About this Sacred Grove

There is a story associated with the goddess “Pachaivazhi Amman”  The original name of this goddess is “Patchai Valaiyal kutchi Amman”. Many generations back, an unmarried girl wanted to wear green bangles. When she regularly asked for the bangles her parents refused her. So she left the house; her parents and the neighbours searched for her but they could not locate her. After sometime, a merchant who used to sell the bangles heard a lady’s voice from the forest, “asking bangles for her hand”. Without answering he went back to his home. Again on another day, while the merchant was crossing the same forest, he heard the same voice coming from a termite mound. Two bare hands suddenly appeared from the termite mound before him and asked the merchant to put the bangles on her hand. The merchant asked money for the bangles. She told the merchants to get the money from her parents and gave their whereabouts. The merchants went and got the money from her parents. Her parents went to the spot and requested her to come out. She told her parents that she had found a suitable place and wanted to live within the sacred grove and told her parents to construct a temple over it. Accordingly, her parents constructed a temple for her within the sacred grove. Hence, the deity got the name “Patchai Valayalkutchi Amman”, popularly known as “Patchaivazhi Amman”.

Location

Coordinates: 11.8081870, 79.5275750

Plants / Species (5)