Malliyoor

Malliyoor Maha Ganapati temple is situated near to Kuruppanthara town, in Kottayam District of Kerala State, India. The name of the Temple is synonymous with the name of the main priest, the sage-like, scholarly Sankaran Nampoothiri. He has dedicated his humble life to the worship of Lord Ganapathy and to the rendering and exposition of the Bhagavatham. The Malliyoor Sree Maha Ganapathy Temple is in comparable in the conception of the presiding deity as Vaishnava Ganapathy, with the child Krishna seated on the lap of Lord Ganesha and hearing the Bhagavatham. It is believed that a saint from Malliyoor after a pilgrimage to the northern regions brought the Ganapati idol and installed about 1500 yers ago. Though the temple had wealth and resources in those days, however, due to the onslaught of time and climatic conditions, it went into eclipse, unattended and uncared for and it remained as a silent testimony to it’s rich cultural heritage. It was Malliyoor Sankaran Namboothiri, who brought the much needed reawakening to the temple. Sankaran Namboothiri was an exponent of Srimad Bhagavatha puran and was called Bhagavathahamsam. He used to recite Srimad Bhagavatham everyday in the temple by keeping the salagram, the iconic symbol and reminder of the Lord Vishnu as Paramatma, conseqantly Vishnu chaithanya was experianced in the temple. In fact, the continuous recitation of srimad Bhagavathom placing the ‘Salagaram’ in the sanctum sanctorum of Ganesha changed the Beeja Ganapathy into Vaishanava Ganapathy.The deity of Ganesha placing Little Krishna on his lap and listening the Mahapuran is the symbol of the flow of knowledge from a high consciousness to the yonger generations. Today Malliyoor Maha Ganapati Temple is a major attraction to both Krishna and Ganesha devotees who arrive throughout the year in significant numbers.