Chottanikkara temple is situated near the city of Ernakulam and enshrines Bhagathi, the mother Goddess. Everyday lots of devotees visit this holy place seeking the divine benedictions of ‘Chottanikkara Amma’. The presiding deity of Rajarajeswari, is worshipped along with Lord Vishnu. They are together referred as ‘Lakhminarayana’.
Structurally, the temple comprises ‘Melkkavu’ and ‘Keezhkkavu’. The presiding deity of Rajarajeswari is at Melkkavu and there is a flight of steps leading to Keezhkkavu. In Keezhkkavu the shrine is a Paala tree with heaps of nails driven into its stem by the worshippers. It is believed that worship here, would exorcise the evil spirits and people who have mental illness are cured here by the grace of divine mother and fix the nails on the Paala tree when they leave.
Offering of ‘patt and thali’ (silk and pendent) to Bhagavathi is one of the prominent ‘poojas’ here meant for maidens to get married soon. At morning, noon and evening the deity is worshipped in three different forms - as Saraswati in the morning- draped in white, as Bhadrakali at noon-draped in crimson and as Durga in the evening- draped in blue. In the month of Kumba (Feb-Mar), the annual festival is celebrated with special ‘poojas’ and events.