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Legend intertwines closely with the history of payasam. In one such tale, the god Krishna transforms himself into an old sage and challenges a king to a game of chaturanga, a precursor of chess. The stakes are remarkably high — the king must provide rice based on the squares of the board. Would it be surprising that with divine cunning, Krishna wins? The amount demanded exceeds nine quintillion grains of rice, a debt still honored at the Ambalappuzha temple today through regular offerings of payasam.
Alternatively, kheer, a Northern variant, reportedly aided in building the foundations of the Konark temple in Odisha when its architect's son ingeniously dropped rice balls into the swampy ground, solidifying the soil.