When Lord Vishnu in the guise of a maid bewitching grace and undertook to distribute the elixir among the Devas and Asuras, he decided to deny the Asuras and fed only Devas. Rahu was the Asura who understood the intention of Vishnu. He transformed himself into the form of Deva and stood among Devas. But Suriyan and Chandran detected this subterfuge of Ragu and intimated Lord Vishnu of Rahu’s maleficient cunning. But Lord Vishnu knew this only after he had already given Rahu the Elixir. Rahu had just then taken a mouthful, when Lord Vishnu hit him at the head. But Rahu had tasted the elixir and was now immortal. The dismembered head became Rahu, and the headless body Kethu.

The temple faces east and is surrounded by high walls on all four sides. There is the holy tank Nagatheertham in front of the temple and on its eastern side is an Arasa tree, on its western edge the Neem tree. There are snake’s images worshipped under the neem tree. The Asuras who were enraged at being denied the elixir for which they strove hard, tore the snake Vasugi which they had used as a rope for churning the ocean of milk and strew its pieces all over the bamboo forest.