Pancha Pandava Temples: History, Legends, and Kerala Pilgrimage for Vishnupadee Punya Kalam | Vrishchika Sankranti 2025 Vrishchikam 1

Chengannur Shiva-Parvati temple where Devi menstruates, 108 Divya Desams of Vishnu, Vallasadya at Aranmula temple, and the many Pandava journeys - you have heard of it all. But here, they meet.

The Pandava brothers and Draupadi repented the Kurukshetra war. The Gita was the only outcome they really cherished. They only ever wished for Dharma to be restored. Their lives’ purpose was fulfilled. Power, they did not want. 

They crowned Parikshit as the next ruler, gave the needed guidance, made the necessary arrangements, and left for their final walk of life. Vanaprastham involved a walking pilgrimage, fortified by austerities and penance. 

Legend has it that the six royals traversed South to atone for the wrongs. They reached the banks of the holy Pamba River. In worship of the guidance and protection from Krishna, each brother is believed to have consecrated an idol of Lord Vishnu around the Chengannur area of Kerala. 

As per the Chengannur legend, the divine couple Shiva-Parvati spent a while in this areas.

These five temples are also revered as Divya Desams, the 108 most sacred Vishnu temples mentioned in the works of the Tamil Alvar saints. I will also include the Tamil names of the deities, which I doubt local Malayalis have heard!

As far as I know, each of these temples celebrates its chief festivals at different times of the year, with one coming up in November/December (Malayalam Vrischik or Scorpio month). So this circuit may let you witness one of them.

The five temples associated with each Pandava:

Yudhishthira: Thrichittatt Maha Vishnu Temple 

Located 1.2 km from the Changannur Mahadeva temple, the original temple is believed to have been constructed by celestials. Yudhishtir revived the temple with a unique Vishnu idol.

Usually, Maha Vishnu idols have four hands, holding the conch chell Panchajanya sankh, the discus weapon Sudarsana, a lotus Padma, and the mace Kaumodaki.

The idol here does not hold the Kaumodaki weapon, leaving the lower left hand in a blessing mudra.

As per Tamil tradition, Lord Vishnu here is considered “Imayavarappan”. Lord Ayyappa and Yakshi are among the sub-shrines.

You travel about 4.5 km to Puliyoor next.

Bhima: Thiruppuliyoor Mahavishnu Temple 

The mighty Bhim is known for his unflinching loyalty, be it to his mentors Krishna and Balarama, his brothers, and his wife Panchali. His mace (gada) helped hammer enemies and hammer home his loyalty. 

The temple is said to embody the powers of the Gada of this Vayuputra. 

As per Tamil tradition, Lord Vishnu here is considered “Maayapiran”, while locals address him “Thrippuliyoorappan”.

{While I've never heard a tale, the name of the place, “Puliyoor” seems to hint at a ‘tiger-related’ story. The Bhima in my heart has definitely defeated a scary tiger here!}

13.9 km away is the famous Aranmula temple.

Arjuna: Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple 

Thiruvaranmula temple might be the most popular of the pentad. Krishna is the “charioteer of Partha” here. The temple is famous for feeding all devotees who come, like the Sabarimala and Vaikom temples. So the lords here are called "Annadana Prabhu" (the Lord who bestows sustenance).

• Aranmula Kannadi, the first-surface mirror, has had a geographical indication (GI) tag for about 20 years now. It is a mirror made by polishing metal.

• Aranmula Boat Festival is the first of all boat races.

• Vanchipattu (boat-songs) of Aranmula are the most extensive and popular.

• Aranmula Vallasadya may be the grandest feasts ever, both in the number of people and the number of dishes. Anywhere between 60 and 80 side dishes are served with rice at the grand Sadya. The centuries-old tradition is kept alive by the Palliyodam boatmen communities. 

Recently, I heard a government employee at the temple say that “the government should set paid tickets for this. It should never have been handed to the boatmen.” His voice had a lot of disgust for the devoted laborers!

Sir, “you” never “allowed” the oarsmen anything. It is the tradition born out because of them. Arjun is said to have brought the idol there and founded the temple with the help of the community. 

Really showed what the qualification for being associated with a temple should be (or shouldn't be.)

About 15 kilometers, and we reach the next temple.

Nakula: Thiruvanvandoor Mahavishnu Temple 

As per the Tamil tradition, Lord Vishnu is called Pambanaiappan. As per Kerala and Vedic traditions, Gosala Krishna is honored here. 

The elephant festival or Gajamela at the temple involves 21 elephants by tradition. The handsome Nakul’s temple also hosts several art forms, including Kathakali. 

About 15 more kilometers, and we reach the final temple of the Anchambala Darsanam.

Sahadeva: Thrikkodithanam Mahavishnu Temple 

The most mysterious in nature and the youngest of the brothers, younger than even his twin Nakul, was Sahadev. He consecrated Lord Vishnu as Adbhutha Narayanan, or the “marvelous Narayan”. In Tamil scriptures, the deity is also called “Amrit Narayanan”, or “god of immortality” in many ways.

There are several enigmatic wonders surrounding the temple, like the “Kazhuvetti Kallu”. Tales of gods building the temple and performing penance here, are examples. 

Itinerary for Panch Pandava temple: Anchambala Darsanam

I’ve marked the five temples on Google Maps:

1. Thrichittatt Maha Vishnu Temple - Yudhishtira

2. Thiruppuliyoor Mahavishnu Temple - Bhima

3. Thiruvaranmula Parthasarathy Temple - Arjuna

4. Thiruvanvandoor Mahavishnu Temple - Nakula

5. Thrikkodithanam Mahavishnu Temple - Sahdeva

If you travel in this order, it is about 50 km. But please check the temple timings if you are planning the trip in one day.

This order (or vice versa helps to minimize the total distance to 38 km and hopefully adjust your time:

Thrikkodithanam (Sahdev) - Thiruvanvandoor (Nakul) - Thrichittattu (Yudhishtir) - Thripuliyur (Bhim) - Thiru Aranmula (Arjun) 

I’ve marked some major towns around to help you plan:

Chengannur town houses the only Uma-Maheswar temple, where the Devi bleeds in menstruation. The idol at the Kamakhya temple in Assam also menstruates, but Shiva is not present in the temple, to the best of my knowledge. 

Devi Temples and the Divine Women

Now these five temples are spread on the shared borders of Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam districts, within a 13.5 km radius. (Google Gemini helped me calculate!)

But I’ve always had a great intrigue, awe, and commonweal feeling toward Draupadi and Kunti. They’ve been the biggest bees in my bonnet, with Draupadi the Krishnaa buzzing louder.

When I was coming back from Madurai a few months ago to the Kottayam district, I came across Panchalimedu. 

Panchalimedu, literally “Panchali Meadow,” is one of the viewpoints for Makar Jyoti, a divine light associated with Sabarimala that appears on Makar Sankranti (Pongal). Women prefer to witness it from Panchalimedu peak. At Panchalimedu is a Bhuvaneswari Devi temple. The people do not know for sure if it was directly associated with Draupadi.

Anchumana Devi Temple near Cochin in Ernakulam district is also a Bhuvaneswari Devi temple. “Anchu” means “five” in Malayalam. The temple has a shrine for “Hidumba”, the brother of “Hidumbi”, the first wife of Bhima (the first wife of a Pandava). 

But then the Pandavarkavu (grove of Pandavas) temple in Alappuzha district is widely recognized as a temple founded by Mata Kunti, with Devi Durga as the chief deity. It is believed that Bhima found red bananas for Kunti to make offerings to the goddess. 

I am lucky to have been born on the festival day of Anchumana and fed the first morsel of rice with ghee and salt (our traditional Annaprasanam ceremony) as a baby, at Pandavarkavu.

Pandava Temples on the Map

I have not visited all five temples founded by the Pandava brothers. Once, I tried the itinerary in the order associated with the brothers, from Yudhishtir’s temple to Sahdev’s temple on Google Maps. I thought the route between these temples in that order looked like the inner coil of the iconographic conch of Vishnu, the Panchajanya Shankh.

But then I thought it looked like an uncoiling serpent, much like the Kundalini awakening.

Then it came to notice that at the Thrichittatt Maha Vishnu temple, the first Pandava-founded temple, the Vishnu idol lacks the Kaumodaki. 

And seeing the image of it on Wikipedia made me wonder if the shape looks like a resting Kaumodaki.

 

And I know very well that these are just musings of the mind, and that it's not that these patterns matter. But we love to wonder, don’t we?

The similarity in intrigue is why I did a story crediting an unknown person recently, for their observation regarding several Muruga temples and the “AUM” letter in Tamil.