Thiruvanvandoor Mahavishnu temple is located on the banks of the river Pamba, 6 km away from Chengannur and 5 km from Thiruvalla in Alappuzha district. It is believed that Nakula one of the Pandava brothers built this temple and worshipped Lord Mahavishnu here who is also called as Paambaniyappan or Kamalanathan. It was during the pilgrimage of Pandavas to Kerala after making Parikshith the King. The
deity is Lord Vishnu is portrayed in a standing posture. The idol is Chathurbahu with Conch, discus, maze and lotus in four hands. The name
Pambaniyappan arises from the fact that the
river Pamba cicrles the town. It is one among the 108 divya deshams or 108 vishnu temples considered sacred by 12 poet saints called Alwars. Earliest references to this temple also appear in the poems and hymns composed by the greatest of Alvar saints - Nammalwar in circa 800 AD.
Once, Naradar got cursed by Lord Brahma and he came to this place and worshipped Lord Mahavishnu. At that time, Lord Vishnu appeared and explained the Narada Purana. It also explains that both Shaivaites and Vaishnavites should be treated as one and all humans should be treated the same way. Another great sage, Maarkandeya who is considered as a Chiranjeevi (one who has no death), also worshipped Lord Vishnu here.
In front of the sanctum sanctorum, there is a rectangular Namaskara Mandapa. The sanctum sanctorum is large, circular in shape and is double-storeyed. The temple is also having a golden flag mast.
The temple also had a Goshaala Krishna idol and 46 years back a blessed devotee had seen a dream which ended up in finding the idol which had been lost for many a century. A king called Pooradam Thirunal Maharaja popularly known as Devanarayanan, who ruled Chembakassery, decided to construct a Sree Krishna temple in Ambalappuzha and consecrate an idol of Lord Krishna there. The idol of Krishna that he first decided to place was later found to be inadequate. So it become important for him to search for another idol within no time as the consecration date was near. It was predicted by Vilwamangalam Swamiar that the idol of Chengannur Thiruvanvandoor temple or Kurichi Karingulam temple will be suitable for the purpose.
On behalf of this, the militants from Chembakassery came to Thiruvanvandoor temple and asked the chief priest named Njazhappally Namboothiri to offer them the Krishna's idol placed in the temple. The priest was became disheartened and was unwilling to hand it over to them. Fearing the response of the king, the priest took the idol from temple and drowned it in a river, flowing near by the east side of temple, and he migrated to some other place that very same night.
Next day when troops who came from Ambalappuzha found that the idol is missing and reported it to king. In those days some people even believed in Ambalappuzha that the idol which was placed in Ambalappuzha temple was from Thiruvanvandoor.
The idol that was missing from the temple was recovered in May 1963. The person named Mazhuveli Damodaran who was a teacher in Govt Middle school (Thiruvanvandoor) had a dream, in which God showed him that the idol is lying east side of the temple which belonged to Pamba river, and while digging that place, the idol was found out and was replaced back to its original position in the temple.
The ten day festival of the temple starts on Anizham day of Kumbham month with kodiyettam and finishes on the Uthrittathi day. The Aarattu takes place in the Manimala River in Eramallikkara. The Thiruvanvandoor Gajamela also attracts poeple from far and near.
