Legend has it that once a Kurava woman was cutting grass and she hit a Shila or stone with her sickle; blood started oozing out from the stone. Ayroor Thamburan, who was the bodyguard of Kayamkulam king, visited the spot and on his advice the king built the Chunakkara Temple, also known as Chunakkara Tiruvairoor Mahadeva Temple.
The temple is noted for its wooden sculptures. The round sreekovil made of granite has wooden walls and they have beautiful sculptures. There are dwarapalaka murtis in front of the temple. Some of the important sculptures in the temple are of four-armed Ganapathy, Saraswati, Shiva Thandavam, Goddess Kali, Uma Maheshwara, Sastha in hunting posture, yakshi, Gopika vastraharan, Venugopala Krishnan, Sita under shimshapavriksha, Ravana Prathapam, Sethubandhanam, Viraraman, Krishna Leela, Mahavishnu, Lakshminarayanan, Ananthashayanam, Durga, Aghora Shiva and Govardhana Krishnan.