said that he should worship it at Kailash. Parasurama found a good place nearby to put the idol so that all ghosts could have darshan. (an opportunity or occasion of seeing a holy person or the image of a deity.) At the same time, a sage named Amalaka, who was the son of Guru Kashyapa, did a lot of penance to please God Vishnu. According to legend, Amalaka obtained his name from eating only amla (Indian gooseberry). When he was doing penance, the devas thought he wanted to take them out of their paradise. They tried to get him to stop his penance by sending heavenly damsels and setting off explosions near him, but he remained undisturbed. When they told Kashyapa about what had happened, he said that his son didn't care about worldly pleasures. The asuras also arrived in succession to end Amalaka's penance. As soon as Amalaka opened his eyes, flames erupted from them. The asuras were all consumed by fire and transformed into a massive rock known as "Rakshasappara." Amalaka maintained his penance to please the gods. Vishnu appeared before him with his wives, Sri and Bhumi, and his bed, Ananta, as an umbrella. He expressed his desire that the god remain there forever for the sake of humanity. So, Vishnu transformed himself, together with his consorts and Ananta, into a swayambhu idol. After both the idols were consecrated, the power of Lord Vishnu spread throughout the village. Hearing this, the asuras became again furious. They sent one of them to destroy those idols. He went in the form of a holy Brahmin. During those days, Brahmins in the temple were fed twice a day. This asura also joined them. During the daytime, he remained like a normal Brahmin, but during night time, he changed his form. After that, he began to eat the cows donated to the temple and threw their bones northwards. Thus, the place came to be known as 'moorikkunnu' (moori means cattle and kunnu means hill in Malayalam). He also ate some sleeping Brahmins. But no one knew the real killer, as there is no any carnivorous creature nearby. People thought it is any ghost who is eating the cows. Finally, the 11th day (Ekadasi) in the dark fortnight of the month of Kumbham (February–March) arrived. The asura considered that time the most suitable to fulfill his task. One midnight, after all poojas