Manikandeswaram Uma Maheswara Temple, Vadakkekad

Manikandeswaram Uma Maheswara Temple, also called Manikandeswaram Siva Temple, is at Vadakkekad in Thrissur district and is believed to be over two thousand years old. Shiva and Parvati share one sreekovil, with Ganapati just outside; the idea is of Shiva holding Parvati on his left palm with Ganapati in her lap. Tipu Sultan attacked the temple in 1790, pulling down its elephant wall, looting its treasure and cutting the faces from the Nandi and a doorkeeper figure, which are still kept in their damaged state.

The temple, on about an acre, has a pond, shrines to Palakkal Bhagavathy and Ayyappa, old sculptures around the sanctum and a janma nakshatrakkavu with trees for all 27 birth stars. William Logan's Malabar Manual records that its dining hall once fed thousands of travellers daily on the road from Ponnani to Guruvayur. Vallathol is said to have written part of Magdalana Mariyam under its banyan tree. The Malabar Devaswom Board administers it, and it is the family deity of over a thousand tharavads.