Vettikulangara Devi temple is located around 1 km from Cheppad on Haripad – Kayamkulam road in Kerala. The temple is one among the 108 Durga temples in Kerala. The darshanam of Vettikulangara Devi is towards east. The deity is Goddess Durga who is also worshipped as Goddess Karthyayani.
The Upa Devatas worshipped in the temple are Ganapathy, Shiva, Sastha, Nagaraja and Nagayakshi.
The 10-day annual festival begins with flag hoisting or kodiyettam on the Karthika nakshatra in Kumbham month (February – March). Thrikarthika in Vrischikam month is another important festival.
A unique feature of the temple is that instead of the male dwarapalakas the temple has female dwarapalikas.
The temple is famous for its wooden sculptures.
The wooden sculptures in the Valiya Balikkalpura include Ganapathy, Navagrahas, Dasavatharam, Ananthashayanam, Keeratam, Palazhi Madhanam, Sri Krishna leelas, Krishna Avatharam and Ramayana Katha Sangraha.
Vettikulangara Devi Temple Story
A scholar named Pazhore Padippura Thampuran arrived from north Kerala and settled in Ramapuram few kilometers south of present Vettikulangara. He was an ardent devotee of Goddess Devi and worshipped a murti of the Goddess. The area saw peace and prosperity with the arrival of the Goddess.
After a brief stay, the Thampuran decided to continue with his pilgrimage. He took the murti of the Goddess along with him. But due to divine intervention, locally believed as blessing of Shiva, the murti fell into a small pond belonging to Naluveettil family and it could not be located by the Thampuran. After several days of futile search, the Thampuran left without the murti of the Goddess.
After several years, the Naluveettil family members were engaged in digging and expanding the pond. The manvetti (hoe or mattock) hit the murti and suddenly blood appeared on the spot. This led to the discovery of the murti of the Goddess. As the murti was discovered while digging the place and the temple came to be known as Vettikulangara.