The forest path is like a track that circumambulates  the sacred grove which was the primordial site of the temple, often dedicated to the Feminine deity of the forest—Vana devi, or the Paniyar and Adiyar goddess Mali. This goddess figures very much in the myths of this region, whose fearful aspect is supposed to have terrified the first human couple, made out of clay, so that they became alive,  animated through their fear to run away from the awesome presence of the dark wilderness. Here life is itself related to the spirit of fear, or holy dread, which transforms inanimate nature into  self-conscious life.