Panachikkadu Saraswaythi Temple
The temple anchored in Panachikkadu is known as Dakshina Mookambika in South India. Panachikkadu is located 11-km away from Kottayam town. Though the temple is known as Saraswathy temple, the main deity is Mahavishnu (Vishnu). The devotees worship Vishnu first before worshipping Saraswathy (Devi) as a custom. Ganapathy, Shiva, Sasthavu and Yakshi are satisfied with the position as sub-deities.
There is no temple structure for Saraswathy. On the southern side of the Vishnu shrine a small pond cut through granite exists. The pond is waterful throughout the year.The idol of Devi, the Saraswathi, is beneath the pond. A creeper in the pond serves as a structure for Devi. The creeper with ample leaves in static growth rate – neither increases nor decreases the size – serves as structure from the time the Devi was worshipped centuries ago. The creeper has never flowered and never fruited – a subject worth of research by botany scientists.
The idol of Yakshi has no structure to cover. It is installed under an Elinji and an Ezhilam Pala trees.. The trusteeship of the shrine is vested with Kuzhipuram Karunad and Kaimukku Namboodiri Illams (families). They are the residents of Panachikkadu. The boys of the Illams used to carry out the rites here. Kuzhipuram Illam once had no boys to carry out the rites. A distressed elder of the family went to seek the blessings of Mookambika Devi at Mookambi in Karnataka to have a son in the family. After spending years in the temple the old man returned dejected. On reaching Panachikad he decided to have a 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 the bath when he tried to lift the umbrella it stood firm on the ground and at the same time he felt an intuition as if Mookambika Devi telling him I am in the umbrella and advising him to install there an idol lying in the nearby forest. The Namboodiri located the idol and installed the same where he had put his umbrella. 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. This is legend.
Saraswatha Ghrutham is an important Prasadam (deity’s ritualized food) offered to the devotees. Intake of this Prasadam will boost the memory power, it is believed.
