Moozhikkal Bhagavathy temple is on the banks of the Muvatupuzha river at Arikuzha. The goddess is referred to as Moozhikkal Bhagavathy. She is believed to be a combination of Bhadrakali and Durga and the pujas performed also point to it.  Athazha puja, the puja performed at night is held only occasionally because the goddess's power is so strong that nobody dares to come to the temple after dark. The temple is situated at a corner formed by the branching of the river. Previously the temple was not situated here. It was on lower ground to the northwest of the present site of the temple.  In those more days when the water rose in the river during the rainy season, the Goddess used to be submerged in the water.  A devotee of the Goddess from the Aalangottu Mana built the temple at a higher level to avoid this. The Alangottu Mana is situated close to the temple and it is believed that the Goddess has ordained that the members of that family should offer pujas for her. There are some legends regarding how the goddess came to be consecrated here. There is a village Pannoor where Brahmins used to live in ancient times. There was a temple there with the Goddess consecrated in it. The Namboothiri families used to provide the cow’s milk for the ablution of the idol. When it was difficult to get pure cow’s milk some of them gave the milk of other animals. But one family provided pure milk with a lot of difficulty. The Goddess was angry with the others for giving impure milk. She appeared before the Brahmin who provided good milk one day. She asked him to throw her idol in the river and shift his residence to a place twenty miles away from there. She announced that as soon as he had left the place the village would be destroyed. He went to the temple in the darkness and took the idol. He gathered his family and left the place. As they reached the banks of the river, they saw that Panoor village was ablaze. The family made a house and stayed in the forest of Kottattuvanam. The idol he had thrown in the river reached Moozhikkal within two years. In those days Thekkullattu Kaimals used to be prominent residents of that area. One of the ladies of this family found the idol in the river when she was having a bath there. On being informed by her the eldest member of the family brought the Namboothiri who had recently settled there to the river bank. He made him responsible for the pujas and rituals to be performed for the goddess. Later the Namboothiri shifted his residence to a place near the temple and even today the family continues to offer pujas here.