Thrikkakara Vamanamoorthy Temple

The Bhagavata Purana describes that Lord Vishnu descended as the Vamana avatar to restore the authority of Indra, the King of the heaven, as it had been taken by Mahabali, an asura. Bali was the grandson of Prahlada, the renowned Vishnu devotee. King Mahabali was generous, and engaged in severe austerities and penance and won the praise of the world. Vamana, in the guise of a Brahmin, carrying a wooden umbrella, went to the king to request three paces of land. Mahabali consented, against the warning of his guru. Vamana, then revealed his identity and enlarged to gigantic proportions to stride over the three worlds. He stepped from heaven to earth with the first step. King Mahabali, unable to fulfill his promise, offered his head for his third step. Vamana then placed his foot and gave the king immortality for his humility. In giant form, Vamana is known as Trivikrama.

The temple complex, which is enclosed in a large area in picturesque surroundings, holds the main sanctum dedicated to the primary deity. The sanctorum of the main shrine houses the idol of Maha Vishnu. The idol is in the form of Lord Vamana preparing to place his foot on the Asura King Mahabali. Lord Vamana is said to have established the temple. The temple also houses records containing the earliest mention of the celebration of the Onam festival dating to 861 A.D.

The Brahmaraksha shrine is located in the outer complex, along with a Banyan-tree god and the Sarpa Kavu. Surrounding the inner complex walls is a series of thousands of lamps called Chuttuvilakku which translates to surrounding lamps. There are two ponds associated with the temple. One is the Kapilatheertham located closer to the temple on the Northern side of the sanctum, and is accessible only to priests. The other pond is located on the Northern side outside the temple walls.

Apart from the shrines and ponds, the temple complex houses three stages or halls for cultural performances called Naimishaaranyam, and a temple auditorium at the South-west corner. The auditorium is regularly used for weddings and meeting, and for conducting the Onam feast during the festival.