The Vilakkumadom Kottaram at Edayaranmula, the wooden house which is believed to be the original shrine (moolasthanom) of the presiding deity of Sree Parthasarathy Temple at Aranmula, is getting a facelift.
The Vilakkumadom Kottaram Samrakshana Trust has initiated the task of reconstructing the structure without changing its structural dimensions.
The old wooden structure has been dismantled and the reconstruction work, replacing the decayed wooden planks with teak wood, is under way, says N.K. Krishnan Nair, construction committee convener and trust vice president.
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He said the cellar, attic, and wooden chambers (Arayum Nirayum) of the shrine would be reconstructed. Almost 90% of the carpentry work had been completed under the supervision of master craftsman Moolavattom Sivarama Acharya and the work on the granite basement too was progressing.
The architectural design as per the traditional temple architecture was provided by the State-run Vasthu Vidya Gurukulam (VVG) at Aranmula. The reconstruction of the old structure, along with a Thidappalli-cum- office complex, designed by VVG master craftsman M.B.Sivan, was estimated to cost ₹80 lakh, said K.N.Purushothaman Nair, Somashekharan Nair, Ajithkumar and Murali Pillai, trustees.
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The work on the Thidappally had been completed at ₹18 lakh, they said.
The shrine, three km from Aranmula, has traditional links with Sree Parthasarathy Temple dedicated to Lord Krishna. Flowers for the Pushpabhishekom preceding the flag-hoisting ceremony marking the 10-day annual festival and prior to the Bhagavatha Saptaha Yajnom at the temple will be taken in a ceremonial procession from here.
K.P.Sreeranganathan, temple historian and author of Aranmula- Iythihyangalum Charitravum , opined that the history of the shrine could date back to not less than 1,500 years.
It might have been a sacred place where the idol of the presiding deity at the Aranmula temple was made, says Mr. Sreeranganathan.