Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple.
Temple Name: Sri Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Kshetram.
Renovated In: 1733 AD.
Alias Name: AnantaPuri.
God Name: Sri Anantha PadmanabhaSwamy.
Goddess Name: Sri Hari Lakshmi Thayaar.
Dedicated To: Lord Vishnu.
Pushkarni: Matsya Theertham alias Padma Theertham.
Vimanam: Hemakoota Vimanam.
Renovated By: Raja Marthanda Varma.
Location: Trivandrum(Kerala).
State: Kerala.
Country:India.
Only Hindus are allowed inside the temple.Inside the temple dress regulations are strictly enforced.
The Temple Open:
(04.15-05.15hrs,06.45-07.30hrs,08.30-10.30hrs,11.30-11.45hrs,17.15-19.30hrs).
Dress Code:
Men – Dhoti.
Women – Saree and Blouse.
Temple Location:
It is found 3/4 miles away from the Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station. (inside the East Fort).
The history of the temple dates back to the 8th Century CE, when Thiruvananthapuram was ruled by the Chera Dynasty. The Divya Prabandha canon of literature by the Alvars glorifies this shrine as one of 11 Divya Desams in Kerala. It is said that there are references to this temple in four puranas; namely Brahma, Vayu, Varaha, Padma. The 8th century Alvar poet Nammalvar created four slokas and one phalasruthi about this temple.Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Gopuram
The foundation of the present gopuram was laid in 1566.The temple has a 100-foot, seven-tier gopuram made in the Pandyan style.The temple stands by the side of a tank, named Padma Theertham (meaning the lotus spring). The temple has a corridor with 365 and one-quarter sculptured granite-stone pillars with elaborate carvings. This corridor extends from the eastern side into the sanctum sanctorum. An eighty-foot flag-staff stands in front of the main entry from the 'prakaram' (corridor). The ground floor under the gopuram (main entrance in the eastern side) is known as the 'Nataka Sala' where the famous temple art Kathakali was staged in the night during the ten-day uthsavam (festival) conducted twice a year, during the Malayalam months of Meenam and Thulam.
Mythology:
Padmanabha Swamy Temple stands at a place considered as one of the seven Parasurama Kshetras,texts including the Puranas,particularly the Skanda Purana and Padma Purana,have references for this shrine.Tradition states that in this place,the Hindu deity Lord Vishnu gave darshan to Indian sages like Divakarmuni and Vilvamangalam Swami.Another story tells of an pulaya couple seeing Vishnu in the form of a child.The child took morsels of rice from the hands of the couple.Also it is believed that Divakaramuni,when he saw the deity he took the first food item he saw which was an Unripe Mango and a coconut shell as an offering plate and performed primary pooja.In memory of this legend,naivedyam or offering prepared from rice is offered to the deity here in a coconut shell.
