Thiruvarppu Srikrishna Swamy Temple, almost 1500 years old, is located at Thiruvarppu, which is nearly 10 kms from the Kottayam town, on the banks of a tributary of Meenachilaru (Meenachil river).
Story related to origin of the temple:
One of the lores is related with the Mahabharatha tale in which the idol was worshipped by Panchali (another lore says Kunthi Devi and another says Yudhishtira) when the Pandavas lived near Cherthala, a place called Charamangalam. At the end of their sojourn, Pandavas consecrated the idol near Cherthalai. Many a year went by and the village couldn't afford to maintain daily rituals due to poverty. Hence, as per the instructions of the deity himself, the chief priest himself place the idol in a varppu (a vessel made of brass, hence the name thiruvarppu) and floated it in Vembanadu lake.
The idol, unidentified by anyone, floated over the water for many years. One day Bhadrakali Mattapalli Namboothiri (some say Vilwamangalam Swamiyar) was ferrying through the back waters of Vembanadu heard a sound as the ferryman's stick hit on the brass vessel. Namboothiri asked the ferryman to investigate on the cause of such an implausible sound later found the idol and consecrated it at Thiruvarppu temple(actually a temple was there ready for the consecration of Lord Ayyappa and was converted for consecrating the idol).
The idol is of Lord Vishnu (worshiped as Lord Krishna who rests after killing Kamsa) faces west and is Chathurbahu (four handed) having Conch, Discus, Butter and Mace. Temple usually opens very early around 2 AM in the morning and is one of the earliest opening temples in Kerala. As soon as the temple is opened, a special offering called USHA PAYASAM also called as "thiruvarppu usha" (considered divine like Ambalapuzha palpayasam) is offered to the deity. This is prepared using rice (5 nazhi), jaggery(50 palam), ghee (5 thudam), 5 kadalipazham (red banana) and 5 dried coconut. The method of preparation is very peculiar to this temple. Soon after abhishekam, deity's hair is dried and payasam is offered. After this offering only rest of the body of deity is dried. Along with the key to open the sanctum door in morning, the priest is also given an axe. It is generally believed that the deity cannot tolerate hunger (as he is exhausted after killing Kamsa) and if there happens to be a delay in opening the sanctum door with the key, the priest is permitted to break the door with axe.
Even during eclipse, the temple is not closed and a special offering is made at that time called "grahana pooja". It is a rarity as almost all temples will close far before the eclipse starts to avoid its effect on the offerings. It is believed that deity would become hungry even if it is closed for a short period of eclipse. It says that once temple was closed during eclipse and when reopened it is found that the kingini (an ornament wear around the waist) of the deity has slipped down. Vilwamangalam Swamiyar told that it was because deity became very hungry. From then on, the temple was not closed during eclipse. Another significant rarity is that 'deeparadhana' is performed after 'athazhapooja'.
This temple has a very peculiar drum (aanathudi) made of brass. It is said that Lord Krishna announced the killing of Kamsa playing on a similar drum. Temple also has sub shrines for Shiva, Bhagavathy, Ganapathy, Subrahmanya, Ayyappa and Yakshi.
The temple festival is during the first ten days of the month of Medam (April-May). On the tenth day an elephant race is being conducted. During the festival, girls between 5 - 12 years of age offer lamps to the deity and are considered as gopikas (called vilakeduppu). Krishna’s birthday during Ashtami Rohini is a big celebration of this temple.
