Kottarakkulam Sree Mahaganapathy Kovil, Kollam, is a popular temple in Kollam

Kollam

Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

, Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

.

The temple is situated in the centre part of the Kollam corporation namely near to the Kollam Civil Station. The Main deity enshrined here is Lord Ganesh; apart from Nagaraja

Nagaraja

Nagaraja is a Sanskrit word from naga and raj meaning King of Snakes. It is applied to three main deities, Anantha , Takshak, and Vasuki. Anantha, Vasuki and Takshak are brothers, children of Kashyap and Kadru, who are the parents of all snakes...

 and Swami

Swami

A swami sometimes abbreviated "Sw." is an ascetic or yogi who has been initiated into the religious monastic order founded by Adi Sankara, or to a religious teacher.The Oxford English Dictionary gives the etymology as...

 Aiyappan. The main priest hold of this temple is run by Tamil

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

 Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

 community of Kollam Corporation,consisting of 270 families. The Prasadams here are mainly Appam

Appam

Appam, Aappam hoppers, are a type of food in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lankan cuisine. It is called chitau Pitha in Oriya, Paddu or Gulle Eriyappa in Kodava. It is known as ආප්ප in Sinhala. It is eaten most frequently for breakfast or dinner.Appum or aapum – pronunciation varies between regions...

s and Modakams. The annual Vinayaka Chathurthi festival of the Kottarakulam Maha ganapathy here begins on the month of August. Rituals including Ashta Dravya Mahaganapathy Homam, Kalashapooja, laksharchana and pushpabhishekam forms a major attraction here.

History

The temple over the years has attracted a various number of devotees from far-off places,especially in recent years. The temple although a modern one in appearance, is actually an ancient temple, which was reconstructed and developed much to its present form in the year 1984.

The March issue of the Malayalam monthly magazine, Jyotisharatnam carried article on this temple-One of the former priest,Late Shri.Ramayya Vadhyar-who served as the chief priest of the temple for a very long time, also found special mention in that issue. Some of the other notable priests who have served the shrine includes Late.Shri Sankara Narayana Vadhyar, Brahmashri.Narayana Sastrigal(a.k.a.,Rajamani Vadhyar), Shri.Kannan Vadhyar etc,.

The priests who serve the temple at present are Shri.Bhaskara Vadhyar, Shri.Sankara Vadhyar & Shri.Venkatarama Vadhyar. The Almighty Lord supports a lot of people & families who are related with the temple. Shri.Venkatarama Vadhyar now serves as the chief priest.Sri K.N.Ramakrishnan is the current Secretary of the temple.