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
Veda Vyasa
Vyasa, also called Krishna Dvaipayana, is the sage who divided the single Veda into the Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Vedas so that its knowledge could be preserved and taught. Trad...
Dhanwanthari
Dhanvantari is the physician of the gods and an avatar of Vishnu, and the tradition of Ayurveda honours him as its divine source. During the churning of the Ocean of Milk he rose f...
Abhimanyu
Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, and while still in his mother's womb he learned how to enter the Chakravyuha, the wheel formation of the Kaurava army. On the thirteen...
garuda
Garuda, the king of birds, is the son of the sage Kashyapa and Vinata. When his mother was enslaved through a wager with her sister Kadru, Garuda flew to the heavens, defeated the...
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.