Mannanthala Anandavaleeswaram Temple

Mannanthala Anandavaleeswaram Temple is in the Mannanthala suburb of Thiruvananthapuram, beside the MC Road a stop beyond Mannanthala junction on the way towards Kottayam. Its North Indian style of building and the banyan tree next to it make it easy to pick out.

The goddess here was once worshipped as Bhadrakali, with animal sacrifices made to her. Sree Narayana Guru came to the temple, spoke out against the practice and stopped it, making a fresh consecration here after his well-known one at Aruvippuram. On his advice the goddess has since been worshipped as Sree Parvathy, and he wrote a hymn in her praise, the Mannanthala Devi Stavam. Vinayaka, Subramanya and Nagaraja are sub-deities, the priests are drawn from the Ezhava community, and a trust under the SNDP Yogam runs the temple.