Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is one of the most famous and richest temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This Hindu temple was dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple is built in an tangled fusion of Dravidian and Kerala style architecture. This temple is considered as one of the oldest Vishnu temples in the country. The temple is located near the pond called Padmatheertham which represent “Lotus Spring”.
The idol here reclines on Anantha the eight-hooded serpent God and the principal deity is enshrined in the “Anantha Sayanam” (Eternal Repose) posture, the eternal yogic sleep on the serpent Adhisheshan is on the south side of the temple. The beautiful temple in Thiruvananthapuram, capital of Kerala has outstanding structure, stone carvings and murals art is the treasure of ancient work which pull tourists round the year.
The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams, the Divya Desams are the holy abodes of the great Lord Vishnu and the primary Divya Desam in Kerala. The temple worships diety Lord Padmanabha- a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu is called Sree Padmanabhaswamy. This mystical temple is one of the very few temples in India where the entrance is only granted to people who practice the Hindu faith.
The temple is one of the seven Parasurama temples in Kerala. The temple is one of the famous Lord Vishnu temples in Kerala, South India. The city of Thiruvananthapuram is named after the Lord Sree Padmanabha which literally means “The land of the Sree Anantha Padmanabhaswamy”. According to tradition, it is believed to have been worshipped by Chandra(Moon God) and Indra(the head of Devas).
Alpashy festival in October and November. Panguni festival in March and April. Many of devotees come from far and near to celebrate the festival during October and March. The Maharaja of Travancore lead the Procession twice daily till the ten days of celebration. The celebration concludes with “Palli Vetta” on the 9th day it is a symbolic of hunt performed by Kings and the ‘Arattu'(holy bath at the sangumugham beech) on the tenth day. Another celebration during festival is VelaKali which portray the war between pandavas and Kauravas.
The temple is known for its specific rules of worship and has strict dress codes to be followed by devotees. Men need to wear mundu and dhoti, not to wear shirts or pants. Ladies need to wear sari, mundum neriyathum (set), skirt and long blouse, or half sari.
The splendid temple has also been the focus of many media reports and press coverage owing to the incredible discoveries of treasure. The riddle surrounding Vault B is fascinating and this rise the visitor count since its discovery.Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple Darshan Timings
Morning hours: 3:30 AM – 4:45 AM (Nirmalya Darshanam), 6:30 AM – 7:00 AM, 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM, 10:30 AM – 11:00 AM, 11:45 AM – 12 PM.
Evening Darshan Timings: 5:00 PM – 6:15 PM, 6:45 PM – 7:20 PM.
Parasurama Temple Thiruvallam
Parasurama Temple is dedicated to Lord Parasurama creator who is the 6th Incarnation of Mahavishnu. The temple located at 7 kilometers away from Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvallom Kerala. This is an ancient old temple situated on the beautiful banks of Karamana River. The centuries old temple is kept as a monument. This ancient old temple is famous for the ‘Balitharpana’ or ‘Vavu Bali’ in order to make offerings to the souls of the departed of forefather.
This temple is a 2000-year old and the unique feature of this temple it has separate shrines for Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma the Trimurtis of Hindu religion. The peculiarity of this temple is situated at merging of 3 rivers called Thirveni sanghamam of three small rivers, such as Karamana River, Killi River and Parvathiputhanar river.
The Parasurama Temple is a holy site to carry Bali rituals ‘Karkidaka Vavu Bali it is one of the main ritual conducted in the temple. Balitharpan is a ritualistic performance of purification according to the Hindu faith, it is believed that only through balitharpan that the dead attain moksha and their souls are set free. The temple offers devotees to perform balitharpan every day, it is believed that the souls will definetly to be freed of their wordly sins. The special days at the temple is Parasurama Jayanti, Thiruvonam Arattu, karkidakavavu.
Attukal Bhagavathy Temple
The Attukal Bhagavathy Temple is an ancient temple in South India which is dedicated to Lord Bhagavathy. Attukal Temple is situated within 2 kilometer’s of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The temple is renowned for the annual Attukal Pongala festival, it is the most regarded festival in which over a million women participate. Attukal temple is known as “the sabarimala of women”, thousands of devotees gather together on the day of pongala in the month of Kumbham with their offerings to the goddess. The women gather around this temple and prepare Pongala it is a sweet porridge(rice cooked with jaggery, ghee, coconut as well as other ingredients) in the open fire in small pots to please the Goddess Kannaki. The Goddess Kannaki (Parvathi) is the main deity in this temple. The Godess kannaki is the incarnation of parvathy.
The mythology behind the temple, the story is happened long years back , the head of Mulluveetil an old man who was performing his ritualistic prayer near the river. He saw a young girl near the bank of the river. The girl seek help from the old man whether he could help her cross the Killi river, the Karvnavar(family head) Know that she was not an ordinary girl, because of her charm and aura. He bowed before her and willingly took her to otherside of the river suddenly she disappeared. She came back in his dream and asked him to build a temple where he found 3 golden lines in his grove (kavu) and her abode erected there.
The head of Mulluveetil who made a temple and it became the abode of the goddess, so this is present the location of the Attukal Temple. The girl appeared before Mulluveetil karanavar is Known as Kannaki. The Lord Kannaki(incarnation of parvathy ) is destroyer goddess, to destroy the evil to preserve good. Kannaki was returning after destroying the city of Madurai. It is said that on her way to Kodungalloor, the head of Mulluvetil (karanavar) saw her as a little girl and took a sojourn to Attukal.
Karikkakom Chamundi Devi Temple
Karikkakom Devi Temple is a famous Goddess Temple main deity here is Karikkakathamma (Goddess Chamundi Devi) incarnation of goddess durga. This ancient temple, more than 600 years old, is situated at Karikkakom, Thiruvananthapuram. The temple is situated 7 km north of Sree Padmanabha Swami Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. The temple is suspect to be the place of Sathyam (truth), Dharmam(personal duty) and Nidhi(justice). To reach the nearest railway station is Trivandrum Central Railway Station and bus station is Thiruvananthapuram Central Bus Station.
The temple deity idol is created by Panchaloha idol which is traditional five-metal alloys (gold, copper, silver, lead and iron) of Goddess Karikakathamma.
The temple is known for its rajagopuram 63 feet height, it is a ‘large pyramidal tower’ made at the entrance of the temple. The other shrines of the temple are Goddess Raktha Chamundi, Goddess Bala Chamundi, Lord Maha Ganapathy,Yogiswaran (Yogeeswaran), Sree Dharmashasta, Bhuvaneswari, Ayiravalli (Mountain Goddess), Nagaraja and Yakshi. The festival of temple is held for seven days. The Makam Nakshatram in Malayalam is the star of goddesss, thousands of devotees from different district or nearby of Kerala offers pongala on that day.
Sreekanteswaram Temple
Sreekanteswaram Temple is one of the most popular Shiva Temples in Kerala, situated at Sreekanteswaram, Thiruvananthapuram. It is around 1 km from East Fort, in Thiruvananthapuram. Here Lord Shiva is worshipped here in the form of a Shiva Lingam facing east. The Lord Shiva is known by the different names Sreekanteswaran (the lord of Sreekanteswaram), Mahadeva, Kailasanatha, and Gowri Shankara. The temple also has separate shrines of Sree Mahaganapathy, Sree Dharmasastha (Swamy Ayyapan), Sree Nagaraja, Sree Murugan (Lord Subramanya), Sree Krishna and Sree Anjaneya (Lord Hanuman). There is a holy pond near the temple.
The annual festival of Sreekanteswaram is the Thiruvathira Mahotsavam is held during the Malayalam month of Dhanu (March – April). This is a ten days festival starts with the hoisting of the temple flag called Thirukkodiyettu and the Pallivetta (royal hunt) in the 9th day of the festival.
Shiva Rathri is the major festival celebrated at Sreekanteswaram Temple and celebrated in the Malayalam month of Kumbham. During the Shiva rathri festival, a devotee comes to the temple, 108 times chanting the mantras and atitras of Shiva. The divinity is carried out in procession on the silver Rishabhavahana at 3 am and procession is conducted on the 5th day of temple festival.