In the folklore of Kerala and neighboring Tamil Nadu, few spirits evoke as much fear and fascination as Neeli, the Yakshi often associated with Kalliyankadu, but whose origins trace back to a tale of betrayal, death, and powerful reincarnation, primarily haunting the area of Panchavankadu near Nagercoil. She is known as a bloodthirsty ghost of divine beauty, a predator cloaked in allure. But her story begins centuries ago, not as a spirit, but as a woman named Alli.
In the early ninth century, in the land of Pakhakannur, lived a Devadasi (a temple dancer) named Karveni. Her daughter, Alli, was a woman of fierce and captivating beauty. Her dark hair cascaded down to her knees, framing wide, mesmerizing eyes. Despite her striking appearance, Alli fell deeply in love with Nambi, the priest of the local Shiva temple. She married him, hoping for happiness. However, Nambi’s heart was filled with greed, not love. He desired Alli’s wealth, inherited from her mother, and continuously betrayed her with other women.
Karveni, disgusted by her son-in-law’s deceit and disrespect, eventually threw Nambi out of her house. Alli, now pregnant and torn but loyal to her husband, chose to leave with him. Their journey together was tragically short. Somewhere along the way, Nambi’s greed overpowered any affection he might have felt. He murdered Alli, stealing her valuable jewels and leaving her lifeless body behind.
News of Alli’s departure reached her younger brother, Ambi. Fiercely loyal, he rushed after them, perhaps hoping to persuade his sister to return. Instead, he stumbled upon the devastating sight of Alli’s corpse. Overcome with grief and rage, Ambi took his own life right there, hitting his head against a rock in despair. As for the treacherous Nambi, fate delivered its own swift justice, he was later killed by a venomous snakebite.
But the story does not end there. Such intense emotions – betrayal, grief, rage, rarely fade quietly. Both Alli and her brother Ambi were reborn, reincarnated as the children of the mighty Chola king. Alli became Neeli, and Ambi became Neelan. Yet, the trauma of their past lives clung to them like a shadow. An evil presence seemed to follow them, and strange, unsettling things began to happen in the kingdom.
At night, cattle would be found drained of blood, their numbers dwindling mysteriously. It wasn’t long before the horrified Chola king realized the source of this darkness, his own children, Neelan and Neeli. Heartbroken but needing to protect his kingdom, he made a terrible choice. He took them far away, to the southern border of his lands, and abandoned them in the desolate forest known as Panchavankadu, near Nagercoil.
Panchavankadu became the siblings’ cursed domain. The nearby village of Pazhayannur learned to fear them. Desperate, seventy village elders, known as Uranmas, sought help. They found a powerful sorcerer in Nagercoil, also named Nambi (distinct from Alli’s husband). This sorcerer managed, through his potent magic, to overpower and subdue Neelan. However, Neeli proved too strong for him, her rage and power were immense. Filled with fury over the capture of her brother, Neeli later hunted down this sorcerer Nambi in Nagercoil and killed him, enacting revenge.
Meanwhile, destiny continued its intricate weave. The soul of Alli’s original, treacherous husband Nambi was also reborn. He came into the world as Anandan, a merchant from Kaveripoompattinam. One day, Anandan’s business required him to travel to the port city of Muziris, a journey that took him directly through the feared Panchavankadu.
Neeli immediately sensed his presence, the soul of the man who had destroyed her first life. She began to pursue him. Anandan, however, carried a magic wand (or talisman) that offered him some protection, Neeli could follow him, but she couldn’t directly harm him as long as he held it. Terrified, Anandan ran, with the relentless Neeli close behind, until he stumbled into the village of Pazhayannur, the very place where the Uranmas resided.
Seeing her chance, Neeli instantly changed her form. She appeared before the villagers as a beautiful, weeping woman, holding a phantom child in her arms. She cried out, pointing at the frantic Anandan, “That man is my husband! He quarreled with me and is abandoning me and our child!“
Anandan desperately tried to warn them. “No! Don’t believe her! She is the Yakshi, Neeli!” he pleaded. But the villagers, swayed by Neeli’s convincing performance and her stunning appearance, didn’t believe him. The seventy Uranmas, perhaps feeling responsible for the spirits haunting their land, made a solemn vow to Anandan. They would ensure his safety for the night. If any harm came to him by morning, if the woman truly turned out to be the Yakshi Neeli, all seventy of them would enter fire and sacrifice their lives.
Secure in their promise, they sheltered Anandan. But Neeli was cunning. That night, using her supernatural powers and trickery, she bypassed their protection and murdered Anandan, finally claiming vengeance upon the soul who had wronged her lifetimes ago.
The next morning, the horrifying truth was revealed. Anandan lay dead. True to their solemn oath, the seventy honorable Uranmas of Pazhayannur built a pyre and, one by one, entered the flames, fulfilling their promise.
Having finally avenged the deaths of her past self (Alli) and her brother (Ambi), and having brought ruin upon those connected to her tragic fate, Neeli’s intense rage began to subside, replaced by an immense, ancient power. According to one branch of the legend, she chose to reside under a sacred Kalipala tree in the area, her nature slowly transforming. Over time, the terrifying Yakshi became revered as a powerful local Mother Goddess, a guardian spirit tied to the land itself.
However, another popular version of the tale insists that Neeli’s malevolent spirit was never truly pacified. Her hauntings continued, her thirst for blood unquenched, until she eventually encountered the priest and master exorcist, Kadamattathu Kathanar. In this telling, it was Kathanar, through his own formidable spiritual prowess, who finally confronted and subdued her, perhaps impaling her essence or binding her spirit, finally bringing her reign of terror to an end.
Thus unfolds the complex and chilling legend of Kalliyankattu Neeli, a story weaving together betrayal, reincarnation, terrifying vengeance, and the thin line between a vengeful spirit and a local deity, a powerful narrative echoing from the shadows of Panchavankadu.
