KATTAKADA: Age-old and famous Kalippara Lokambika temple at Neyyar dam collapsed totally in the heavy rain and lightning on Thursday. It looked as if a missile had fallen on the temple structure, pulling it down completely.
The incident happened at around 4:30 pm before the temple was to open for evening pujas. There were no pujaris, temple officials or devotees on the premises at that time and thus there were no casualty.
In the annual January festival of the temple, thousands of pilgrims usually visit the temple for darshan and pilgrimage. There were also preparation for vidhyarambam as part of Vijayadasami festival this time.
The temple was located 200 feet above the sea level. The temple followed centuries’ old rituals according gotra traditions. The temple opened only in the evenings.
The way to the temple is a steep hill, which remains deserted most of the time, except when the temple is open. It was just six years ago that the temple was renovated at the expense of lakhs of rupees.
Kalippara dam that supplies drinking water to Neyyattinkara Taluk lies behind the spot and if the dam had been affected by the rain, the water supply would have been disrupted.
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