Peruvanam Mahadeva Temple, Cherpu – Legends

Peruvanam Mahadeva Temple, Cherpu – Legends

108 Shiva Temples of Kerala:

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Parasurama created the land between Gokarna and Kanyakumari. Parasurama the sixth avatar of Maha Vishnu, he was youngest son of sage Jamadagni and Renuka. It is said that Kerala was reclaimed from the ocean using his axe for donating to Brahmins after killing of King Kartavirya Arjuna and other Kshatriyas. He split this land in to 64 villages (64 gramas). Out of these 64 villages, 32 villages are in between Perumpuzha and Gokarnam and the spoken language was Tulu.

The remaining 32 villages were in Malayalam speaking area between Perumpuzha and Kanyakumari. According legends, after donating the land to Brahmins108 Maha Shiva Lingam and Durga Idols were installed in these 64 villages. These 108 Shiva Temples are mentioned in the Shivala Stotram and song is written in Malayalam language. Of the 108 Siva Temples, 105 temples are situated in Kerala state, 2 temples in Karnataka and 1 in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu.

Among these temples, the Lord Shiva of Gokarnam Mahabaleswara Temple in the north and Goddess Kumari of Kanyakumari temple in the south were considered as the protectors of Kerala. The first temple created by Parasurama was the Thrissur Vadakkunnathan Temple and the last one was the Thrikkariyoor Mahadeva Temple. This Temple is considered as one of the 108 Shiva Temples created by Lord Parasurama.

Peruvanam:

As per legend, Sage Pooru, the son of the Hasthinapura King Yayathy, performed intense penance in the dense forest at this place. Pleased with his penance, Lord Shiva appeared before the sage in his Arthanareeswara form along with Mother Parvathi. Lord Shiva further gifted him with a Shiva Linga. The sage created a spring for the ablution to the Linga by drawing 3 lines on the earth with his fingers.

As he touched (Thodu means touch) the earth and made a spring, this pond came to be called as Thodukulam. Once, the sage left the Linga in the banyan tree for a bath but could not take it back when he returned. He made 24 steps, climbed and did his worship. After this event, 24 steps are made here to worship the presiding deity. The place came to be called as Pooru Vanam after the sage, later got corrupted to Peruvanam.