Ambalappuzha is a small town in Alappuzha district of Kerala state, south India. The town is famous for its Sri Krishna temple. The Ambalappuzha temple is one of the three important Sri Krishna temples in the state of Kerala.

Ambalapuzha is a coastal town besides the NH 47 about 13 km to the south of Alappuzha. The temple of Sree Krishna is located 1.5 km east of the town junction. In the olden days the headquarters of the Ambalapuzha rajahs were near the temple. There was a time when the Ambalapuzha territory had been under the rule of Chempakasseri rajahs. But when Marthanda Varma, the valorous ruler of Travancore conquered Chempakasseri territory in 925 M.E., there occurred a gradual declension of the royal family of Chempakasseri. Some people worship the presiding deity of the Ambalapuzha temple as Parathasarthy while others as Gopalakrishna but both the names of course, are the two sides of the same coin. As it is said commonly, the legend about the origin and exaltation of the temple goes like this:-

At one time in the history of Ambalappuzha, the place where the present temple is situated, was under water. While the rajah of Ambalapuzha dynasty and Vilwamangalam Swamiyar were going through the waterways, it so happened that they could hear a luscious sound of flute coming from a nearby huge and luxuriant peepul tree. Swamiyar was so attracted by the music that the wanted the oarsman to row the boat to the shore. On landing they went in search of the origin of the melodious song. To his astonishment Swamiyar saw Sree Krishna sitting on a branch of the peepul tree playing his flute. At first he could not believe his eyes. He folded his hands and bowed his head, so did rajah. Both of them went round the tree singing praises of the Lord. The rajah thought that at last prosperity had come to his kingdom. He was so much pleased with the presence of the Almighty in his kingdom that he considered it as a blessing in disguise for the smooth functioning of his duties as well as the lofty administration of the territory.