Thirukkatkarai

Thirukkatkarai (also known as Kattakkara) is a Divya Desam in Ernakulam district of Kerala. The presiding deity here is worshipped in a uniquely playful form — Vishnu as the forest-dwelling young Krishna, a manifestation that emphasizes the divine child's enchanting, accessible aspect. Nammalvar sang Mangalasasanam for this Desam in the Tiruvoimozhi. The Kerala temple architecture here — tiled roofing, wooden ceiling panels with ashtamangala and lotus motifs, and the enclosed sanctum characteristic of Kerala shrines — is distinct from the Tamil Nadu gopuram style. The forest setting (katt = forest in Malayalam/Tamil) gives the temple its name and its character: this is a deity who delights in the untamed, who is at home amid trees and streams. The goddess consort is Karumanika Valli Thayar.

The legend holds that a young cowherd boy in the Kerala forests was in fact Vishnu playing at being a child — just as Krishna played in Brindavan — and that the trees and animals of this forest recognized him and became his devotees. A local sage encountered the divine child here, and when the child disappeared into the deepest part of the forest, the sage followed and found the divine presence settled permanently, unwilling to leave this beloved forest play-ground.