Parashuram

Hindu mythology says that Sri Padmanabha Swami (Lord Vishnu) was the tutelary deity of the rulers of Travancore, which is now part of Kerala. The Maharaja of Travancore and his successors held possession and rights to rule the state as servants of the deity. Marthanda Varma Maharaja is known as the Maker of Modern Travancore. Marthanda Varma Maharaja’s tenure is a remarkable period in the history of Kerala. He gave up his rights and possessions, the sceptre and the orb, the "pada" and the "praja" to Lord Padmanabha. He dedicated the whole of Kerala state to the Sri Padmanabha Swami Temple and ruled thereafter as the servant of Lord Padmanabha.

According to the legends, it is believed that Parashurama created the land of Kerala. Parashurama killed Kartavirya, a wicked king who terrorized the Brahmins. In retaliation Kartavirya's vengeful sons murdered Parashurama's father. In a fierce battle that took place Parashurama slaughtered Kartavirya's sons. They reincarnated twenty-one times, and each time he axed them to death until all of them were annihilated.

After the battle he prayed to Gods for a place to perform his penance. Visvamitra, a sage advised Parashurama to go on a pilgrimage to the ocean shore in the south as penance for the slaughter he had committed.  From the shore at Gokarnam, Parashurama threw his execution axe into the ocean.  The axe fell at Cape Comorin about 400 miles away. The land between him and where the axe fell rose up from the ocean and became Kerala.

Kerala has a very important place in the epic 'Ramayana' in Indian Mythology. Lord Vishnu in his seventh incarnation as Rama, the King of Ayodhya spent part of his fourteen years of exile. During this period of exile, Rama's wife, the goddess Sita Devi bathed in a lake. Henceforth the lake came to be known as Devikulum, the lake of the goddess. It is from Kerala that Sita Devi was abducted by Ravana the King of Sri Lanka.