Kandiyoor Sree Mahadeva Temple

Wikipedia states that the Kandiyoor temple is the earliest temple in Kerala with an inscription recording its origin, dated 823 CE in the reign of the Chera king Rajasekhara Varman, and that an era named 'Kandiyoorabdam', counted from the temple's founding, was in use until the Kollam era replaced it. The same article cites a later inscription of 1218 CE recording a rebuilding of the temple by Rama Kotha Varma of Odanad. No published reading of these inscriptions was available to check, so the dates are given as Wikipedia reports them; Kerala Tourism also mentions stone inscriptions at the temple.

Kandiyoor, as the Odanad capital, was later annexed by the rulers of Kayamkulam and then by Travancore under Marthanda Varma, according to Wikipedia, which also notes a mention of the temple in the 14th-century Malayalam poem Unnuneeli Sandesam. A local tradition holds that a defeated king of Kayamkulam surrendered his sword at the temple and left by a rear door that has remained closed ever since. Wikipedia lists the Travancore Devaswom Board as the temple's administering body.

Architecture and sacred features

Kerala Tourism highlights the temple's compound wall, built in the Gajaprishta style (curved like an elephant's back) and about 10 feet high; devotees believe Shiva's attendants, the bhoothaganas, built it in a single night. Kerala Tourism also notes the temple's stone sculptures and inscriptions. Wikipedia describes the sanctum as two-tiered, oval below and rectangular above, with the deity facing east.