Lokanarkavu Temple

Lokanarkavu Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Kozhikode
Deity	Durga
Festivals	Vrischikam Utsavam, Meenam Utsavam, Navaratri
Governing body	Malabar Devaswom Board
Location
Location	Vatakara
State	Kerala
Country	India
Location in Kerala
Geographic coordinates	11.6006°N 75.6339°E / 11.6006; 75.6339
Architecture
Type	Traditional Kerala style
Completed	Records indicate the temple to be 1500 years old
Website
http://www.lokanarkavutemple.com/

Lokanarkavu Temple is an ancient Hindu temple situated in Memunda 4 km from Vatakara, in Kozhikode District, North Malabar region of Kerala state of south India. Lokanarkavu is a short form of Lokamalayarkavu which means lokam (world) made of mala (mountain), aaru (river) and kavu (grove). It is the official family temple of the 500 Aryan Nagariks who had migrated to Kerala and their successors. The closest railway station is at Vatakara, which is 5 km from temple. Te nearest airport is Calicut airport which is 87 km away.

Pooram is the important festival here and it is conducted with great pomp and show. The week-long festival begins with Kodiyettam (flag hoisting) and concludes with Arattu. The temple dedicated to goddess Durga has great historical importance as Thacholi Othenan, the legendary martial hero of Kerala, used to worship here every day.

Lokanarkavu and Kalarippayattu

Thirty days Mandala Utsavam in Malayalam month Vrischikam (November–December) and pooram in Malayalam month meenam (March–April) are the annual festival at the Lokanarkavu Bhagavathy Temple. This is the only temple where a peculiar folk dance called Poorakkali is presented during festivals. The dance, resembles the martial art Kalarippayattu. Even today, all Kalaripayattu artists seek the blessings of the deity before their debut due to the association of Lokanarkavu Temple with legendary hero thacholi othenan.

Gallery

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See also

• Kalarippayattu
• Thacholi Othenan
• Memunda
• Temples of Kerala