Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple
— the old goddess, the red cloth, the river behind.
Not only on a wall.
“An ancient Bhadrakali temple in the old port town of Kodungallur, about 38 km north of Kochi. The shrine is one of the oldest Devi temples in South India, set back from the mouth of the Periyar. Once a year, in March, the courtyard fills with red-clad devotees for the Bharani festival, and the rest of the year it keeps a slower, hotter quiet. from the studio
Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The temple sits in Kodungallur, a coastal town in Thrissur district, Kerala, about 38 km north of Kochi. The shrine is dedicated to Bhadrakali, a fierce form of the goddess Kali, and is one of the most prominent Devi temples in South India. Local tradition links its founding to the Chera king Cheraman Perumal in the early centuries of the common era, though the present granite-and-laterite structure has been rebuilt across the medieval period. The town itself was the ancient port of Muziris, named in Roman trade records.
The temple's defining day is the Bharani festival in the Malayalam month of Meenam, falling in late March or early April. Tens of thousands of red-clad devotees arrive from across Kerala and Tamil Nadu, singing the bharanippattu, songs the goddess is said to permit only on these days. The Kavu Theendal procession, in which the Kodungallur Raja circles the shrine, marks the festival's close. Outside the festival window the courtyard is quiet, the inner shrine open to Hindus only, the outer compound to all.
The temple lies on the Kodungallur-Paravur road, a short auto-rickshaw ride from the KSRTC bus stand. The shrine opens before dawn and closes by mid-morning, reopens in the late afternoon, and admits only Hindus to the inner sanctum; the outer compound, the festival courtyard, and the smaller shrines are open to all. Photography of the deity is not permitted. Modest dress is expected. Kochi airport, about 25 km south, is the nearest hub for international and domestic flights.