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
Shiva
When Brahma and Vishnu quarrelled over who was supreme, Shiva appeared between them as a pillar of fire without beginning or end, and neither could find its limit. During the churn...
Vishnu
Vishnu is the preserver of the cosmos, the deity who sustains dharma whenever it declines. He reclines on the serpent Ananta in the milky ocean and returns to the world in avatar a...
Krishna
Born to Devaki and Vasudeva in a prison cell and raised by Yashoda and Nanda in Gokul, Krishna grew up as the playful cowherd of Vrindavan. He defeated the tyrant Kamsa, guided the...
Rama
Rama, prince of Ayodhya, accepted fourteen years of exile to honour his father's word. With Sita and Lakshmana he lived in the forest, where Ravana carried Sita away to Lanka. Aide...
Narasimha
Hiranyakashipu won a boon that made him almost invincible: he could not be killed by god or man, inside or outside, by day or night. When he tormented his own son Prahlada for wors...
Venkateswara
Venkateswara is the form of Vishnu enshrined on the Tirumala hills in Andhra Pradesh, revered across South India as the lord of the seven hills. The temple tradition tells of Srini...
Lakshmi
Lakshmi emerged from the churning of the milky ocean seated on a lotus and chose Vishnu as her consort, bringing abundance to the three worlds. She is honoured as the goddess of pr...
Durga
When the buffalo demon Mahishasura could not be defeated by the gods, their combined energies took the shape of Durga, who rode a lion and battled him for nine nights, slaying him...
Kali
Kali sprang from the brow of the goddess to defeat the demons Shumbha and Nishumbha, and her wild dance afterwards threatened to shake the world. Shiva lay beneath her feet to calm...
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.