Kaalan or Kalan in Malayalam is the god of death. He is the same as Yama or Yaman or Dharmaputra. The god of death in Hindu religion in Kerala is described as having a scary body and ferocious body. He puts an end to all living beings in the universe.
Kaalan concept is fearful and inauspicious for those who believe that death is fearful and painful.
Father of Kaalan is Vivasva and his mother is Samja (daughter of Vishwakarma). He has two sisters – Yami and Yamuna – and a brother – Shani. Wife of Kalan is Dumorna.
Kaalan is the lord of south. His body color is green and wears red color clothes. He has a limb on one leg. His vehicle is male buffalo (Pothu). He sits atop the buffalo holding pasha (rope) and danda (royal stick). Sometimes instead of the stick he holds mace (gada).
Kaalan resides in a huge palace known as Kalichi and it has 1000 pillars. In the palace, he sits on a throne known as Vicharabhu. The palace is guarded by two huge and ferocious dogs with four eyes. The lieutenant of Kaalan is Chitragupta who keeps a record of the all activities of living beings on earth.
As per Markandeya Purana, Kaalan was once killed by Shiva. Kalan attempted to take away the life of 16-year-old Markandeya who was an ardent devotee of Shiva. With no Kalan on earth there was no death and Mother Earth could no longer hold the weight of all living beings. She then requested to Shiva to bring back Kalan back to life.
As per Mahabharata, Kaalan was the father of Yudhisthira.