Sasthamcotta Lake

Sasathamcotta Lake or Sasathamkotta Lake, also categorized as a wetland, is the largest fresh water lake in Kerala, a state of India on the south of the West Coast. The lake is named after the ancient Sastha temple (a pilgrimage centre) located on its bank. It meets the drinking water needs of half million people of the Quilon district and also provides fishing resources. The purity of the lake water for drinking use is attributed to the presence of large population of larva called cavaborus that consumes bacteria in the lake water. The lake is a designated wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention since November 2002.

Access

The lake is located at a distance of 25 km from Quilon city, which is on the northern side of Ashtamudi Lake. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, at 105 km, is the nearest airport to Kollam. Karunagapally, at a distance of 8 km, is the closest town to the lake. A ferry service across the lake transports people between West Kallada and Sasthamkotta.

Sasthamkotta

Sasthamkotta or Sasthamcotta is a village in the Kunnathoor Tehsil of Kollam district in the state of Kerala, India. It is 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Kollam, the district headquarters,a few distance from karunagappally town and 42 kilometres (26 mi) away from Paravur. It is the location of the Sasthamcotta Sree Dharma Sastha Temple.

The place is naturally beautiful and is surrounded by hills and valleys. In the midst of the hills is the Fresh Water Lake. The extensive freshwater lake here is the biggest of its kind in Kerala.Water supply to the Kollam town is met by purifying the water from this lake. One of the features of Sasthamcotta temple is the abundance of monkeys that camp around. Because of that Sasthamcotta is famous for Monkeys.Many movies and TV serials shoted at Sasthamcotta, like Inapravukal (1965), Ente Hridayathinte Udama (2002), Ilamurathampuran (1998), Nakshathrakkannulla Rajakumaran (2002), Kuttisrank (2009) etc. are some of those. The Second World Religion Conference had been held in Sasthamcotta, in which the global religious leaders had particularly participated.