This temple is in Vattapara village in
Thiruvananthapuram district. The main deities consecrated here are Sree
Ulakutaya Perumal, Thampuran, Sree Bhadra Devi and Sree Durga Devi. Ganapathy, Nagar,
Matan Thampuran and Manthramoorthy are consecrated as subordinate deities.
Thampuran, Sree Durga and Sree Bhadra are given equal importance. The temple is
believed to be more than 800 years old. There is a legend behind the temple. In
the year 500 of Kolla varsham, there were two prominent states in Tamil Nadu, Madura
and Vaika. In a battle between the two, the five kings of the Vaika family were
killed. Only their sister, Malayamma, was left alive.
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So Vaika came under
Madura. Malayamma had no children. So, she offered penance, praying to Vaika
Devi. When the Goddess did not come before her, the lady decided to kill
herself. Then the Goddess appeared. She wanted the Goddess to bless her with a
son who would be capable of killing the King of Madura and taking revenge. The
goddess asked her to pray to Lord Siva. The Lord gave two handfuls of sand and
told her that if the lady ate one of them, she would have a son who would take
revenge on the Madura King. If she ate the other, she would have a son who
would be timid but would be able to continue the family. The lady chose the
first one, and a son was born to her. She named him Ulakutaya Perumal. Ulakutaya
Perumal adopted four boys as his brothers. He prayed to the Goddess to get the
Nandakam sword to kill the King of Madurai. She gave him that on the condition that
he would return it whenever she asked for it. He won the war and added Madurai
to his land. But when the King of Madurai started the second war with him, the goddess
asked for the sword, and he was defeated. So, he killed his brothers and killed
himself. Then he became a part of the effulgence of Lord Siva. All devotees,
irrespective of caste or creed, were allowed to worship here since 1934, even
before the proclamation made by the government. This was done in the presence
of Mahatma Gandhi. The annual festival lasts for 7 days in the month of Meenam,
starting on the day of star Uthram.)