The Panachikkadu Temple, also known as the Dakshina Mookambika (Mookambika of the South) Temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Saraswati. The temple is located in the southern region of the Indian Peninsula, in Panachikkad in Kottayam District, Kerala, India. It is one of the most prominent Saraswati temples for devotees in Kerala. But, the main deity of the temple is Lord Vishnu, who was installed long before Goddess Saraswati. Still the temple is known as Saraswati temple, due to the popularity of the Goddess. There are sub-shrines for Lord Shiva, Lord Ganapathi, Lord Ayyappan, Snake deities and Panachikkattu Yakshi inside the temple. Legend Kottarathil Sankunni's Aithihyamala has a detailed description of the temple, which has more than a thousand years of history. Nambudiri of Kizhapuram Illam had no male heirs to carry out the rites. He was about 60 years of age and had lost all hope of having a son. He set off to Varanasi to take a bath in the holy river Ganges. On the way, he stopped at Mookambika and stayed there for a few days and prayed to his deity. The serenity of the place enamored him and he decided to chant bhajans there for a year. After spending a year in the temple, the old man dreamed of a beautiful woman who appeared and told him that it was impossible for him to have a child in this life, and told him that it would be better for him to go back to his home and adopt a child from a family Karunattu nearby. The woman of that family would be destined to have two children in the near future. The old man accepted his fate and returned to his homeland. Upon reaching Panachikkadu, he decided to take a bath in the temple pond. He put his Olakuda (umbrella made of palm leaves), on the southern side of the temple and went to bathe. After the bath, he tried to pick up his umbrella, but he couldn't. The Nambudiri stood puzzled. Then a man magically materialized and explained to the Nambudiri that the Goddess Mookambika Devi was staying in the umbrella and that the Nambudiri would have to transfer the divinity to an idol before he could retrieve the umbrella. He also told the Nambudiri that an idol suitable for transfer was lying hidden in the nearby forest. He warned him that