Karppillikkavu Sree Mahadeva temple is located at Manjapra in Ernakulam district, Kerala. The darshan of the temple is towards west. It is believed that the prathishta of Shivling in the temple was performed by Karthaveeryarjuna.
The Sankalpa murti of Shiva in this temple is that of Kirathamoorthy or Vettaikaran. This is the form of Shiva in which he appeared before Arjuna to bless him with Pashupatastra in the Mahabharata.
Another belief is that Shiva is residing along with Sati and he is also Annadana Prabhu. It is for this reason that there is no Nandi Prathishta in the temple.
Legend has it that originally the temple was a Bhagavathi Kshetram. But when Karthaveeryarjuna visited the place he could not feel the presence of Mother Goddess. He then meditated and realized the presence of Shiva here. He then consecrated the Shivling and performed intense meditation in a cave on the north side of the temple.
The Upa Devatas worshipped in the temple are Karthaveeryarjuna, Bhuvaneshwari, Sastha, Ganapathy and Shivan.
The annual festival in the temple is held in Makaram month for eight days. The festival ends with Arattu on Thiruvathira nakshatra in Makaram month. The sixth day is observed as Utsava Bali and another important ritual during the festival is the Sree Bhootha Bali.
Other important festivals observed in the temple are Mahashivratri, Vishu, Vrischikam month, Thrikarthika and Thiruvathira nakshatra in Dhanu masam.
The prathishta day of the temple is on Uthram nakshatra in Medam month.