Pazhavangadi Ganapathy Temple - Lord Ganesha

Located at the centre of the city, Pazhavangadi Ganapathy Temple is very popular among the locals. It has 2 special features to offer for the tourists. One is the dark black colour painting of the temple which is not common anywhere. Other one is the Ganesh idol. Here, Lord Ganesh relaxes with only his right knee folded under him. Most commonly, Ganesh idols are seen standing or seated with crossed legs. The origin of this temple is connected with Padmanabhapuram, the erstwhile capital of Venad. The legend says that being the capital and seat of the Raja, the soldiers had to guard the Padmanabhapuram Palace and the fort at all times.

On one of its sides is the famous shrine of Yakshi (fierce Goddess) at Melaankot. Because of the greater fierceness of Yakshi, whoever had taken night duty here was seen lying unconscious on the ground the next day morning. This continued for a long time. On one occasion, the duty of guarding Melaankot fell on a devotee of Lord Ganapathy. While he was taking bath on the duty day in the nearby Valliyoor river, his leg touched a Ganapathy statue lying in the river-bed. Feeling the divine grace, he decided to take the idol with him on the duty time. Seeing the soldier return harmless the next morning, he was inquired about his vigilance.

The reason was explained and confirmed. Since then, the people continued to worship this idol at Padmanabhapuram till it was shifted to Thiruvananthapuram, during the reign (1758-1798 A.D.) of Sree Karthika Thirunal Maharaja, popularly known as Dharma Raja. With the generous help of Dharma Raja a small temple was built around 1765 A.D. Renovations were carried out in later years. In memory of its origin through military people of that time, the temple is still under the maintenance of Indian Army. Breaking coconuts is deemed auspicious for lord Ganapathy and it is practiced by the pilgrims here.