Goddess Hemambika is a form of Mother Goddess Shakti. She is
a minor manifestation and is more sort of a regional deity. In this form,
Mother Goddess Devi or Durga is of golden color. Hema here refers to Golden hue. Temples
dedicated to Goddess Hemambika are found in South India .
In Kerala, the worship is unique, as only the hands of Goddess can be seen.
Legend has it that once the priest at a Hemambika temple
looked with sexual desire at the beautiful form of the Goddess. An angry
Goddess concealed herself in water and never appeared again. The murti
worshipped in the temple is in the form of hands coming out of a well.
Some of the other legends have it that the complete
manifestation was not possible due to the impatience of her devotees. Before
the complete manifestation devotees jumped into a lake to touch her hands and
she disappeared with only hands emerging from the lake.
One of the popular temples dedicated to this form of Goddess
Shakti is the Kallekulangara
Hemambika Temple ,
located around 8 km from Palakkad.