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Thirumittakode Anchumoorthi Temple is among the 108 Divya Desam of Vaishnavas and 108 Shivalayam of Shaivas. Temple is situated on the banks of the Bharathappuzha at Thirumittacode of Palakkad District in Kerala state in India. Along with Lord Shiva, this temple is equally associated with Lord Vishnu. The five statues - one for Lord Shiva and four Vishnu - are known here as Thirumattikodu five (Anchu) Moorthy Temple.

Legend of Lord Shiva

It is believed that this temple is one of the 108 Shiva temples of Kerala and is installed by sage Parasurama dedicated to Lord 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 the last rites on the river banks in the temple, similar to that of Varanasi.

Divya Desam

This temple is one of the "Divya Desams," the 108 temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars. During the Mahabharata period, the Pandavas built the temple here. Arjuna established the temple, and this is standing as Moolavar, the main deity here. It is said that during the Mahabharata period, the Pandavas reached the banks of Bharathapuzha during their exile and installed the idol of Lord Vishnu. It is also said that the Ayodya king Ambareeksha got moksha at Thirumittakode. The Maha Vishnu of the temple is called Abhaya Pradhan Temple or Uyyavantha Perumal Temple. It is believed that Arjuna, one of the brothers, performed penance at this site.