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
Sree Puthenkavu Bhagavathy Temple Elavoor
Puthenkavu Bhagavathy Temple is widely known for its annual festival and for the traditional art forms performed in its precincts.
Sree Narayanapuram Thrikkayil Temple
The idol represents the world-enchanting form of Krishna, holding the conch, discus, mace and lotus. The temple is a focal point of the Perissery villages.
Srinivasa Venkatachalapathy Temple
Also called Srinivasar Kovil, Perumal Kovil or Desikar Sannidhi, the temple follows the pooja traditions of Kerala's Namboodiri priests while serving a largely Tamil-speaking congr...
Neendoor Subrahmanya Swami Temple
Local tradition holds that the Pandavas and the sage Vyasa worshipped at this shrine. It is a historic temple that has long been a source of pride for the Neendoor area.
Keraladeshpuram Temple
Temple tradition links the shrine to a period roughly 3,000 years ago. Thanur was among the earliest settlements of the Malabar Coast, and the temple remains its ritual centre.
Chennamangalam Temple
Shiva, Ganesha, Vishnu and Annapurneshwari are also worshipped here. The temple is regarded as one of the oldest in Kerala and a major Ayyappa shrine of the Vatakara coast.
Abhimanyu Temple, Vayotthidam
Abhimanyu, the son of Arjuna, is the presiding deity here, making the shrine unique among Kerala temples linked to the Mahabharata.
Kozha Sree Narasimhaswami Temple
The temple is dedicated to Narasimha, the fourth incarnation of Vishnu, and serves the farming villages around Kuravilangad.
Kadamuri Narasimhaswamy Temple
The presiding deity is Narasimha, the man-lion avatar of Vishnu. The temple is a noted Narasimha shrine of central Travancore.