Uyyavantha Perumal Temple, Thirumittacode, Palakkad – Legends

Uyyavantha Perumal Temple, Thirumittacode, Palakkad – Legends

Lord Vishnu darshan to King Ambarisha:

Lord Vishnu of this Temple gave darshan for King Ambarisha. Ambarisha, son of Nabhakanan, was a great devotee of Vishnu. Once he did a severe penance on Lord Vishnu, Lord Vishnu disguised himself as Lord Indra and gave darshan to Ambarisha. Seeing Lord Indra, Ambarisha told that he didn’t do the penance to see Indra, he did that to get the Dharshan of Lord Vishnu. On hearing this, Lord Vishnu showed his original darshan and gave him boons.

Sage Durvasa blessed King Ambarisha here:

Once, Ambarisha did fasting towards Lord Vishnu on all Ekadasi. He gave 60 cows and after Ekadasi, he finishes the Viradha by doing Paaraayanam on Dvadasi. Same way, once he did this Viradha and was waiting for some Vishnu devotees, so that he may give them the food and then he can eat. At that time, he saw Durvasa, Durvasa said that he will accept the food from Ambarisha after bath. So, he went to Kalathi river and asked Ambarisha that he should finish the fasting only after he comes.

Sage Durvasa went to the river for bathing but didn’t come up till the end of Dvadasi. But, Ambarisha had to finish the Viradha by taking some food (or) water. At the end time of Dvadasi, Ambarisha could not wait for Sage Durvasa and took some water and finished the Viradha. On seeing this, Sage Durvasa got angry on him and sent a demon to kill. But, Ambarisha with the help of Vishnu discuss, killed the demon. Sage Durvasa felt bad for his act and blessed Ambarisha.

King Ambarisha got darshan of Lord Vishnu in Vyuga Avathara:

Ambarisha asked Lord Vishnu of this Temple that he should get the Dharshan of the Vishnu in Vyuga Avathara (Vishnu should be seen in all the directions) and as requested by Ambarisha, Lord Vishnu, Uyyavantha Perumal gives his darshan in all the 4 directions. The Vishnu in the center is worshipped by Dharma, Vishnu in the west direction is worshipped by Arjuna, the left side Vishnu is worshipped by Bheema and the Vishnu in the right side is worshipped by Nakula and Sahadeva. So, this Vishnu is worshipped by all the Panja Pandavas.

King Ambarisha got darshan of Paramapatha scene:

King Ambarisha prayed to Lord Vishnu to show the Paramapatha scene. Vishnu showed him as Pradyumna, Aniruddha, Samrakshana, Paravasudeva in four different persons.

Mukthi Sthalam of King Ambarisha:

This place is also considered as Mukthi Sthalam of King Ambarisha.

Abhaya Pirathan:

Lord Vishnu of this Temple is also called as Abhaya Pirathan giving his Seva and protecting (Abhayam) his devotees. It is said that Lord Vishnu of this Temple is said to be same as the Hamsa of Lord Shiva with the name “Aapathsahayar”. (Aapath means danger and Sahayar means person who helps at the time of danger).

Pandavas installed the Vishnu deities here:

Pandavas in their exile are said to have stayed here and undertaken penance. Arjuna, Dharma, Bheema and Nakula/Sahadeva created an idol each for their daily poojas at this temple. The main Moolavar deity was installed by Arjuna. Dharma Raja installed the idol to the right of the main deity as did Nakula and Sahadeva. Bheema installed the idol of Vishnu to the left of Uyyavantha Perumal.

Anju Moorthy:

Another story goes that Kasi Viswanathar who was impressed with a rishi’s penance accompanied the rishi to this temple, finding a small place for himself in the umbrella taken by the rishi. On arriving here, the rishi went for a bath at the river. After his bath, he found the umbrella broken and found a Swayambu idol of Lord Shiva at this place. Kasi Viswanathar had placed himself, in between four Vishnu idols as in total five Idols.

Hence, the temple came to be called as Pancha Moorthy Temple / Anju Moorthy Temple. Later, a separate temple was built for Shiva. It is believed that Lord Kasi Viswanatha with all his grace came to this place to stay here installed by Pandavas through the sage. The first worship goes to Lord Shiva before approaching Lord Vishnu in the temple. People of Kerala respect this place as a place with five Moorthis.

People worshipped Lord Vishnu here:

Legend has it that Markandeya, Muchukunda Chakravarti, Sri Devi and Bhudevi offered worship here.