Panachikkadu - Dakshina Mookambe saranam

 The temple at Panachikkadu, also called as Dakshina Mookambika (Mookambika of the south), is located 11 Km away from Kottayam town. Though the temple is known as Saraswathy temple, the main deity is Mahavishnu. The devotees worship Vishnu first before worshipping Saraswathi as per the custom. Ganapathy, Shiva, Sasthavu and Yakshi are the sub-deities worshipped in this temple.

The idol of Yakshi has no structure to cover. It is installed under the trees like Elinji and Ezhilam Pala. The trusteeship of the shrine is vested with Kizhapuram, Karunattu and Kaimukku Namboodiri Illams. They are the residents of Panachikkadu. The boys of the Illams used to carry out the rites here.

According to the legend, Kizhapuram Illam once had no boys to carry out the rites. The Namboodiri was about 60 years of age and lost all his hope of having a descendant. So he went to Varanasi to have a bath in holy Ganges. On the way he sojourned at Mookambika. Serenity of the place embraced him and he decided to practice bhajan there for a year. After spending a year in the temple the old man had a dream. In that a beautiful lady came and told him that it is impossible to have a child for him in this life. The woman also told him that it will be better for him to go back to his place and will be able to adopt a child from nearby Karunattu family as the lady of that family will have two children in the near future. The old man accepted his fate and returned to his home land. 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. Perplexed by this Namboodiri stood thoughtful. Then a man came from nowhere as if to solve the puzzle. According to him, Mookambika Devi is staying in the umbrella and Namboodiri will have to transfer the divinity to an idol first before he tries to take the umbrella again. He also told that an idol suitable for this is laying hidden in the proximate forest but before taking that he has to appease an Yakshi (female demigod) who is protecting the idol.

Namboodiri did as the man ordered. Thenceforth Panachikad devi started showing her divinity in that place. Another small idol was also placed facing west as archana bimbam. As there is no roof above the main idol and the spot where the idol is placed is in a low terrain filled with water, one will get a feeling that devi is seated in the middle of a pond. The main idol now is covered by creepers and shrubs and is not clearly visible.

Like that in Mookambika temple, Trimadhuram is considered sacred here also.Navarathri festival is the main festival and lot of devotees throng the temple on that period. On Vijaya Dasami, a lot of children will scribble first before the goddess of knowledge and learning.