It is also believed that at this place (ooru) Lord Siva appeared in Eight (Ettu) different forms (maanam) and hence the name Ettumanoor.

There is a golden flagstaff inside the temple topped with an idol of a bull surrounded by small bells and metal banyan tree leaves.

In terms of architecture, these temples stand out to be an ultimate testament for the Vishwakarma Sthapathis for their engineering skills.

Ettumanoor Mahadeva Temple hosts the arattu festival, celebrated on a grand scale on the Thiruvathira day in February–March each year.

Many people come to the temple on the 8th and 10th day of the festival, when seven and a half elephants (in Malayalam: ezharaponnaana)[6] made of gold (nearly 13 Kgms) will be held in public view.

Ezhara Ponnana refers to the seven-large sized and one small sized-golden elephant (that is called Ezharaponnana), all of which are kept in the temple vault and taken out once a year for darshan by the devotees.

According to legend, they were presented to the temple by Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the founder of the Travancore kingdom.