With a royal blend of Kerala and Dravidian styles of architecture, Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is widely known to be the richest temple in the world. It has a long record of history with an origin that dates back to the 8th century AD. It is one of the 108 sacred temples or Divya Desams in India dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The temple is fairly mentioned in the works of Tamil azhwars which further enhanced the majesty and heritage of the temple. A large number of devotees flood to the temple on different occasions including the Murajapam and Bhadra Deepam festivals.
The main attraction of the temple is the reclining poster of Lord Vishnu, the deity, on top of the hooded serpent, called Anantha or Adi Sesha. It was Marthanda Varma, the most renowned among the Travancore Kings, who renovated the temple in the mid-17th century, resulting in the present-day Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The temple is currently run by a trust, headed by the member of the royal family of Travancore.
It is believed that the temple has an asset of about 90,000 crores, with the additional amount of donations received from the devotees worshipping every single year. Only Hindus are allowed inside the temple with strict dress code restrictions. Men are requested to remove the dress above the waist and are not allowed to wear pants, but mundu or dhoti. Women are not allowed to wear churidar, but a saree, half-saree, skirt, and blouse are permissible. Another significant fact to be noted is that it is the name of this temple that lends its name to the capital city, ‘Thiru’ ‘Anantha’ ‘Puram’, which means the sacred abode of Sree Anantha Padmanabha.
Contact Details
Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple,
West Nada, East Fort, Pazhavangadi,
Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala 695023
