The water used inside temple is taken from the 'Thirthakulam' specially set apart for the purpose. It exists in the north-east corner just outside the east compound wall. If it gets impure, water has to be brought from Bharathapuzha with the retinue of drums, pipes and other musical instruments.

The huge peepul tree near the eastern gateway of the temple growing on the rock, where there is no soil at all, is really a wonderful sight. The roots of this tree are seen even inside the temple among the crevices in the rocks.

It is worth mentioning that the 'Naranarayan tapas', 'Aroodham work' and the wooden chain seen in this temple bear witness to the wonderful specimens of wooden carvings. It is only in this temple that the 'Arathothi', 'Panjanam' and 'Nadappura' of the eastern shrine and 'Balikkallu' and 'Padinjarambalam' of the western shrine are seen together at a glance. There is no flagstaff in this temple. The 'Bali' is offered on the 'Balikkallu', which came up without any human effort under the Panjana in front of the eastern shrine. It is really surprising that the rays of the rising sun fall directly on the idol in the eastern shrine, and the rays of the setting sun fall directly on the idol of the western shrine on 8th, 9th and 10th of Kanni and Meenam. Though both the shrines are built seperately with enough space in between, the craftsmanship is so wonderful that anybody visiting the temple feels that there is only one shrine in which one idol faces the east and the other faces the west. As far as the idols are concerned people consider them both as idols of Vishnu, yet they are worshipped as Sri Rama and Lakshmana in the west and east shrines respectively. But importance is seen for the assumption that it is Vilwadrinatha to whom the prayer is offered in both the shrines. Some of the legends Kolakkattiri Namboodiri was very rich but had no progeny. One day Vilwadrinathas of both the shrines went to him as guests in the guise of brahmin boys. When drinking water was given to them, they said, "Konden, Kolakkattiri", which means "Received, Kolakkattiri" and disappeared. The Namboodiri realised that Vilwdrinatha had taken away all their property. Naturally he was very much worried. Then his wife persuaded him to go to the temple and have 'Sankha theertha' saying, 'Veenden, Vilwadrinatha", meaning that I have taken back my properties. But when Kolakkatiri Namboodiri reached the temple the watchmen did not allow him to enter the temple. From that day onwards the custom of giving 'Sankha theertha' was stopped forever. After this incident the ladies of Namboodiri families never used to go inside the temple till recent years.

The holy places where the presence of Vilwadrinatha was felt are known as 'Koottalas'. There are several folklores about the Koottalas. Vilwadrinathas are said to have appeared before an old woman at Vallikkottu Padippura (one of the Koottalas) and promised to help her. They were very much satisfied with the milkand fruits given by her. Laterthe Thiruvilwamala Devaswam undertook all the assets of that woman and looked after her until her death and carried out the customary rituals after her death. Even today, light is lit, conch is blown and special pooja is done in that house.

Once upon a time a poor brahmin of Mangalathumana was very much worried since he did not have enough money to conduct the marriage of his daughter. It was then that the king of Cochin had come to worship Vilwadrinatha. It dawned upon the brahmin that his property was to be donated to the temple in the presence of the king. He did accordingly. The king gave all possible help to the brahmin and saved him from all his worries and anxieties. The place so donated by the brahmin in the name of Malayditya mangalam is now known as Malesamangalam.

Years ago people belonging to the lower castes were not allowed to go inside the temple. They could have darsan of Vilwadrinatha only from outside the temple. At that time the 'Balikkallu' in front of the eastern shrine was as high as the 'Balikkallu' in front of the western shrine. So it was not easy for them to see the idol. In order to save the devotees from this difficulty that 'Balikkallu' went down automatically and another one rose up under the Panjanam. The western side of the 'D~pasthambham' in front of the eastern shrine where the balikkallu lowered down itself is still considered to be sacred. There was a time when the temple was rendered extremely beautiful with towers on the east and west, which were fully decorated with Puranic pictures. In these days the 'Parasu­utayavar' and some of the priests used to spend the night time in the western and eastern towers respectively. It is said that these two towers were knocked down by thunderstroke when the truth came to the limelight that the lamps lit in the towers of this temple could be seen from the base of the peepul tree in front of the temple at Thirunavaya. The rebuilding of these towers was not admissible as per findings of astrology, con se­quentlythe bases of these broken towers are kept as such even now.

A nair woman who was in the habit of praying daily in the temple from early childhood used to speak a lot considering Vilwadrinatha as her husband. Others used to neglect this, saying that they were words of a mad woman. Once it so happened that she saw a 'Tali' (an ornament) in the neck of the idol of Vilwadrinatha. The ornament was given as an offering by a devotee. The woman got terribly angry and said that it was something to be worn by ladies like her. The next day the priest was astonished to see that the Tali had disappeared fror)1 the idol and the same appeared on the neck of the lady. Everybody was wonderstruck. From that day onwards articles given as offerings to the deities were being sold in public auction and the amount credited to the funds of the temple.

This temple with the sanctity of ancient heritage and extremely pure and beautiful scenery, combined with skilful craftsmanship will shine forever as an ornament on the forehead of Kerala.

For the visitors:

• The rays of the sun reaching the eastern shrine in the morning.

• Bhootamala, Vilwamala and Moorikkunnu.

• The peepul tree in the east and the cave underneath.

• The place where 'Bali' is offered under the Panjanam.

• Idols inside the temple namely Lakshmanaswami, Ganapathi and Sri Rama.

• Sri Hanuman.

• Bhutanatha (Sri Ayyappa) with Siva and Parvathi on either side, on the same pedestal.

• Saraswathikundu.

• The closed door on the wall near the southern gateway .

• The flights of granite steps on three sides especially to the Bhagavathichira in the north.

• The small tank from which water is taken for use inside the temple .

• Punarjani and the Thirthas.

• The wooden chain, aaroodham work and the carvings on the wall showing Nara Narayana Tapas.

• The stone carvings near the door of the dining hall.

• The sunset when the sun is about to leave the horizon after worshipping Vilwadrinatha of the western shrine.