A Nambutiri, when questioned about the past, refers to the Keralolpatti. The Nambutiris and their organization according to gramams owe their origin in legend, so far as Malabar is concerned, to Parasu Rama. Parasu Rama (Rama of the axe), an incarnation of Vishnu, had, according to the puranic story, slain his mother in a fit of wrath, and was advised by the sages to expiate his sin by extirpating the Kshatriyas twenty-one times. He did so, and handed over the land to the sages. But this annoyed the Brahmans exceedingly, for they got no share in the arrangement; so they banished Parasu Rama from the land. By the performance of austerities he gained from the gods the boon to reclaim some land from Varuna, the sea god. Malabar was then non-existent. He was allowed to throw his axe from Cape Comorin, and possess all the land within the distance of his throw. So he threw his axe as far as Gokarnam in the South Canara district, and immediately there was land between these two places, within the direct line and the western ghats, now consisting of Travancore and Cochin, Malabar, and part of South Canara. To this land he gave the name Karma Bhumi, or the country in which salvation or the reverse depends altogether on man's individual actions, and blessed it that there be plenty of rain and no famine in it. But he was alone. To relieve his loneliness, he brought some Brahmans from the banks of the Krishna river, but they did not remain long, for they were frightened by the snakes. Then he brought some Brahmans from the north, and, lest they too should flee, gave them peculiar customs, and located them in sixty-four gramams. He told them also to follow the marumakkattayam law of succession (in the female line), but only a few, the Nambutiris of Payyanur, obeyed him. The Brahmans ruled the land with severity, so that the people (who had somehow come into existence) resolved to have a king under whom they could live in peace. And, as it was impossible to choose one among themselves, they chose Keya Perumal, who was the first king of Malabar, and Malabar was called Keralam after him. The truths underlying this legend are that the littoral strip between the western ghats and the sea is certainly of recent formation geologically. It is not very long, geologically, since it was under the sea, and it is certain that the Nambutiris came from the north. The capital of the Chera kingdom was very probably on the west coast not far from Cranganore in the Travancore State, the site of it being now called Tiruvanjikkulam. There is still a Siva temple there, and about a quarter of a mile to the south-west of it are the foundations of the old palace. The rainfall of Malabar is very high, ranging from 300 inches in the hills to about 120 inches on the coast.