Kilimarathukavu temple is situated in Kadakkal, a village in Kollam district in Kerala, India. Kilimarathukavu temple encompasses the main shrine Shiva Parvati temple, MahaShiva temple, Shastha temple, Subramanyan temple, Hanuman temple, Navagraha temple, Ganesha temple and Nagas. Releasing an unmistakable and all-encompassing divine presence, Kilimarathukavu Temple is a serene place of worship dedicated to Lord Shiva and Goddess Shakthi. The presence of two MahaSivalingas in the sanctum and the visual feast of all these Gods of the Hindu pantheon in one compound makes the temple a rarity in South Kerala.

Out of all the temples in the premise, the Navagraha temple with an elliptical ornament is a rare and unique construction of its kind. The temple is constructed by craving krishnashila(blackstone) from adisthana the base to pillars. The roof is fully forged on wooden cross-beams which are arranged in a deep ellipse obtained by combining two semicircles on either side of a square and placing the axial on the frame with wooden planks paved with copper sheets on the top which gives the temple rare and unique structure. The mandapa had been built according to the rules of precision, symmetry and proportion of Vastu Sastra that render its beauty and structure stability. Such mandapas are best combined with a deep elliptical unique construction . Navagraha temple mandapa is the first elliptical shaped temple of its kind which was built with the concept to combine the energy of the Milky Way with delicacy- the principles of the universe where the planets revolve around the sun in an elliptical shape along with the 12 zodiac signs and 27 stars. The Navagraha spirit is acquired according to the standards of Vastu to provide the life force energy. The Navagrahas which includes nine major celestial bodies in Hindu astronomy is portrayed into deities deployed creatively as a wedded pair in the temple. The nine deities named Surya( the Sun),Chandra (the moon), Mangala(the mars), Budha( the mercury) , Brihaspathi(the jupiter), Shukra (the venus), Shani (the saturn), Rahu (the north lunar pole) and Ketu (the south lunar pole) combines to form the navagraha temple. Another uniqueness of the temple are the AshtadikPalas(Guardians of the Eight Directions) and Ashtadiggagas(Elephants of the eight directions) which are carved on the eight stone pillars. AshtadikPalas are deities named Kubera in the north , Yama in the south, Indra in the east , Varuna in the west, Isana in the northeast, Agni in the southeast, Vayu in the northwest and Nirrti in the southwest are the guardiens of eight directions. Ashttadiggajas which means eight elephants in eight directions which refers to the Hindu belief that eight elephants hold the earth in eight directions. The 27 stars are also chipped around pachavargam of the temple signifies the lunar mansions called nakshatras.Also the 12 zodiac signs Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpius, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces are crafted on wooden planks on the roof with lotus in the middle which denotes brahma who is the god of creation, knowledge , Vedas and the creator of universe as per Hinduism. 

The Navagraha temple was designed by Travancore Devaswom Board architect A.B Sivan (Sthapathi, Aranmula Vasthu Vidhya Gurukulam) the pioneer in vasthu architects. The Navagraha temple foundation stone was laid on 2nd December 2020, started with the basement filling, started setting up the carved stone sculptures including panchavargam and pillars on 28th December 2020 and completed by 5th January 2021, started fixing the carved wooden beams, rafter and board on 8th January 2021 and completed on 29th January 2021, Copper plates were paved on top of the roof wooden board on 30th January 2021. Finally the temple main t handri (priest) Kokkalathumadathil Bhramasree. Madhavar Sambhu Pootty will do the prathishtta poojas after fixing the stone deities in the temple.

Temple Basement
20 December 2020

Stone Panchavargam and Pillers
5 January 2021

Wooden Beam and Rafter
18 January 2021

Copper Plate Paving
30 January 2021

Devoting Navagraha Temple
13 February 2021

Navagraha Temple Prathishtta
17 February 2021