KUTALAMANIKYAM

Except fish; it is here offered only three pujas a day - Etirthu Puja; Uchcha Puja and Athazha Puja against the common practice of five offered everywhere; it is here the daily siveli ritual - procession of deity is prohibited; is here the famous Mukkidi - an Ayurvedic mixture is offered to the deity and given as prasad - a panacea for every stomach ailment, it is into this archamurthi the powers of several deities of Kerala temples merged, when the conch shell of a certain yogi fell, and hence the Lord is called Sangameswara; it is this temple's image found along with other three on the sea shore, and was brought for worship by one Vakkey Kaimal according to Lord's injunction in dream; it is this Mula Virat resembling Lord Mahavishnu, in revealing himself with conch, disc, mace and rosary; it is this deity that absorbed a bright ruby of a local chief, When brought near for identification of the source of light emanating from its forehead; more-prominently it is here the sage Kulipini did dhirga tapas and made the Lord dwell here permanently; and finally to this divya kshetra the river Ganges descended to inundate a vast area to form into a sacred tank.

Rich in such divine associations; abounding in several distinctive features; enshrining the only image of such kind in the entire Bharata, consecrated by the ethereal presence of the Maharshis; drenched by. the sacred waters of the river Ganges, this singular thirtha is blessing the worshippers with a wide variety of boons that are instrumental in attracting a steady influx of pilgrims throughout the year.

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