Madayi Sri Thiruvarkkaattu Kaavu Bhagavati Temple

Sri Madayi Tiruvarkkattu Kavu Bhagavathy Temple, popularly known as Madayi Kavu, is one of the Bhadrakali temples in North Kerala, which is considered to be one of the oldest and most important temples here. The fierce form of Goddess Bhadrakali is enshrined in this temple. The temple is dedicated to the fierce form of Bhagavathy (Bhadrakali) and is considered to be the 'mother' of all Bhadrakali temples in North Kerala. The temple was built by King Parashurama of the Mushika dynasty. The temple follows the Tantric worship practices of the Kaula sect. The temple complex also houses shrines to sub-deities such as Shiva, Saptamatrika, Ganapati, Veerabhadra, Kshetrapalaka and Shastha. The architecture of the temple is based on the Rurujit method, with the sanctum of Shiva facing east and the sanctum of Bhagavathy facing west. The worship follows Tantric rituals, and the priests belong to the Pirdar Brahmin family of Kashmir.