Mannarasala Sree Nagaraja Temple

01The grove of thirty thousand nagas

Kerala’s old houses each kept a sarpakavu, a patch of uncut forest for the serpent deities, and Mannarasala is the greatest of them. The kshetra’s katha says that when Parashurama’s new land was too salty to live in, he worshipped Nagaraja, who sent his serpents to sweeten the soil; and that a childless woman of the Mannarasala Illam, Sreedevi, served the nagas through a forest fire and was granted a five-headed serpent son, who is still held to live in the cellar of the house. Along the paths under the trees stand some thirty thousand stone images of serpents, left by devotees over generations.

02The Valiyamma

Unusually, the chief priest here is a woman: the senior wife of the Mannarasala family, called Valiyamma, the great mother, who leads the main pujas after she takes up the role. Childless couples come to offer the uruli kamazhthal, placing a bronze vessel upside down before the deity, and return to give thanks when a child is born. The Ayilyam festival in Thulam (October–November) and on Ayilyam days through the year draw the largest crowds.