Puliyur Mahavishnu Temple

The Thripuliyoor Mahavishnu Temple, also called the Mayapiran temple, is at Puliyoor in Alappuzha district. Its deity is Vishnu, worshipped as Mayapiran or Thripuliyoorappan, and it counts among the 108 Divya Desams, praised in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the Tamil hymns of the Alvar saints of the 6th to 9th centuries. The temple follows the Kerala style of architecture.

It belongs to a group of five old shrines around Chengannur linked to the Mahabharata. After crowning Parikshit, the Pandavas went on pilgrimage and, on reaching the Pamba, each is believed to have installed an image of Krishna: this one is credited to Bhima, while Thrichittatt is ascribed to Yudhishthira, Aranmula to Arjuna, Thiruvanvandoor to Nakula and Thrikodithanam to Sahadeva. Another legend says the seven sages won liberation here. The chief festivals are the Aratu in the Tamil month of Margazhi and Kavadiattam in Thai. The Travancore Devaswom Board manages the temple, and Chengannur has the nearest railway station.