PANACHIKKADU SARASWATHY

Prathishta / Presiding Deity : Saraswathy
Upadevatha / Sub Deities : xx
District: Kottayam
Thaluk: xx
Panchayath: xx
Thanthri: Kuzhipuram illam
Trustee: xx


This temple is known as Dakshina Mookambika in South India. Eventhough temple is famous for Saraswathy devi, the main deity is Maha Vishnu. One should first worship Maha Vishnu first before worshipping Saraswathy as a custom. You can see Ganapathy, Siva, Sasthavu and Yakshi as sub deties here.

There is no special shrine for Saraswathy devi. On the southern side of the Vishnu shrine a small pond can be seen. The speciality is that this pond is with plenty of waterful through out the year. The idol of devi is beneath the pond. A creeper in the pond serves as a structure for devi. The unknown things is that the creeper (plant that grows by creeping) with plentiful leaves is never grown. Growth is static, neither increases nor decreases in size. This serves as structure from the time the Devi was worshipped centuries ago. And also this creeper had never flowered and never fruited. The idol of Yakshi is installed under an Elanji tree and Ezhilam Pala trees with no cover on top.

The legend is, Kuzhipuram illam once had no boys to carry out the temple rites. A distressed elder of the family went to Mookambika for her blessing. After spending years in the temple the old man returned dejected. On reaching Panachikadu, he decided to have bath in the temple pond. He put his Olakuda (umbrella made of palm-leaf) on the southern side of the temple and went to the pond. After bath when he tried and lift the umbrella, it is noticed that it stood firm on the ground and at the same time he felt an intuition as if Mookambika Devi telling him I am residing in the umbrella and advising him to install there an idol lying in the nearby forest. The Namboodiri did as per the instruction of devi. Later a small pond appeared where the idol was installed and the idol went beneath the pond. The temple till then known as Panachikkadu Vishnu temple came to be known as Panachikkadu Saraswathy (Devi) temple thereafter. The unknown things is that the creeper (plant that grows by creeping) with plentiful leaves is never grown.