Legend has that Lord Rama visited Sasthamkotta while returning from the war with Ravana. He took a bath in the lake here and assigned a few monkeys from the forests to take care of Lord Ayyappan (Dharma Sastha) in the temple. It is believed that temple monkeys here are the descendants of those guardians of Lord Ayyappa. Aithihyamala or Ithihyamala (Malayalam: ഐതിഹ്യമാല) (Garland of Legends) is a collection of century-old stories from Kerala that cover a vast spectrum of life, famous persons and events. It is a collection of legends numbering over a hundred, about magicians and yakshis, feudal rulers and conceited poets, kalari or Kalaripayattu experts, practitioners of Ayurveda and courtiers; elephants and their mahouts, tantric experts.