The legend in connection with the presence of Thrimoorthies in this sacred temple is as follows:

There was a very learned and pious namboodiri who happened to visit Irinjalakuda 'Sree Koodalmanikyam' Temple. He had a precious holy shell with him into which the spirit of almost all gods and goddesses were invoked and kept. When he tried to invoke the spirit of the deity at Koodalmanikyam temple, the shell fell down and broke into pieces. The combined power thus emerged into the Mandapa.

He was very disappointed and sad and traveled south to meet 'Kodungallooramma'. On his way Brahma, Vishnu and Paramasiva appeared before him to shower their blessings on him. The spot was called Nadavaramba on the bank of fresh water lake. The name attributed as 'Thiruprika' got modifiedinto ‘Thrippayya’ in course of time.