Padmanabhaswamy Temple

Located within the precincts of the East Fort, the Padmanabhaswamy Temple is famous for its stone carvings and mural paintings. Lord Vishnu reclining on Anantha, the serpent, is the presiding deity in this temple, which is considered to be among the 108 sacred shrines, or Divya Desams of Lord Vishnu in India. According to the Hindu holy text of the Bhagwat Gita, Lord Krishna's elder brother, Balarama visited this temple, which is a confluence of Dravidian and Kerala architectural styles. It is believed that the temple has a mysterious vault that cannot be opened by any human being. It is said that if people attempt to do so then catastrophes would follow in the temple premises, around it or across India. Only those who profess to follow the Hindu code can enter this temple and there is a dress code as well.

The present structure of the temple is the result of the renovation commissioned by Marthanda Varma, one of the more popular and noted Travancore kings. He also introduced the festivals of Murajapam and Bhadra Deepam in the temple. The former of these festivals translates to continuous chanting of prayers, and is held at Padmanabhaswamy once every six years.

Padmanabhaswamy Temple