Thiruvumplavil Mahadeva Temple is a Shiva Temple situated at Anicadu, a village near Muvattupuzha, Ernakulam dist in Kerala.
The uniqueness of this temple is the “Thirukulambu” and “Theerthakkara” near the temple. Thousands of devotees do the “pithru tharpana” at this place. It is believed that the holy water flowing through the “Thirukulambu” is “Kashi Theertham”.
The story goes that the Lord Shiva with Goddess Parvathi revealed themselves to a fervent devotee at this place. It is said that years & years back two old brahmins, on their way to Kashi passed through this place (Anicadu). It was a dense forest during that time. They saw a diseased cow on their way. One of the brahmins decided to take care of the cow to recover it from the critical condition while his friend continued his journey to Kashi.
With his sincere & dedicated attention, the cow recovered from the disease. He was very happy and content about the fact that he could save the life of the cow, but at the same time felt sad about his incomplete pilgrimage to Kashi. While sitting near the cow with all these thoughts, Lord Shiva & Goddess Parvathi revealed themselves before him and said:-
“You need not worry about your incomplete pilgrimage to Kashi. You have performed a great sacrifice by saving the life of a being, for which we are very much pleased with you. In fact, it was goddess Shri Parvathi who came before you as a cow to see how devoted you are! You can see the cow’s hoof (Kulambu) mark over the surface of the rock and the holy water flow through the same, where you have performed this great sacrifice. This holy water is the great “Kashi Theertha” and you can perform all the rituals here itself and it will be considered as good as doing it at Kashi.”
With those words, Lord Shiva & Parvathi disappeared. He performed the rituals in the Kashi Teertha (Divine water from Kashi) flowing through the “Thiru Kulambu” (Holy hoof) there itself as advised by Lord and got the ultimate state of “Yogeshwaran”. The Theerthakkulam (Pond) at the north side of the temple contains this holy water flowing through the “Thirukulambu” and lot of people perform their “Pithru Tharpan” rituals at this place. Thus, the name Thiruvumplavil is formed from “Thirukulambai” as above.
Devotees who come for pithru tharpan should visit the temple only after completion of the pithru tharpan at theerthakkara.
