Lord Mahadeva of Thiruvizha

During my trip to Kerala this time I had a chance to visit a temple in Thiruvizha called the Thiruvizha Mahadeva Temple (shrine of Lord Shiva).There is a fascinating legend surrounding this temple.
A couple of centuries ago this area was a forest with a huge pond.The tribal people known as Ulladans hunted turtles living in this pond.They would walk across the water thrusting poles at the sand bed which would force the turtles to surface and hence the hunters could catch them easily.
Once a Ullada woman was hunting in the pond when her pole struck something hard at the bottom of the pond and it began to ooze blood!!Pretty soon the whole pond turned blood red.The local men tried draining the pond.They went on and on for three days and three nights yet they couldn't drain the pond.When the water level went down slightly they saw a cylindrical stone with a bleeding cut on top.

On the fourth day a Yogi (sage) appeared and instructed the local men to stop draining the pond since it was humanly impossible.Instead he suggested they fill up the pond with sand and enshrine the Sivalingam (which was the bleeding object in the pond).He then took a handful of ash from his pouch and applied it on the cut and magically the sivalingam stopped bleeding.The Yogi then disappeared!.
There is also a Yakshi ambalam and a Vishnu temple near by.

The Magical Elixir
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Not long after the temple was constructed a mad-man used to frequent the temple and trouble the devotees and workers.Talekkattu Nair was a servant at the temple.One day he got really frustrated with the mad man and hence he fell at the feet of the Lord begging to be salvaged from this menace.
The same night, Lord Shiva appeared in his sleep and instructed him to pluck a special herb behind the temple, crush it, mix it with milk and keep it at the pedestal of the Lord.The priest would then sanctify this mixture and it should be administered to the mad man.Make him drink a glass of water after an hour and wait till he vomits.After that he should be given the palpayasam offered to Yakshi.
Nair followed the Lord's instruction word to word the very next day and the madman was totally cured!.
Even to this day lots of people throng the temple for this medicine.I too witnessed this when I went there.They say the herb is a special kind.It is a green herb which turns blue in half an hour.The colour then changes to red then black then yellow and ultimately it turns white.
Lots of people come here to treat formidable illnesses like leprosy, liver cirrhosis, ulcers , mental disorders.

I was fascinated hearing all the stories about the powerful deity in the temple. The temple itself was a special sight.One cannot see the deity from far.Its only went i went really close that I saw the deity of Lord Shiva sitting in a hole in the floor filled with water.During monsoon season the deity gets submerged in water.

Om Namah Shivaya