As for why there are so many shrines for Hindu gods in Bangkok, it’s historical. Thailand used to be part of the Khmer empire, which was heavily influenced by Indian culture and Hinduism. See my Cambodia series and visits to Angkor Wat to know more about that.
Before I begin, I wanted to inform my readers that the below photos are from a visit I made to this temple back in 2020. I waited to post this after I was done with my Vietnam series… but then I forgot.
Anyway, I had heard about Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple from a relative who told me about how big it was. There weren’t too many blogs, articles or vlogs about the temple. I mean, it’s not a tourist attraction or a popular pilgrimage site, but despite its age and size, it doesn’t see as many visitors as Peralassery temple does — which I guess is mostly due to its famous step well which people of all faiths can see.
Sree Thrikkaikkunnu Mahadeva Temple is located in the town of Koothuparambu and is 23 kms from Kannur Railway station. The locality the temple is in is called Kottayam (not to be confused by the city of the same name in central Kerala).
This is the entrance one sees when getting on to the road off the main Koothuparambu highway
The grounds of the temple spans over 2 acres
The temple has two sreekovils (inner sanctum) and is dedicated to Lord Shiva. You can read about the mythology surrounding the temple on this website.
The temple is hundreds of years old, but even the temple staff I spoke to couldn’t give me an approximate era
Since this temple became a popular spot, they have rates for photography and filming
You have to pay Rs. 100 for photography and Rs. 300 for videography. But like with most temples, I was told I could not photograph inside the inner sanctums.
So I just stayed outside to be safe
I had come to the temple with my cousin sister, her husband, their daughter and a friend. They wanted to shoot some classical dance sequences for their daughter and my cousin’s husband, who is a music teacher, wanted to film a music video for his flute performance here.
The temple is constructed using local red stones, which have gotten some modern upkeep over time
From the back
I know these photos may not give you a good indication of the size of the temple
So I decided to step out of the temple grounds to take out my drone.
These steps lead you to the adjoining lake
It’s a pretty big man-made lake
I took a drone shot of the lake
This was around 5pm
An old tree at the footsteps of the lake
My cousin’s husband continued taking videos for their daughter’s dance
(Unfortunately, for reasons cited below, my cousin’s family was unable to obtain enough good shots to complete the dance performance)
This is a tighter crop
I was told I could not fly the drone above the temple and so I assured them I would limit the flight to just outside the gate.
If you want to see what the complete structure looks like (cropped in)
My cousin sister’s daughter and friend are the two green and red specks you see on the left side.
I took one parting shot before leaving
We had to end filming because some local guy who was sitting by the temple entrance objected to me flying the drone near the temple, just as I was done taking the final shot. He created a ruckus and accused all of us who had come for filming saying we were not allowed to film like this. Mind you, the actual temple staff member who we paid the filming fees to, had left the temple by now (it was a Sunday).
My cousin’s husband tried reasoning with the guy, but my cousin sister said he could be drunk. None of us wanted to create a scene on temple grounds, and my cousin’s young daughter also got scared. So we all left the temple rather upset after having our evening ruined.
So just be careful about such people if you are planning to visit this temple for photography or vlogging. If you get a receipt from the temple office after paying the fee, hold on to it until you leave the temple site.
If you want some more footage, Kerala Tourism has some glimpses of the temple exterior in their video:
My cousin sister’s husband managed to record his flute performance which uses most of the drone footage I could take (watch it in HD):
We arrived in Siem Reap yesterday and after a good night’s sleep, it was another early wake up today. We would be visiting Cambodia’s national icon — the world famous Angkor Wat temple complex. I wanted to visit Angkor Wat (“wat” is Khmer/Thai for ‘temple’) to catch the sunrise but my girlfriend was not very keen on waking up at 4am to try and get inside Angkor Wat as soon as the gates open at 5am. But when I got there later, in a way it wasn’t a major miss… and you’ll understand why later in the post.
If you do wish to catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat, here are some tips. Gates open at 5am but you do have the option to buy tickets the day prior. The Angkor Park ticket counter is a few kilometers outside the temple complex.
So first calculate the distance from your hotel to the Angor Park and see how long it will take you to get there.
You have three different ticket options:
1 Day ($37): This ticket is valid only on the day of purchase.
3 Days ($62): This ticket is valid for 10 days from the date of purchase. You have the option to choose which three days you wish to visit the Angkor temples.
7 Days ($72): This ticket is valid for one calendar month from the date of purchase. You have a whole month in which to visit the Angkor temples on the seven days of your choice.
Entry tickets sold after 5pm are valid for the following day. So you can purchase the 1 Day pass the day prior this way. The Angkor Park ticket counter is open from 5am to 5:30pm daily. Those are more or less the timings for Angkor Wat as well.
We booked a tricycle taxi via our hotel to pick us up, drive us between the temples and then drop us back. Cost us $15.
This large complex is the ticket counter for Angkor Wat. There are many, many temples and structures inside the Angkor Archaeological Park — which is why they sell 3 and 7-day passes. You just cannot see it all in one day.
Angkor Enterprise is the official name of this building. By the way, there is a dress code enforced inside Angkor Wat. No revealing clothing and visitors must wear knee-length clothing and shoulders must be covered
Ignore the closing time mentioned above, the ticket office closes at 5:30pm. Another sign board stated the same.
You have many counters to purchase tickets from (using cash and credit card) but expect it to be busy as you are not the only one who knows about the whole “catch the sunrise at Angkor Wat” experience. Once you have your tickets, you have to then get to Angkor Wat which is a 15-20 minute drive to the main entrance of the temple.
