Cheruvally Devi Temple

The Cheruvally Devi Temple stands in Cheruvally village, Kanjirappally taluk, Kottayam district, on the Ponkunnam–Manimala road, 7 km south of Ponkunnam and 35 km south-east of Kottayam. Its presiding deity is Bhadrakali, and it is thought to be at least a thousand years old; it was once held by tribal communities and later passed to landlords. Many subsidiary deities are worshipped here, from Ganapathi, Shiva and Vishnu to the snake deities and Yakshiyamma.

The best-known shrine is that of Judge Ammavan, set up in 1978 and found nowhere else. It honours Govinda Pillai of Cheruvally, a respected judge of the Travancore court under Dharma Raja, who wrongly sentenced his own nephew to death and, on learning of his mistake, asked the king to execute him too. His restless spirit is believed to have been calmed by this shrine, and lawyers, judges and people facing court cases come to pray here with offerings of coconut, hoping for success in legal matters.