The history of the temple goes several centuries back to the colonial period dominated by the Portuguese who first landed in Kozhikode (Kerala) in 1498. Till the end of the reign of the Vijayanagara rulers, Brahmins of Goa or north Canara led a comfortable life, doing their religious duties without fail. After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1568, the autocratic Portuguese took control of the region. and began their vigorous religious persecution and caused all kinds of problems to the natives.The Portuguese wanted to convert the natives to Christianity at any cost through coercive methods, besides forcing them to learn the Portuguese language, dress in western style and eat western style food, including beef, ham, etc. As their atrocities became unbearable, the entire Brahmin community began to move down south to Mangalore. A part of the community moved farther down to Cochin( now in Kerala). Swami Vijayendra Teertha of Kumbhakonam Math brought the idol of Venkatachalapathy to Kochi and the people since then have been living near the temple that was first built in 1599 (first Prathista). The temple faced the fury of Portuguese again in this part and finally The Portuguese wanted to convert the natives to Christianity at any cost through coercive methods, besides forcing them to learn the Portuguese language, dress in western style and eat western style food, including beef, ham, etc. As their atrocities became unbearable, the entire Brahmin community began to move down south to Mangalore. A part of the community moved farther down to Cochin( now in Kerala). Swami Vijayendra Teertha of Kumbhakonam Math brought the idol of Venkatachalapathy to Kochi and the people since then have been living near the temple that was first built in 1599 (first Prathista). The temple faced the fury of Portuguese again in this part and finathe temple was rebuilt in 1633 (second Prathista) when the Dutch took over the administration.n 1791, as ill-luck would have it, the temple was plundered again, and the idol was secretly kept in Alappuzha for many years. It was only in 1853, it was brought back to the temple.