Madappally Sree Bhagavathy Temple is so ancient that its age has not been determined so far. The Goddess consecrated here is famed for blessing her devotees with all prosperity. It is the gentle form of Goddess Bhadrakali who is worshipped here. The temple is situated in the Madappally village of Changanasery Taluk in Kottayam district of Kerala. The most important festival of this temple is Vishu Mahotsavam (Vishu is celebrated on the 1st of Medam, in the middle of April). The largest Kaavadi Kumbhakuda procession of the erstwhile central Travancore is held here on that day. Another ritual, the Kalampooja festival, which is very rare in more the temples of Kerala is held on the Kumbha Bharani (Kumbham is the 7th Malayalam month, the second half of February and the first half of March and Bharani is the star) day every year. This offering is believed to bring respite from diseases and other calamities. Legends - After the reign of Cheraman Perumal in the fourth century, Keralam became fragmented as numerous princely states. Thekumkoor with Chenganassery at its centre, was one among them. There was dense forest on the eastern boundary and a fort extending from the north to the south was built to prevent any attack from the east. Many robbers used to infiltrate Thekkumkoor from Tamilnadu on the east and commit robbery and murder.  Hanging the culprits to death was the punishment for such offenses in those days.  But such a punishment of killing the men would lead to the sin of murder for the King and hence the wise men in the assembly of the King decided to offer the men as sacrifice to the Goddess Bhadrakali. Such an act would save the king from the sin and also get the blessings of Bhadrakali. The astrologers identified a place where the presence of the Goddess had been prevalent for long and the culprits were offered to the Goddess as sacrifice there. This is the place where the Madappally temple stands today. With the changes that came with the new system of governance, human sacrifice was prohibited. The goddess became angry and the area became unsuitable for human habitation. The people of the area complained to the King. The wise men of the King’s assembly suggested that eminent Brahmin priests should be appointed to conduct worship in the temple in order to pacify the enraged Goddess. As there were no Brahmins in that area, a Brahmin family from elsewhere was brought there for the purpose. The King gave them money, land and property and entrusted them with the duty of performing the worship of the Goddess in the proper manner. The goddess became calm and pleased with the rites and rituals of their worship and blessed the land with prosperity once again. A temple was also built for the Goddess there.  This continued for over four centuries. Then the priest was left without a son to continue the worship in the temple. The rituals in the temple were disrupted. The property of the temple and of the Brahmin family was alienated. The temple and the surrounding area became flooded and for more than a century it was left neglected. Many untoward occurrences happened in the land as a result. By this time the land had come under the rule of the King of Edappally. When the people complained about the situation the King issued orders for the resumption of the worship in the temple. A Brahmin family from Turuthy was brought there for the purpose. The King allotted the land and property that belonged to the erstwhile priests to this family. They were entrusted with the task of conducting the affairs of the temple with the income from the land and property of the temple. The worship and rituals of the temple are now conducted by the seventh generation of priests of that family. Till about the middle of the nineteenth century the priests continued to manage the affairs of the temple with the income received from the tenants with whom the land of the temple had been entrusted. But with the land act of 1958, the tenants became the owners of the land and the temple lost more than 200 acres of land. On the thirteenth of September, 1985 a deed was registered by which the Matappally Temple became the property of all the Hindus of Matappally. Today the temple is governed by the 21-member executive committee according to the regulations in the registered bye-laws.