Category:Velloor Vamana Murthy temple, Kizhavellur Kerala

Velloor Vamana Murthy temple, Kizhavellur Kerala 

An 11th century apsidal Vishnu temple in Kerala
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Instance of	Hindu temple
Location	Kottayam district, Kerala, India
9° 49′ 57″ N, 76° 27′ 20″ E
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The Vamana temple of Kizhavellur (sometimes called Thiruvellur or just Velloor) is an 11th-century apsidal temple dedicated to Vishnu in Kottayam district, Kerala. The temple was in ruins through the colonial era, and restored in the 1950s. It is notable for having been built entirely from laterite blocks.

The temple stands on an elevated hill with scenic views. The site has an inscription dated to 1510707 day of Kali-yuga (c. 1035 CE) which mentions the construction of this temple. This is an unusual inscription as much of it is Tamil language in Vattelutu script, followed by a verse in Sanskrit language in Grantha script.

The temple faces east, has a kapota-bandha style of adhisthana and a sarvatobhadra style of vimana. The apsidal plan is topped with a gaja-prishthakara superstructure. The sanctum inside the apsidal ekatala vimana is also apsidal but with a tall circular dome aligned above the apse. Around this apsidal garbhagriyam is an apsidal circumambulation passage (pradakshina patha) that is also original. There is Hindu artwork on the pillars, such as those of Lakshmi and Ganesha, but this was added during the restoration effort of the 1950s.

A notable element of this Vishnu temple is the original beautifully completed reliefs on the granite phalakas – one shows Nataraja (dancing Shiva) with Ganesha near him, and the other shows a sthanaka relief of Vishnu with Sridevi and Bhudevi (goddess earth). Thus, like major historic Hindu temples, the Velloor Vamana temple includes Shaiva, Vaishnava and Devi tradition Hindu artwork.