This is the only temple dedicated to Lord Shiva in India that opens for only one month in an year.
Suspense Crime, Digital Desk : There are many mysterious temples throughout India whose rituals and traditions astonish every one. The Kottiyoor Shiva temple, located in the Kannur district of Kerala, is very famous among devotees in South India. This temple is also known as 'Kashi of South India'.
The Kottiyoor Shiva temple is one of the oldest and popular pilgrimage centers in northern Kerala, nestled among the hillocks and forests. There are two temples, Akkare Kottiyoor and Ikkare Kottiyoor on opposite banks of the Bavali River.
The Akkare Kottiyoor temple opens only for 28 days, Vaisakha Festival, in May/June and remains closed during the rest of the year, while Ikkare Kottiyoor temple is closed during the period of Vaisakha festival.
Myth associated with the temple
The mythological story behind this shrine is that, Daksha Prajapati, son of Lord Brahma, disapproved his daughter Sati Devi's marriage with Lord Shiva. So he decided to organize a Yagna here without notifying both the daughter and the Lord Shiva. Sati Devi attended this Yagna, and in anger by the behavior of her father and insult caused to her and her husband she decided to self-immolate herself. Upon realizing this incident Shiva transformed himself into Virabhadra and performed the Tandava ritual and decapitated Daksha. Later after the mollification of Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma Lord Shiva replaced Daksha's head with that of a goat. Hence, it is considered to be the place where all the Trinity, Lord Brahma, Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva were present.
Unlike other temples Ikkare Kottiyoor is a formal temple complex, while Akkare Kottiyoor temple stands in the middle of a pond, without any structure over the self-manifested shivalinga that is placed over a podium of rocks on river bed. In the period of Vaisakha festival the forest itself becomes a grand temple of Lord Shiva for 28 days. There is no roofing, walls or metallic structures. It is an open temple.
