01Three forms in a day
In the upper temple the Devi is Rajarajeshwari, and the priests adorn her as Saraswati in white at dawn, as Lakshmi in red at noon and as Durga in blue in the evening. Mahavishnu shares her pedestal, so she is also called Amme Narayana, Devi Narayana, Bhadre Narayana, the words the devotees call out. The murti is of laterite, held to be swayambhu, and not fixed to the pedestal. The temple is one of the most important of the 400-odd under the Cochin Devaswom Board.
02Keezhkavu and the guruthi
Down a flight of steps, beside the tank, is Keezhkavu, the lower shrine of Bhadrakali, held to have been installed by the Vilwamangalam Swamiyar. Here the Valiya Guruthi is performed each night, an offering of water reddened with turmeric and lime, and families bring relatives suffering mental affliction to sit before the Devi. Nails driven into a great pala tree beside the shrine mark troubles left behind. The Makam Thozhal in Kumbham, when the Devi gives darshan in full ornaments, draws the largest crowds.
About 18 km south-east of Kochi; Tripunithura is the nearest railway station.
