Kerala, the southernmost state of India is also known as God's Own Country. The eye-catching beauty of nature here is not only the reason for earning this name but also its rich mythology. The land itself is believed to be created by Lord Parashuram, the 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The legend goes like this. Parashurama has to kill his won mother as he had to obey his father. Later, repenting on this act, he decided to give away lands to Brahmins( The upper strata of Hindu cast system). He asked Varuna, the God of Oceans to provide him some land by backtracking. Varuna agreed and promised that he can throw his ax into the ocean and he is ready to give away the land between the point where Parashurama stands and the ax falls. Thus he throws the Axe from the top of Gokarna (Presently in Karnataka state and it falls on the point where the Kanyakumari is situated now. As per his promise, Varuna dried out from that place and the land created like that is Kerala.

Again, there is a legend that the land was ruled by King Mahabali, under whose rule the people lived without any agonies and problems. jealous of the increasing popularity of Mahabali, Devas, the celestial creatures approached Lord Vishnu and he agreed to help him. He came in disguise of a dwarf man called Vamana and asked for three feet of land. The king allowed him to measure the same with his own feet. Suddenly the dwarf man grew in size and with his two feet he has measured the entire earth and sky. There was no place to keep his third foot. Then the king showed his head and asked the man to keep his foot on his head. Thus the lord pushed him down to Patal (a world under earth according to Hindu mythology). Before sending him down, the Lord gave him a boon to come back to his kingdom once in a year and spend around 10 days with his people. This occasion is being celebrated as ONAM Festival even nowadays.

Thus, Kerala has a rich stock of mythologies where human beings, Gods, Evil Spirits, Animals, Sorcerers, etc live together indulging in various activities. You can come across numerous incidents where all these people love each other, fight with each other, etc. This magical land is thus called God's Own Country.

Kottarathil Sankunni made the first attempt to bring most of these mythical stories in printed format. he took a great effort and as a result, Aithihyamaala or the Chain of Myths has been published. The book has been published originally in Malayalam.

Here I would like to reproduce some of those stories in Aithihyamala along with more stories which I heard in my childhood days in English for those who can not read and understand Malayalam. I hope you all will support me in this endeavor.