Malayalapuzha Devi Temple - Bhadrakali Temple (Idathattil Bhagwathi)
Malayalapuzha Devi Temple is believed to be more than 3000 years old, constructed in Kerala style of architecture. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Parvati as Devi stands 5.5 feet tall with 8 hands. As in the case of many other Devi temples in Kerala, the legend of this temple too has its lineage with the famous Kollur Mookambika temple of Karnataka. There was one Brahmin devotee of Goddess Shakthi around this place. Once he went to Mookambika temple and started worshiping Goddess there. He wished to live in the temple premises and used to have very little food that is offered there. All he had with him was one Salagrama (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 came in and told him that she had her presence in the Salagrama worshiped by him. So he can return to his village and continue worshipping it instead of staying 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 Maruthuva hills and indulge in penance till he got salvation. Thus, he started his journey by walking towards the hill. Accepting the food given from different houses along the way, he continued his journey and reached 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 of Thampuran. After a few days, Namboodiri informed Thampuran that it was time for him to leave and grant permission for it. By this time, Thampuran developed a sort of respect and fondness towards Namboodiri and was not ready to leave him. But Namboodiri was adamant and decided to move out towards his penance. Surprisingly, when the Namboodiri lifted the Salagrama and the umbrella both did not come up. They remain on the floor of the palace where they have kept. At that time an oracle came there and told Namboodiri that Goddess did not like to leave that premises. Then the Namboodiri decided to stay back there worshiping the Salagrama and attained salvation within a few years.
After the demise of Namboodiri, the Salagrama was left alone and nobody took initiative to continue with the type of rituals Namboodiri did to 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 people. Astrologer told that the Salagrama, worshipped by the Namboodiri has the presence of Goddess and it has been left alone without any worship. He insisted Thampuran to construct a temple for the Goddess and worship the Salagrama there. According to this instruction, Thampuran started searching 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 this temple.