Udiyanoor Devi temple is located at Maruthamkuzhi on Sasthamangalam – Vattiyoorkavu road in Thiruvananthapuram. Some people believe the murti worshipped in the temple is Goddess Bhadrakali. Another set of belief is that the deity in the temple is Goddess Durga. The annual festival in the temple is held in Meena Masam (March - April).
Darshanam of Udiyanoor Devi is towards north. The murti worshipped in the temple is Chaturbahu – four-armed. The deity holds shankh (conch), chakra (discus), Nandakam, Khadgam (sword) and Shoolam (trident).
Apart from the main murti there are three other peedams in the sanctum sanctorum. These peedams have murtis of Indrani, Vaishnavi and Varahi (these goddesses are part of Saptamatrikas). Puja is offered three times in the temple.
The Upa Devatas worshipped in the temple are Ganapathy, Yogeeswaran, Sastha and Madan Thampuran.
As per history, the murti worshipped in the temple was retrieved from a river by Neelkanth Gurupadar of Vattiyoorkonam Nair Veedu. In the beginning the temple used to perform animal sacrifice and then there were no Brahmin priests.
About 180 years ago, there lived a devotee of the Goddess named Neelakandan in the Udiyannoor family of Maruthumkuzhi. (He later became renowned as the spiritual teacher Neelakanda Gurupadar.)
Udiyanoor Devi Temple Story
During his childhood, Neelakandan had a dream in which he saw the Goddess's sacred idol (Thirumudi) floating downstream. In search of it, he went to the banks of the Killiyar River. Seeing the river in flood, he jumped into the overflowing waters and managed to seize the idol that was being carried along by the current. However, he was caught in a whirlpool and disappeared from sight. Everyone believed that he had drowned in the Killiyar River.
To everyone's amazement, on the seventh day, the boy returned home carrying the sacred idol. The idol was then kept in a chest in the family home. It became customary to construct a Mudippura (a special shrine or sanctified enclosure for the deity) in a part of the house once every year and perform the associated worship and rituals there.
The main offering in the temple is an Ada Naivedyam made out of banana, coconut and rice batter. No jaggery or sugar is used.
The festival in the temple is known as Ooruttu utsavam and is held once in three years. The 8-day festival is held in the months of Meenam – Medam.
The annual pongala festival is held on Punartham nakshatra in Malayalam Meda Masam.