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The Vaikom Mahadevar temple is one of the most celebrated Shiva temples in South India. Vaikom is located at a distance of 33km south of Ernakulam and 40 km north of Kottayam on the railroad between Ernakulam and Tiruvanandapuram

The Deity: Shiva - Vaikom Mahadevar manifests himself as Dakshinamurthy in the panthirathi pooja in the morning. He is worshipped as Kiraata Murthy during the Uchcha pooja at noon and as Satchitananda in the evening.

Offering of prathal, or food is a form of worship here. In ancient times, feasts used to be cooked and offered to all devotees; Vaikom Mahadever is also referred to as Annadaana Prabhu

The annual festival is celebrated in the month of scorpio, and the twelfth day of the festival is Vaikkattu Ashtami. Each day witnesses special rituals, elephant processions, music and dance performances etc. The Ashtami festival involves a special darshan in the wee hours of the morning under the peepul tree, a feast at noon and a procession at night from the nearby Udayanapuram Subramanya temple. This procession involves the meeting of Shiva and Subramanya in celebration of Subramanya's victory over the demons. Deities from nearby temples also converge at this procession amidst elephants, lighted torches and musicians. The two kilometer long procession takes about 3 hours to complete and it reaches the northern gate of the Vaikom temple at about 130 AM. Subramanya and Vaikom Mahadevar then circumambulate the temple and then a touching farewell is enacted as Subramanya returns to Udayanapuram.

The aaraattu festival on the 13th day takes place at a tank, near the temple, and the deity from Udayanapuram participates in it too.No poojas are carried out on the Ashtami festival inside the temple as it is believed that Mahadeva fasts, feeds guests and prays for his son's victory in the battle against demons.

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