Legend of Malayalapuzha Devi Temple

Malayalapuzha Devi Temple is one of the famous temples dedicated to Goddess Durga in Kerala. This temple, which is located in the Pathanamthitta District of Kerala is regarded as one among the 108 Durga

Temples called 108 Durgalayas. As in the case of many other Durga or Kali temples in Kerala, the legend of this temple too has its lineage with the famous Kollur Mookambika Temple of South Karnataka.

There was a Brahmin (Namboodiri) devotee of Goddess Ma. He devoted his life to the Goddess and was always seen chanting her praises and holy hymns. Once he went to Mookambika Temple and started worshiping Goddess Ma. He used to live in the temple premises and used to have very little food that is offered from the temple. All he had with him was one Salagramam (A particular kind of stone seen in River Gandaki in Nepal. According to Hindu belief, this stone represents the divine power of Lord Vishnu and hence it is being worshiped) and an umbrella made of palm leaves.

He spent years there worshipping Goddess and one night he had a dream where the Goddess Ma came in the dreams and told him that she had her presence in the Salagramam worshiped by the Namboodiri and now he can return to his village and continue worshipping it instead of staying back at Kollur. Although he believed that it was the words from the Goddess, he was reluctant to go back to his village; instead he decided to go to Maruthva Hills and to indulge in penance till he gets salvation. Thus he started his journey by walk.

As mentioned earlier, all he had with him was the Salagramam and the umbrella made with palm leaves. Hence he did not have to worry much during his journey. Accepting the food given from different houses, he continued his journey and reached at Thombil Palace, the residence of a feudal lord. The feudal lord who is known as Thombil Thampuran was a religious person and generous too. Namboodiri stayed over there for a few days accepting the hospitality and the company of Thampuran. After a few days, Namboodiri informed Thampuran that it was time for him to leave and to grant permission for it. By this time, Thampuran developed a sort of respect and fondness towards the Namboodiri and was not ready to leave him. But the Namboodiri was adamant and decided to move out.

Surprisingly when the Namboodiri lifted the Salagramam and the umbrella both have not come up. They remain on the floor of the palace where they have kept. At that time an oracle (persons who will enact as a goddess after invoking the divine power in them) came there and told Namboodiri that Goddess did not like to leave those premises. Then the Namboodiri decided to stay back there worshiping the Salagramam and attained salvation within a few years.

After the demise of Namboodir, the Salagramam left alone and nobody took initiative to continue with the type of rituals Namboodiri did to worship the Goddess. This negligence reflected in the life of locals. They had to undergo many troubles and ill fates. Thombil Thampuran approached an astrologer to seek a solution for the problems faced by his subjects. The astrologer told that the Salagramam, worshipped by the Namboodiri has the presence of Goddess and it has been left alone without any worship nowadays. Goddess is angry with this negligence and all the problems are due to her anger. He insisted Thampuran to construct a temple for Goddess Ma and worship the Salagramam there.

According to this instruction, Thampuran started the search for an ideal place and found one which was under the jurisdiction of Edappally King. Hearing the entire story, the King happily handed over the land for constructing the temple and also helped Thampuran financially to construct the temple. This is believed to have happened almost 1000 years before and the same temple is still there in Malayalapuzha.

On the eastern side of the temple, there is a Siva Linga which is believed to have come up automatically (Swayambhoo). There is a golden shower tree near to that. When all other Golden Shower trees blossoms during the month of April-May, this tree blossoms throughout the year. Another interesting thing is that all the flowers from that tree will fall exactly on this Shiva Linga always. There is one another interesting fact about this temple and that is the presence of honey bees. These bees will fly very close to the devotees visiting the temple, but, not a single case of honey bees attacking the devotees, has not been reported so far.