stations / By Train

Guruvayur itself is having a railway station, but there are only 2 trains in the mornings and 2 in the evenings from Thrissur Station.  Thrissur is major station near to Guruvayur. Other Stations are Shoranur, Pattambi. From all these places frequent bus services are available to Guruvayur and from there it is only about a km and autos are available. From all these places taxis are also available.

By Road / Bus

Guruvayur is well connected by road to various cities/major towns of Kerala and neighboring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Both Private and Public bus services are plying between Guruvayur and other places.

Address of Mammiyoor Mahadeva Kshetram (Temple)

Mammiyur Devaswom,
Guruvayur PO
Thrissur -680 101
Kerala

Contact Nos:   0487 - 2555425, 0487 - 3255499, 0487 – 2550169