हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Uyyavandha Perumal Temple, Thiruvithuvakkodu (Thirumittacode)

Five deities share one compound on the Bharathapuzha: four forms of Vishnu said to have been installed by the Pandavas, and Mahadev. Kulasekhara Alvar, the Chera king who became a saint, gave this shrine one of his most loved decads.

Built: Kerala-style temple on the Bharathapuzha with a Chola record of Rajendra IWhere: Kerala (Palakkad district, near Pattambi)Deity: Uyyavandha Perumal (Abhayapradan), with Thayar Vithuvakkottuvalli; four Vishnu images and a Shiva linga, the ‘Anchumoorthy’10.78° N, 76.18° E
  1. Alvar period
  2. Rajendra Chola I
Photo: RajeshUnuppally · CC BY-SA 4.0

01Kulasekhara’s decad

The fifth decad of Kulasekhara Alvar’s Perumal Thirumozhi is sung to Vithuvakkottammaan, the Lord of Vithuvakkodu, ten pasurams. Its refrain is a child’s: even if you give me grief, I have no refuge but you, as a baby scolded by its mother still cries for her. These are the only Alvar verses on the shrine, and they are sung across the Sri Vaishnava world. The name Uyyavandha, ‘he who came to save’, comes from them.

02Five shrines, one wall

Local tradition says the Pandavas reached the Bharathapuzha in their exile and each installed Vishnu here, Arjuna’s image being the main one; another tradition makes the Shiva shrine a foundation of Parashurama and counts it among Kerala’s 108 Shivalayas. The temple keeps a rare Chola inscription of Rajendra I from Kerala soil. There is no gopuram, only an arch from the road, then the walled compound with its namaskara mandapa and round sanctums in the Kerala manner. Thiruvonam and Vaikuntha Ekadashi are the main festivals, and the river bank is used for shraddha rites.

The life of this place

  1. Alvar periodKulasekhara Alvar sings Vithuvakkodu in the fifth decad of the Perumal Thirumozhi.
  2. Rajendra Chola IA Chola record of Rajendra I is cut at the temple.
Visiting

About 5 km south of Pattambi station on the Shoranur–Kozhikode line, across the Bharathapuzha bridge.

Nearby

Kadampuzha Devi TempleStanding
Vedic Rishis and the Itihasa

Kadampuzha Devi Temple

At Kadampuzha the Devi has no murti; she is worshipped in a small opening in the ground, as the huntress Parvati who came with Shiva to test Arjuna. Devotees break coconuts in her name to remove obstacles.

Navamukunda Temple, ThirunavayaRebuilt
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Navamukunda Temple, Thirunavaya

Nine yogis installed nine images here and eight sank into the earth; the ninth sank to its knees and was held. That ninth is Navamukunda. On the sands below, the Zamorins of Calicut held the Mamankam festival every twelve years.

Guruvayur Sri Krishna TempleRebuilt
The Mughal era and the resistance

Guruvayur Sri Krishna Temple

The four-armed Vishnu of Guruvayur is worshipped as the child Krishna, and the temple is called the Dwarka of the south. Here Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri finished the Narayaniyam in 1586.

Vadakkunnathan Temple, ThrissurStanding
The Age of Great Kingdoms

Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur

The great Shiva temple at the centre of Thrissur, held to be the first temple founded by Parashurama in the land he reclaimed from the sea. Its grounds host the Thrissur Pooram, and the temple with its murals is a national monument.