Legend Of Vadakkunnathan Temple
There is a legend behind the three main deities which are believed to have been installed by Parasurama. The story goes that first he prayed to Siva that he should manifest Himself there. But when he opened his eyes what he saw was the image of the four-armed Mahavishnu with the conch, the disc, the mace and the lotus. This is now worshipped as Rama. (In fact in Kerala almost all important Krishna temples including the famous Guruvayur temple whether worshipped as Rama or Krishna have the image of Mahavishnu in the form of Viswaroopa in which the lord appeared before Devaki and Vasudeva at the time of His birth.) Not satisfied with the manifestation of Mahavishnu, Parasurama continued his meditation. This time a small Sivalinga materialised to the north of Vishnu deity. Parasurama was surprised to see Siva on one side and Rama on the other side. He again went into meditation. Opening his Eyes he saw in the middle of the two deities, Sankaranarayana, the combined form of Siva and Vishnu or Narayana. He was now satisfied and realised that Siva and Vishnu are in fact one and the same-Ekam sat viprah bahudhah vadanti-The reality is one. The wise call it by different names.
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