File:010062022 Pallimanah Shiva Temple Kerala 040.jpg

English: The Shiva temple at Pallimanah is a 9th to 10th century Hindu temple site near Wadakkancherry Kerala, with a series of restoration. It is notable for its 17th-century colored murals.

The Pallimanah Siva temple is single storey (ekatala) and features an east facing sandhara-style vimana. The sanctum has a square plan. The temple has a chuttambalam, balipeetha and deepastambham. The vimana walls are plastered, and on it are rectangular panels with Hindu paintings (chitrakala) from Shiva, Vishnu and Devi traditions. Of particular note are the panels on the western side – one of Shiva with Mohini (Vishnu avatar), and another of Kirata Arjuniyam (Mahabharata fight scene between Arjuna and Shiva, when Shiva tests Arjuna). Other impressive murals include those of Lakshmi, Saraswati, Sankara Narayana (Harihara), Rama, Gopalakrishna, Krishna Muralidhara and others.

The Pallimanna temple is one of the few examples in Kerala where we can date the murals because one of the panels has a signature inscription in the corner. This early 17th century signature is in old Malayalam script. It mentions the name of the artist and his guru. The temple is among the many Kerala Hindu temples with a centuries-old history of ritual fireworks called Vedi Vazhipadu – buying and firing the pyrotechnics are a part of religious offering ritual.