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
Kurumba Bhagavathi
The Kodungallur temple, linked in local tradition with the Chera capital and with Kannaki of the Silappathikaram, holds the goddess as Kurumba, the fierce mother. Her Bharani festi...
Karthyayani
Karthyayani is the form of Durga born to the sage Katyayana, invoked in the Devi Mahatmya as the slayer of the buffalo demon Mahisha. She is the sixth of the Navadurgas and is wors...
Bhuvaneshwari
As the fourth Mahavidya, Bhuvaneshwari is the cosmic mother whose form contains all the worlds. She is worshipped with the Sri Yantra and the sounds of the three bijas, and is hono...
Rajarajeshwari
As Lalita, the goddess arose from the fire of the churning of the ocean and defeated Bhandasura with her Sri Chakra army. At Chottanikkara she is worshipped in both her fierce and...
Mookambika
The Kollur temple tradition tells of the goddess who killed the demon Mookasura and who blessed Adi Shankara. She is worshipped as a form of Parvati and as the source of the arts a...
Vanadurga
In Kerala's kavu tradition, Durga is honoured in her forest form at groves that are left uncut and protected. She guards the boundary between the village and the wild, and her wors...
Karinkali
Karinkali is honoured as Bhadrakali in her darkest aspect. At Kannenkavu in Malappuram, the Karinkali Pooram gathers ritual dancers painted black, embodying the goddess's furious p...
Karuppaswamy
Karuppu is honoured as a warrior guardian who stands at the entrance of the village and the temple, armed with a sword and a whip. In the Tamil and Kerala border traditions he is o...
Vamana
When Mahabali's rule became too proud, Vishnu took birth as the dwarf Vamana and asked for three paces of land. With two steps he covered earth and heaven, and with the third he pr...
Temple histories
Chettikulangara Devi Temple
Chettikulangara Sree Bhagavathi Temple near Mavelikkara enshrines Bhadrakali and is one of central Kerala's most popular Devi shrines. One tradition says local chieftains, humiliat...
Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple
Ambalappuzha Sree Krishna Temple was built in the 15th century by the Chembakasserry ruler Devanarayanan Thampuran and is counted among the seven great temples of old Travancore. T...
Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple
Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple on the Pamba river is dedicated to Krishna as Parthasarathy, Arjuna's charioteer, and is one of the 108 Divya Desams. Legend connects it to the Pandav...
Asramam Sree Krishna Temple
Asramam Sree Krishna Swamy Temple stands on the shore of Ashtamudi lake in Kollam and enshrines Krishna as Navaneetakrishna, the child holding butter. The shrine sits on a small mo...
Aazhimala Shiva Temple
Aazhimala is a coastal Shiva temple near Vizhinjam in Thiruvananthapuram district, built in a style close to Tamil temple architecture. Fishermen and coastal families have long wor...
Attukal Bhagavathy Temple
Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram is dedicated to Bhadrakali, identified by devotees with Kannagi, the heroine of the Tamil epic Silappatikaram. Legend tells of a rad...
Shri Padmanabha Demo Temple
Shri Padmanabha Demo Temple is a centuries-old shrine dedicated to Lord Vishnu in Anantha Shayana posture.