Sivagiri Mutt Temple
The Sivagiri Sarada temple is octagonal and was planned and designed by the Guru himself. The Sarada temple here has windows, which were very uncharacteristic of a temple. The Guru called it Sarada Mutt and he wanted to dedicate it to Saraswathy, the Goddess of knowledge. The goddess is seated on a white lotus, indicating the knowledge blossoming on purity.
The rituals are also different from that of other temples. While other temples perform Nivedyam (offering of food to the deity) or Abhishekam (pouring oil, ghee, and such on the idol), Sharada temple is devoid of all such rituals, The devotees are free to worship the goddess by reciting hymns. Guru, himself a writer and poet, wrote Janani-navaratna Manjari, in praise of the Goddess.
Apart from consecrating a symbolic idol and shunning all tantric rituals, the Guru also insisted on keeping high hygiene standards on the temple premises. His followers adhere to the Guru’s words now too and the temple is thus very different from other temples in the world.
History of Sivagiri Mutt Temple
Sree Narayana Guru was attracted by nature’s beauty and the calm ambiance at Varkala and built a hermitage on top of the Sivagiri hill in 1904, which later turned out to be a major pilgrim center. Later the Travancore State Government granted Sivagiri Hill to the Guru and some people near the place also offered land to him. Thus, Sivagiri turned out to be the nerve center of all Sree Narayana Movements.
Apart from the Guru, many social reformers helped establish the Mutt at Sivagiri. The socio-political activist of yesteryears Dr. P. Palpu and the renowned Malayalam poet Kumaran Asan were some of them. They were ardent followers of the Guru and had distinct ideas on the reformation of society and the Ezhava community.
Sree Narayana Guru understood and always stressed the importance of education. Hence he set up an elementary school here. A night school was also founded for the illiterate people of an untouchable caste. When his disciples wanted to build a temple here, the Guru dedicated it to the Goddess of Knowledge and consecrated the idol of Goddess Saraswathi here. Thus the Saradha (Saraswathi) temple here came into being in 1912.
Architecture and distinctive features of the Sivagiri Mutt Temple
The Sivagiri Sarada temple is octagonal and was planned and designed by the Guru himself. The Sarada temple here has windows, which were very uncharacteristic of a temple. The Guru called it Sarada Mutt and he wanted to dedicate it to Saraswathy, the Goddess of knowledge. The goddess is seated on a white lotus, indicating the knowledge blossoming on purity.
The rituals are also different from that of other temples. While other temples perform nivedyam (offering of food to the deity) or abhishekam (pouring oil, ghee, and such on the idol), Sharada temple is devoid of all such rituals, The devotees are free to worship the goddess by reciting hymns. Guru, himself a writer and poet, wrote Janani-navaratna Manjari, in praise of the Goddess.
Apart from consecrating a symbolic idol and shunning all tantric rituals, the Guru also insisted on keeping high hygiene standards on the temple premises. His followers adhere to the Guru’s words now too and the temple is thus very different from other temples in the world.
