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 Sundareshwara Temple
It is one of two prominent temples in Kannur district consecrated by Sree Narayana Guru, the other being the Jagannatha Temple at Thalassery. The shrine lies about two kilometres f...
Vadeshwaram Temple
The temple sits on a hill that resembles a mountain, which gives the shrine its local name. It is one of the better-known Shiva temples of north Kerala.
Sree Andalurkavu
Andalurkavu is a prominent Thiyya family shrine and ritual centre. Its main festival falls in the first week of the Malayalam month of Kumbham.
Puthoorppilli Sreekrishnaswami Temple
Puthoorppilly Sreekrishna Temple is a protected monument of the Kerala State Department of Archaeology, valued for its surviving wooden structure and mural work.
Oorpazhachi Kavu
The kavu is an important ritual space in the Edakkad grama panchayat, where theyyam performances keep the region's folk worship alive.
Madai Vadukunda Shiva Temple
Local tradition credits the Kolathiri kings with building the shrine in the Middle Ages. It stands on Madayipara, a plateau famous for its seasonal wildflowers and archaeological r...
Kunnathoor Padi
Kunnathoor Padi is regarded as the original Aroodam of Muthappan. The remote hill shrine is visited by pilgrims who trek through the Western Ghats forests, especially during the an...
Karivellur Mahadeva Temple
The temple was formerly under the Chitrakkal Kovilakam and remains a major shrine for the villages around Payyanur.
Karikkode Bhagavathy Temple
The shrine serves the farming villages of the Thodupuzha countryside and retains its traditional annual festival.