Chittoorkavu Devi Temple is in the township boundary of Chittoor municipality about 15 km from Palakkad town. The eastern side of the ghat is known as ‘ Kongan Nadu'. At a remote time in the history of Malabar, the Kongan army entered Chittoor through the mountain pass and a fierce fight followed. In the fight the people of Chittoor, with the help of Chittoor Goddess could defeat the Kongans. To commemorate the event every year ‘Konganpada' festival is celebrated at the Chittoorkavu temple. The goddess Durga in her formidable form is the main deity of the temple. ‘Chanthattom' is the important ritualistic offering of the goddess and as a result of the incessant offering, the idol had turned in to deep black.
The legend about the divine birth of Devi Kali is as follows:- Daruka was a wicked demon. He conquered the three worlds with the miraculous boon that he obtained from Brahma. The Devas suffered much due to continual torment of the demon. Consequently, Lord Siva became angry and out of his fire of anger there existed the goddess Kali, who was entrusted with the work of killing the demon Daruka. But killing of Daruka was not an easy task. Daruka's blood must not drop on the ground. If the blood fell on the ground, each drop of blood would transform into a new demon. In order to prevent the blood from falling on the ground Siva created a genie (evil spirit). The goddess climbed on the genie's back and fought against Daruka. Eventually the Goddess cut off Daruka's head and held it on a triple-pointed lance. Blood gushed out from the cut, but not a single drop fell on the ground because the genie and the other evil spirits drank each drop of blood as and when it came out of the wound.