A quick drive through the MC road and the Changanassery bypass would take you to the beginning point of the Changanassery-Kaviyoor road.
A drive through this road would take you till the Kaviyoor junction. From this junction, the road splits to two. One leads to the famed Kaviyoor mahadeva temple while the other leads you to the Kaviyoor rock cut cave temple.
Situated in a scenic backdrop, the Kaviyoor cave temple is maintained by the archaeological department of India and is an excellent candidate for the exhibition of ancient rock carving architecture, once lost from our culture.
The road to the area is well paved with colorful interlocks and a spacious parking space exists, protected by a tamarind tree from the top.
A steep flight of stairs took me to the entrance of the small structure which remains ill maintained but still beautiful.
A huge rock called Kaniyanpara towers above the temple and the view from the top is amazing even though reaching the top is risky.
The temple is carved on to the southern face of the rock and boasts of elaborately designed sculptures of Dwarapalakas and a Shiva linga inside. There is also a small pond beside the temple guarded by a poisonous Cheru tree.
Many believe that this was intended to be the actual site of the Mahadeva temple, but fearing for the loss of reputation of the current temple, this one was ignored.
I would recommend a visit here for all history buffs and hiking enthusiasts.
