Most of the ancient temples are believed to have been consecrated by Lord Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu*. According to the legend Kerala** is a gift of land by lord parasurama. The exact periods of installation of these temples are not known as the early temples have no recorded history as to by whom and when they were built. It is believed that the Sree Subramanyaswami temple at Harippad is of considerable archaeological importance and local tradition assigns its origin to the period before the commencement of the Kali Yuga In fact all the early temples have some legends based on sthhalapuraanas or maahaathmyas. In all probability the idols of these ancient temples might have been installed about 4000 years back, i.e, during the first 1000 years after the commencement of Kali yuga. The sthhalapuraanas mention that certain idols were installed in the Thretha Yuga (eg: Kaviyur temple), but there is no material evidence to prove it. At the same time it is inappropriate to totally disown such contentions. The more reasonable approach is to assign the temples to 2000 years before the commencement of the Christian era. The earliest batch of Aryan namboothiris immigrated to kerala as early as ‘circa 400 B.C. or 300 B.C. before Asoka and Katyayana’. Even before this immigration, in all probability, sila worship existed without any structures. In those days stone idols without any form symbolizing Gods and Goddesses might have been consecrated by Lord Parasurama or some Rshis. At a later period, enclosures or structures were constructed preserving the sanctity of the earlier installation. Installation of temples during the Christian era, which is now about 2000 years, has some recorded historyh in the form of inscriptions, copper plates, devotional lyrics etc. A brief summary of temples installed during the last twenty centuries is given below.
*
The ten incarnations are Mathsya, Koorma, Varaaha, Narasimha, Vaamana, Parasurama, Rama, Balarama, Krishna and Kalki. The first four were incarnated in the Kritha-Yuga, the next three in Thretha-Yuga and the eighth and nineth in Dwaapara-Yuga. The tenth avathaar, Khalki (Khalgi), is yet to incarnate. (According to another version, Balarama is not included as an avathaar and instead Buddha is considered as the ninth avathaar after Krishna.
**
According to Dr. (Rev.) Hermann Gundert, Kerala (Pronounced as Keralam in Malayalam takes the name from Keram which is the Kanarese pronunciation of the word Cheram. Keralam thus means the country between Gokarnam and Kumari (Kanyakumari) References about Kerala are given by Panini (beginning of 7th century B.C), Patanjali (B.C. 150), Pliny (1st century A.D), Periplus (1st Century Ad), Ptolemy (2nd century AD), and also in Kautilia’s Arthasasthra (4th Century BC), and in Kalidasa’s Reghuvamsa (Chapter IV, verse 53 of 4th century A.D), Thiruvilangad Plates of Rajendra Chola (1012-44) and Keralolpatthi (the Malayalam work most probably compiled in the 18th 19th century). It is thus well established that Kerala from time immemorial existed as a recognized separate entity. The epics and Puraanas also give accounts of Kerala. [Epics (ithihaasa)are the history comprising studies in the form of advise on dharma, artha, kaama and moksha. A puraana should essentially satisfy certain characteristics like cosmogony (Sargam and Prathisargam), Chronology (vamsam), Cosmology (manvantharam) and genealogy (vamsanucharitham)]. There are 18 important puraanas, six each relating to Vishnu, Brahma, Brahmaanta, Brahmavivartha, Markendeya, Bhavishya and Vaamana relating to Brahma; and Vaayu, Linga, Skanda, Agni, Mathsya, and Koorma, relating to Siva. The eighteen upa-puranas are Sanalkumaram, Naarasirhham, Naaradeeyam, Sivam, Durvasass, Kaapilam, Maanavam, Usanass, Vaarunam, Kaalikam, Saambam, Souram, Aadithyam, Maaheswaram, Devi Bhaagavatham, Vaasishtam, Vishnudharmottharam and Neelamara]. As the legend narrates, Lord Parasurama, flung his parasu (axe) from Gokarinam (in Uttar Kannad district of present Karnataka State) and it fell on Kanyakumari (presently in Tamil Nadu) whereupon the sea receded upto the spot where the parasu fell. This tract of land, which is the gift of the sea, is known as Kerala or Bhaargava-Kshethra or Parasurama Kshethra. As the legends indicate Kerala had existed at the time of Mahabali and Vaamana (the fifth incarnation of Maha Vishnu) and the former is supposed to visit kerala every year during Onam festival of the state. Geologists on the other hand believe that Kerala was formed owing to some volcanic or seismic factors and the land emerged from the sea. There is another version that large quantities of silt and mud brought down by the rivers and the sand washed by the ocean currents contributed to the formation of a fertile tract with innumerable rivers, estuaries and backwaters. Whatever be the reason, kerala is unique in many respects as compared to the rest of India. It is a narrow strip of land flanked by the Lakshadweep sea on the west. The eastern part of the state has gneissic highlands with mountains, long spurs, extensive ravines, tangled jungles, dense evergreen forests and large plantations. Except for the 12 passes the Sahyaadri lies as a natural barrier on the east. There are three east flowing rivers originating from the highland. To the west of this highland region is the laterite plateau and foot hills which is a fertile tract. Further west of this region is the alluvial coastal land which has a total length of about 580km. the coastal region has network of backwaters intersected by 41 west flowing rivers.
