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Thrikodithanam Temple – Thrikkodithanam Mahavishnu Temple - Story - History - Festival

Thrikodithanam Mahavishnu Temple is located around 18 km northwest of Chengannur and 9 km north of Thiruvalla town in Kerala. The temple is associated with Pandavas of the Mahabharata. Thrikodithanam Temple was constructed by Sahadeva, the fifth of the Five Pandava brothers. The shrine is also one among the 108 Divya Deshams – Thrikodithanam (108 temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu as per Vaishnava tradition).


Story of Thrikodithanam Temple
The murti of Lord Vishnu worshipped in the shrine is also known as Atbhuta Narayana. The other four Pandavas received Vishnu murtis except Sahadeva. In spite of long tapas and intense austerities, he was not able to locate a murti of Vishnu. A depressed Sahadeva decided to end his life by jumping into pyre. Suddenly a murti of Vishnu with four hands appeared from the pyre. This murti was installed at the Thrikodithanam Temple and it came to be known as Atbhuta Narayana.

Murtis Worshipped in the Temple


The presiding deity in the temple is Chaturbahu Vishnu adorned with conch, discus, mace and lotus. The murti is made out of Anjana Kallu. It faces east. There is also an utsava murti of Lakshmi Narayana and Chaturbahu Vishnu.

Subsidiary deities in the shrine include Dakshinamurti, Ganapati, Ayyappa, Nagara and Nagayakshi, Bhadrakali, Rakshas and Subrahmanya.

Narasimha Muri worshipped in the temple is very famous. It is known as Sathru Samhara Murti.

The shrine is a classic example of Kerala style temple architecture with dwajasthambam, deepasthambham, mandapam, nalambalam, balikkal pura, temple tank, sevapanthal and huge compound wall. The sanctum sanctorum is in conical shape. The mural paintings in the shrine are noteworthy.

Kazhuvetti Kallu

In the front of the east Gopuram is a very interesting stone idol of a man lying on his back, adorning a sacred thread of a Brahmin, the conch of a Marar and the crown of a prince. The idol is supported at the central portion of the body by a granite pillar. The man was given capital punishment for bribery, cheating and dishonesty.

The main temple festival is observed in Vrischikam (November - December). The annual festival concludes with arattu and deepa utsavam.

 Other important festivals are Sashti, Narasimha Jayanti and Pongala.