Mullakkal Rajarajeswari Temple, Alappuzha

The Mullakkal Rajarajeswari Temple stands at Mullakkal in Alappuzha and is run by the Travancore Devaswom Board. Built in the old Kerala style and nearly 500 years old, it probably takes its name from the jasmine (mulla) that fills its grounds. Several stories explain its origin: that exiled soldiers from Thekkumkur left the goddess's idol in a jasmine garden, where King Devanarayana of Chembagasery later built the temple; that the same king, returning from Kodungallur, found his umbrella stuck fast in the garden and took it as a sign the goddess wished to stay; or that Namboodiris fleeing Tipu Sultan's invasion set an image of Annapurneswari here.

The inner shrine has an open roof. Until 1961 it held an image of Annapurneswari with a ladle and pot; after cracks appeared, which the priests read as the goddess's wish, a new image of Rajarajeswari was installed on 16 July 1962. Several other deities are worshipped, and a Shiva linga sits beneath a banyan tree within the walls.