Stories of gods and temples.
The origin stories of Kerala's deities and the histories of its temples — legends of creation and courage, of saints and rulers, and of the shrines that keep them alive.
Stories of the gods
Bhadrakali
In the Devi Mahatmya tradition the Goddess manifests as Bhadrakali to slay the asura Darika, whose boon made him invulnerable to all male beings. Kerala retells the Darika Vadham i...
Muthappan
Tradition tells of a boy found and raised by a humble couple who was later recognised as the presence of Shiva and Vishnu. He wandered as a hunter and ascetic with his dogs, breaki...
Nagaraja
The serpents Ananta, Vasuki and Takshaka belong to the race of Nagas who dwell in Patala and serve as the couch of Vishnu. In Kerala the Naga deities are believed to guard ancestra...
Vishnumaya Kuttichathan
Tradition holds that Vishnumaya was born to Shiva and Parvati and took the form of a child to defeat the asura Bhrugasura through illusion, or maya. In northern Malabar he is linke...
Mariamman
Mariamman is honoured as the goddess who cools the heat of summer and wards off epidemics. Her shrines stand at the edge of the village, where she guards the settlement, and her fe...
Chamundi
When the asuras Chanda and Munda attacked the Goddess, she manifested from her brow as Kali and destroyed them, earning the name Chamundi. In Kerala her shrines often stand on hill...
Vettakkorumakan
When Shiva assumed the form of a Kirata, a hunter, and Parvati joined him in the forest, their son Vettakkorumakan was born. Shiva gave him a churika, the curved sword, and sent hi...
Yakshi
In Kerala folklore Yakshis are otherworldly beings who dwell in banyan and pala trees. A Yakshi honoured with lamps and offerings becomes a benevolent guardian; neglected, she is f...
Muchilottu Bhagavathi
Muchilottu Bhagavathi is remembered as a learned girl of Perinchellur who was humiliated in a challenge of scholarship and later revealed as divine. She is the tutelary goddess of...
Temple histories
Dakshina Mookambika Temple, North Paravur
Dakshina Mookambika Temple at North Paravur in Ernakulam district is a southern seat of the goddess Mookambika of Kollur. The sanctum stands in the middle of a lotus pool, and the...
Cochin Thirumala Devaswom
Cochin Thirumala Devaswom, also called Gosripuram, is the principal religious institution of the Gowda Saraswat Brahmin community of Kerala. It stands in the Cherlai quarter of Mat...
Cherthala Karthyayani Temple
Karthyayani Devi Temple at Cherthala in Alappuzha district is one of the famous Devi shrines of the Kerala coast. The goddess is honoured as Mangalya Dayini, the giver of auspiciou...
Chengannur Mahadeva Temple
Chengannur Mahadeva Temple in Alappuzha district is one of the great Shiva temples of Kerala, counted alongside Ettumanoor, Kaduthuruthy, Vaikom, Ernakulam and Vadakkunnathan. Shiv...
Chakkamkulangara Siva Temple
Chakkamkulangara Siva Temple at Thrippunithura in Ernakulam district is an ancient Shiva shrine, more than a thousand years old and built in the Kerala-Dravidian style. Parvati is...
Aryankavu Sastha Temple
Aryankavu Sastha Temple stands near the Tamil Nadu border in Kollam district, one of the five principal Shasta temples of Kerala. The name is read as the sacred grove of the Arya,...
Annapurneshwari Temple, Cherukunnu
Annapoorneshwari Temple at Cherukunnu in Kannur district is dedicated to Annapurna, the goddess of food, and is unusual in keeping Krishna as a co-deity in the same shrine. The sit...
Achankovil Sastha Temple
Achankovil Sastha Temple lies on the banks of the Achankovil river in Kollam district and is one of the five major Shasta temples of Kerala, with Kulathupuzha, Aryankavu, Sabarimal...
Ernakulathappan Temple
Ernakulam Shiva Temple, known to devotees as Ernakulathappan, is regarded as the guardian deity of Kochi. The temple's traditions are linked to the Cheranalloor Kartha family, and...