Kottarakkara Sree Mahaganapathy

The Kottarakkara Sree Mahaganapathy temple in Kerala houses one of the region's most storied wooden idols — a three-foot, four-armed image of Shree Ganesh carved from the root of a jackfruit tree by the renowned master craftsman Perumthachan.

An Artisan's Inspired Work

As local tradition tells it, Perumthachan, present at a consecration ceremony at the neighboring Kizhakkekara Shiva temple in the sixteenth century, found himself moved by the rhythm of the temple rituals, and in that inspired moment carved this distinctive image of Shree Ganesh in a graceful, swaying posture, a modak held in hand.

A Temple Grown Around a Masterwork

What began as a single carved idol grew, over centuries, into a major Kerala pilgrimage site, the wooden image itself remaining central to worship at Kottarakkara to this day — a rare case of a craftsman's devotion becoming the very heart of a temple's sanctity.

What Devotees Seek

Artisans and craftspeople in particular hold a special reverence for this temple, seeing in Perumthachan's story an example of ordinary skilled work becoming, through devotion, something genuinely sacred.