Ammachiveedu Murti Temple

Ammachiveedu Murti Temple stands in Tangasseri, Kollam, and draws devotees of every caste and faith. Unusually, its principal deity has no idol: the goddess, Adi Parashakti, is represented by two gold-covered conches resting on a silver-clad pedestal inside a sanctum just 4 feet square. Oral tradition holds that about 600 years ago the patriarch of a family from Parappur received the goddess from the Sasthamcotta shrine and set her up where he saw a tree split in two. Departed heads of the family are honoured as Yogeeswarans.

Another story tells of an Imam whose rituals against the goddess turned on him; as a jinn he was placed beneath an ilanji tree facing her shrine. Many other deities are installed, with a serpent grove around Parappuramma. The present building was finished in 1968. The festival begins after Makaravilakku and closes with a sword procession and the kuruthi rite.