Thirumittakode Anchumoorthi Temple

Thirumittakode Anchumoorthi Temple (also called Thiruvithuvakoodu) is a Hindu temple equally associated with the deities Vishnu and Shiva. Temple is situated on the banks of the Bharathappuzha at Thirumittacode of Palakkad District in Kerala state in India. The five statues – one for Shiva and four Vishnu – are known here as Thirumattikodu five (Anchu) Moorthy Temple.

As a Shiva temple, it is regarded as 108 Shivalayam of Shaivas.^[3][4] Constructed in the Kerala style of architecture, It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Uyyavandha Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Vithuvakootuvalli.

The Thiruvonam festival and the Vaikunta Ekadasi during the month of Thai are the major festivals celebrated in the temple. The temple is open from 4 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 8 pm and is administered by Travancore Devaswom Board of the Government of Kerala.

Legend

It is believed that this temple is one of the 108 Shiva temples of Kerala and is installed by sage Parasurama dedicated to Shiva. There is another myth in the place, Kasi Viswanathan, a Brahmin who came back after visiting the Kasi darshan, in this temple.

As per Hindu legend, both an elephant and Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu were worshiping Vishnu with lotus flowers. Once all the lotus flowers were taken away by Lakshmi making Gajendra, the elephant to pray to Vishnu. Vishnu gave a boon to Lakshmi to be along with him and let the whole lotus garden be taken up by Gajendra. The place is a Mumurthi Kshetra as the Trinity of Hinduism, Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma are worshiped here. Hindus perform last rites on the banks of the river in the temple similar to that of Varanasi.