Sacred spots. In मलयालम् it means Temples also.

General information

The temples of India are reflections of the outward form or body of man. As the soul lives in the body of man, God dwells in the temples. The stone, rock, marble, metals etc. are equal to the bones of the body of a man.

Two types of temples

Temples are of two types. One type is the ग्रामदेवता temples. These are temples in which goddess भद्रकाली is consecrated and worshipped for the protection of villages and cities. The second type is of special temples. These are temples specially meant for a particular god or goddess. Thus there are temples for विष्णु , शिव , गणपति and so on.

Grāmadevatā temples

Worship of भद्रकाली existed in India from very early times. When Mohanjodaro and Harappa were excavated idols of देवी (goddess) more than 4000 years old, were obtained from there. During the prevalence of Buddhism in India the goddesses यक्सी and हारिती were worshipped in India. Later when Hinduism was revived these goddesses took their places in it as the goddesses of Hindu पुराणस् and epics. The काली temples of Ujjayinī and Calcutta are famous. In the चिदम्बर temple also the main deity is काली . The legend is that परमशिव defeated काली in a dance. In Mysore चामुण्डी ( काली ) is worshipped as chief goddess or family goddess. कामाक्षी in काञ्ची , मीनाक्षी in Madura (South India), मूकाम्बिका in North कर्णाटक and so on are the gentle and peaceful forms of काली .

Devas (gods) --- Mark Title as "empty".

In many of the temples in सोउथ् इन्दिअ , मुनीश्वरन् and करुप्पन् are the ग्रामदेवतास् (village gods). In some places भैरव also is worshipped as ग्रामदेवता . In certain other places वीरन् , इरुलन् , कारेट्टि , नोण्डि and पञ्चरुलि are worshipped. शास्ता or अय्यप्पन् has a prominent place among the village gods. Importance is attached to शास्ता or अय्यप्पन् mostly in केरल and तमिल् नाडु .