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Home > Temples of Kerala > Thriuvamanthapuram district Thriuvamanthapuram district(a)Chirayinkeezh taluk Sree Janarddanaswamy temple, Varkala is a renowned Vaishnavite shrine of India. The present form of the temple architecture dates back to 13th century, though it is seen that it existed much earlier. Throughout the year the pilgrims visit the temple', on account of its antiquity and sanctity. From the point of view of religious importance it is considered equal to Gaya. The general belief is that both Brabma and Lord Parasurama performed great yaagas at Varkala and this is considered to be the reason for the existence of mineral waters and lignite terrain in the place. Further, it is one of the sacred places for pithru-bali, which is done in the sea shore, known as paapa-naasam katappuram, followed by worship in this temple.A dip in chakra-theerttha is considered very auspicious. The important vazhipaats are sudarsana-homam and paal-paayasam. The Sree Sankaranarayana temple, Navaikkulam an ancient temple believed to have been renovated in 1439 A.D., has all the pancha-praakaaras. It enshrines a syncretic image of Lord Sankarananiyana whose right half shows the attributes of Lord Siva and left half those of Maha Vishnu. The important offerings are paal-paayasam, aravana and appam, but the Thula-paayasam (made of raw rice, molasses, kadali plantain, honey and kalkkanda) is offered for the cure of all types of diseases. The Sree Bhagavathi temple, Saarkkara; dedicated to Bhadrakaap, is yet another famous temple and the Meeaa-Bharani festival here attracts large number of devotees. The main offerings are thaala-poli (holding of lights in hands by hundreds of young girls) and Garudan-thookkam and urul or sayana-pradakshinam, ponkaala-nivedyam, kalabhaabhishekam etc. The Sree Bhagavathi temple, Koikkal is closely associated with the Travancore Royal House. The garbha-grha of Ayiravally Saastha temple has no roof and has a serpent grove and is considered very ancient. The other major temples in the taluk are Airoor Anchumoortthi temple,Kappil Siva Parvathi temple, Keleswaram Siva temple, Kunnath Mabadeva temple,Kuttoor Saastha temple, Pozhikkara Bhagavathi temple,Nagroor Raloorkaavu Devi temple, Pazhayakunnemmal Puthiyakaavu Bhagavathi temple, Chennamangalam Siva temple, Kotuvazhannur Palliyara Bhadrakaali temple, etc. (b) Nedumangad taluk (Netumangaat taluk) Situated on the banks of Vamanapuram river, the Thiruvamanapuram Vishnu temple is an ancient one in the taluk. The main vazhipaat is paal-paayasam. Other famous Vaishnavite shrines are the Sree Krishnaswamy temple, Pirappancode (in Manickal village), Mukhavoor and, Karippur (Nedumangad). Among Siva temples, the more important ones are Mrthrummala Parangottappan temple, Bharathannur Sree Siva temple, Sree Mahadevar temple Nedumangad, Veernakaavu Siva temple,Vellanad Sree Siva temple and Anandeswaram Siva temple (Aryanad). There are many Devi temples of importance in this taluk, like the Vazhavelikkonam Sree Bhagavathi temple, Vamanapuram Sree Vana Durga temple, Vengamala (in Pullampara village) the Sree Bhadrakaali temple and Sree Mutharamman temple (Nedumangad),the Sree Bhagavathi temple (Aruvikkara), Sree Chamundi temple, Irayancode,Mudippura temples at Changa and Vellanad etc. It is seen that the fishes in the Karamana river flowing on the eastem side of the Bhagavathi temple at Aruvikkara are considered divine and feeding these fishes with rice is considered auspicious. (c)Thiruvananthapuram taluk The taluk derives its name from the great Sree AnanthaPadmanabhaswamy temple, commonly known as Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple where the idol of the principal deity of Sree Padmanabha is seen in reclining pose. a three-coiled figure of the sacred serpent God Anantha. The antiquity of the temple! is not exactly known but there are evidences which tell that the temple existed prior to third century B.C. Earlier the idol was made of iluppa (Indian Butter tree) bur scarred by fire in 1686 AD. The present idol is made as per a special compositil called katu-sarkkara yoga, specially used in the making of bimbas in Kerala. T inner spaces of the idol are filled up with twelve thousand sacred saaliagramas (stones which represent Maha Vishnu) brought on elephant's back from the waj beds of the Gandaki river in Nepal on 3rd Paikuni 908 KE 1733 AD and the idol v.j made by Balaranyakonideva. However, the figurine of Anantha is like a peetham base on which the idol is laid and it is not made of saalagramams. In reclining pc the actual length comes to eighteen feet or three dands (here one dand is equal to feet which was supposed to be the height of Vilwamangalam Swaamiyar) which m be at variance to normal measurements adopted for Vishnu idols. Within the maryad of the temple there are subshrines of other deities like Sree Narasimha, Sree Krishna, Sree Saastha, Sree Rama, Kshathrapaala, Sree Ganapathi, Sree Hanuman, Sree Garuda etc. Of these the Sree Krishna shrine known as Thiruvambadi Gosala Krishna is the'oldest and the present structure is datable to 11th century or even earlier.'front of this shrine there is a separate flag-staff. Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple closely associated with the political history of Travancore, particularly after the Thripadi daanam held on 5th Makaram 925 K.E. corresponding to 3rd January 1750 A when Anizham Thirunal Maharaja Marthhanda Varma dedicated his entire kingdom to his tutelar deity Sree Padmanabha and ruled the state on behalf of the deity. A famous Vazhipaats are paal-paaysam and sahasranama-archana to Sree Padmanabha. In this context it is worth mentioning that apart from the inner radiance of the de installed, every composite part of the temple has its own elegance. While the gap on the east is almost a replica of Tamil architecture, gopuras on other sides are endo, with grace and nobility, a characteristic of Kerala architecture. It has got a unic niitakaSala (stage for performing arts). The majestic seevelippura, with about twe feet height single block pillars numbering 365, each crowned with Vyaali-mukha-deepa-lakshmi (at the bottom of each pillar) and variant ornamentation, is an ad! attraction to this temple. There are beautiful sculptures in the hall which link seevelippura with the naalambalam. The Ottakkal-mandapa (eka-sila mandapa) is marvellous. On the whole the temple has an important place in architectural excellence, having a blend of Chera, Chola and Pandya influences. On the western side of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is the Mithranandapuram temple having separate shrines dedicated to Thri-moortthis Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara. These ancient shrines, based on the Copper plates are datable prior to 12th century. The Valiasaala Sree Mahadeva temple in the city is identified with Kaandalur saala and was once a great centre 'of Vedic studies, besides being a centre for military training which came up by about the middle of the eighth century. The temple has two independent shrines, one dedicated to Lord Mahadeva and the other to Lord Maha Vishnu. Of late this temple has lost its ancient glory. The Sree Parasurama temple, Thiruvallam, an ancient temple datable prior to 13th century is a sacred place for offering bali to manes throughout the year, particularly on Karkkatakavaavu day. Apart from the Sree Parasurama idol there are shrines for Brahma, Siva, Mathsya,Veda Vyaasa and Mahishasura Marddini within the naalambalam apart from other shrines outside naalambalam. The offerings differ but the thila-homa, meant for the solace of the manes, is considered very sacred. The Sree Bhagavathi temple at Thonnal near Kazhakkuttam is yet another ancient temple of architectural importance. The construction of the temple dates back to 15th century though the idol was there much earlier. The principal vazhipaats are pushpaanjali and paayasam. The Sree Maha deva temple at Kazhakkilttam is very old and its renovation is datable to 14th century AD. However the image of Maha Vishnu in a subsidiary shrine belongs to early ninth century. The important vazhipaatfo; Sree Mahcldevais dhaara. The Sree Maha Gapapathi temple, pazhavangadi is a renowned temple. The idol was originally worshipped by a soldier of Tnivancore Army, garrisoned at Padmau.Ei.bhapuram and later it became a favourite deity of all. When the capital of Travancore was shifted from Padmagabhapuram to Trivandrum in 1795 A.D. the garrison was also shifted and the idol was installed at its present place. Later when the State Forces were integrated with the Indian Army the administration of the temple rested with the Madras Regimental Centre. The important Vazhipaat is breaking of coconuts for the fulfilment of any desire besides other offerings like appam, modakam etc and also Ganapathi-homa. There are number of Ganapathi temples in the city of which those at Kammattam and Vazhuthakkad deserve special mention. The Sree Lakshmi Varahamoorthi temple at Sree Varaaham is a unique temple, the important offering being paal-paayasam The Devi temple at Sankumukham has a beautiful image of Goddess Durga. Pushpaanjali is the main offering. The Sree Hanuman temple at Palayam which is situated close to Vikas Bhavan (Thiruvaganthapuram) attracts large number of devotees. Venna-chaartthal (coating the idol with butter) and vata-maala are the important offerings to the all-powerful Lord Anjaneya. Garland of betel leaves also is a favourite offering to Lord Hanuman. The Sree Bhagavathi temple, Attukal rose to greater importance in the present century and it is now known as Ladies' Sabarimala as thousands of women assemble in and around the temple within a radius of 3km to offer ponkaala-nivedyam to the goddess on the Pooram asterisk in the month of Kumbham. It is believed that the deity of this temple is an incarnationof Kanaki. Muzhukkappu and kalabhabhishekam are main vazhipaats in this temple. During festival days, apart from ponkaala, certain other offerings like thaalapoli, kutthiyottam etc are done. Another very important Devi temple is the Chamuqqeswari temple, Thozhuvancode which is associated with the history of Travancore. About five centuries back, the temple was not so prominent but of late it has risen to great prominence. Besides the main deity there are minor deities like Karinkaali, Mohana yakshi, Ganapathi, Naagas, Thampuran and Hanuman besides peethams for anumber of inferior gods. The Navagrahaprathishtas are unique as they are large in size though there are deviations from the traditional positions in respect of grahas of Budha, Sani and Kethu, as well as the facing of grahas. The uthsava in the month of Makara every year as well as the annual naagaroott and sarpa-bali and also commendable execution of poojas make the temple famous. Of the other Devi temples, the Karikkakani Chamundi temple deserves special mention as in earlier times Sathyam-chollal in front of Raktha-Chamundi was an accepted ritual to determine truth. Even today devotees throngh into the temple for the blessings of the Goddess. Other more important Devi or Bhadrakaali temples are at Palkulangara, pazhamchira, Udiyannoor(Mudippura), Yakshi-amma Aalthara, Kattacha Bhagavathi, Rajarajeswari (Devaswom Board Junction) etc. There are some very important Siva temples in the taluk. They are the temples at Sreekanteswaram, old Sreekanteswaram, Theyil, Sasthamangalam,Chengallur, GoureeSapattom, Aaryasala, Kusakkode, Valia Adichapuram, Thrippappur (Thrippadapuram) and Katinamkulam. In all these Siva temples the main vazhipaat is dhaara. The Thrivikramangalam Mahci Vishnu temple has a beautiful image of the main deity in addition to exquisite sculptures of dwaara-paalas and dance scenes on the banister (side of the sopaana). The Naagaraja temple known as Aganthankadu temple has close relationship with the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. The Sree Rama temple, the Sree Vettakkorumakan temple and the Sree Venkitachalapathi temple within the Fort area of the city are also important shrines. Ofthe Subramanya temples the more prominent ones are at Ulloor, Thampanoor and Kaudiar. Two Saastha temples, one at Thycaud and the other at Manacaud attract large number of devotees while the Sree Krishna temples at Peroorkada (Ambalamukku), Rshimangalam,Punnapuram, Jagathi and Thirumala are famous. The Kolatthukara Siva Temple, Kulathoor, consecrated by Sree Narayana Guru, is famous. The Sree Anandavalleeswaram - (Devi) temple, (consecrated by Sree Narayana Guru), Mannanthala has a modem architecture. Both are worshipped by large number of devotees. The Bhadrakaali temple at Vellayani is one which attracts large number of devotees. There is an important ancient rock cut temple in the taluk at Madavoorppara. Datable to 850 A.D. the Madavoorppara temple has a peetham and Sivalinga carved in the rock itself with inner perambulatory space. Two images, one of Muruka and the other of Ga.vapathi are also carved on the walls and it is said that these images show signs of growth. There is an ancient vattezhuth inscription in the temple. Among the temples in the taluk Neerama:gkara Sree Siva temple is also ancient. The temple site is associated with an image of Brahma with four hands and three faces and early ninth century. But structurally the present temple cannot be dated earlier than the eleventh century206. Even the Vishnu image has to be dated anterior, by at least a century, to the present circular shrine. Close by there is a Maha Vishnu temple at Chirakkara which contains subshrines of many deities Siva, Durga, Ganapathi, Muruka, Ayyappa, Hanuman and Navagrana. The main offering is sudarsana homa for Vishnu and dhaara for Siva. Generally the taluk has high density of temples both prominent and big as well as small but the description given above is limited to Some importard temples only.
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