Eruva Sree Krishna Swamy temple is located around 2 km north of Kayamkulam at Pathiyoor Village in Alappuzha district, Kerala. The 10-day annual festival in the temple is observed in such a manner that it begins on Rohini nakshatra in Makaram month.
The shrine is dedicated to Sri Krishna who faces west. Shiva, Bhagavathy, Keeratham, Ganapathy, Sastha, Rakshas, Nagaraja and Yaksha are the Upa Devatas in the temple. This was one of the most important temples of Kayamkulam king.
Eruva Sree Krishna Swamy Temple History
The original murti that was worshipped in the temple was a Lakshmi Narasimha Shaligram. It was brought by a Rishi who had done intense penance in the Himalayas. The Rishi gave the Salagram to Kayamkulam king and advised him on how to consecrate the salagram and how perform pujas in the temple. This is how the original temple came into being.
It was believed that as long as the Salagram was offered pujas and worship as per rules no harm will happen to the Kayamkulam kingdom and there will be peace and prosperity. It is believed that Marthanda Varma of Travancore failed to defeat Kayamkulam in numerous battles due to the Shakti of the Salagram.
Ramayyan Dalawa, a commander of Travancore, realized the power of the Salagram and stole it with help of Thekkemadom Samiyar and took it to Thiruvarpu Madam in Kottayam and offered pujas. There is another belief that it was not Salagram but a Sri Chakram was worshipped in the temple and it was stolen by Ramayyan Dalawa who acted like a mad man and came to sit for Bhajana for 41 days in the temple. 10 Para appam was made for some ritual and along with the Appam, the Sri Chakram was also taken out of the temple.