Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple: Is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu located in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The shrine is currently run by a trust headed by the royal family of Travancore. The temple is one of 108 Divya Desams (Holy Abodes of Vishnu) – principal centers of worship of the deity in Vaishnavism. The temple, constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil literature canon of the Tamil Alvar saints (6th-9th centuries CE), with structural additions to it made throughout the 16th century CE, when its ornate Gopuram was constructed. The most recent renovations to the temple occurred in the 18th century CE. The temple features heavily in Akilam five series of the Akilathirattu Ammanai corpus, the holy text of the Ayyavazhi belief system. Services were provided to the local community with the temple's revenue. The temple gave its name to Kerala’s state capital Thiruvananthapuram. ‘Thiru’ ‘Anantha’ ‘Puram’ means Sacred Abode of Lord Anantha Padmanabha.
The principal deity, Padmanabhaswamy, is enshrined in the "Anantha-sayanam" posture (in the eternal sleep of Yoga-nidra on the serpent Ananta). The Travancore Kings regarded themselves as ‘Padmanabha-dasa’ (Servant of Lord Padmanabha).
History:
In earlier years Padmanabhaswamy Temple and its properties were controlled by eight powerful Nair feudal lords known as Ettuveetil Pillamar (Lords of the Eight Houses), under the guidance of the Council of Eight and a Half. In a battle of succession in the 18th century, King Anizham Thirunal Valiya Marthanda Varma, the ruler traditionally regarded as the founder of Travancore, successfully suppressed the Ettuveetil Pillais and his cousins following the discovery of conspiracies the Lords were involved in against the Royal House of Travancore. The last major renovation of the Padmanabhaswamy temple was also done by Marthanda Varma. On January 3, 1750, Anizham Thirunal "surrendered" the kingdom of Travancore to Padmanabha, the deity at the temple, and pledged that he and his descendants would "serve" the kingdom as Padmanabha Dasa. Since then, the name of every Travancore King was preceded by the title Padmanabha Dasa, while the female members of the Royal family were called Padmanabha Sevinis. The donation of the Kingdom to Sree Padmanabhaswamy was known as Thripadidanam and afterwards the Maharaja was known as Sree Padmanabha Dasa Vanchipala Varma Kulashekara Kireetapati. By surrendering the kingdom to Lord Padmanabha.
The temple: 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.
Padmanabhaswamy Temple stands at a place considered one of the seven Parasurama Kshetras, texts including the Puranas, particularly the Skanda Purana and Padma Purana, have references to this shrine.
The two annual festivals of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple culminate in a grand procession, in which the three deities (Padmanabha, Narasimha and Krishna) are carried on flower-deck and aesthetically decorated Garuda Vahanas to Shankumugham Beach, for "arattu" (sacramental ablution). The arattu days are declared as local public holidays in Thiruvanathapuram.
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.
There are other important shrines inside the temple for Hindu deities Sri Narasimha, Sri Krishna, Sri Ayyappa, Sri Ganesha and Sri Hanuman. Many other small shrines like Kshetrapalan (who guards the temple), Vishwaksena and Sri Garuda are also present.
Legend:
There are many legends regarding the origin of the temple. One such legend says that Vilvamangalathu Swamiyar alias Divakara Muni prayed to Krishna for his darshan. Krishna came in disguise as a small, mischievous boy. The boy swallowed the Saligrama which was kept in Puja. The Sage became enraged at this and chased the boy until the boy hid himself behind a tree. The tree fell down and became Vishnu in Anantha Shayanam (reclining posture on Anantha the serpent) – but when he did so, he was of an extraordinarily large size. The Sage, recognizing that the tree was Vishnu, pleaded that because of the huge form the lord had manifested before him he could not either have a mind fulfilling darshan or circumambulate him. He then asked the Lord to shrink to a smaller proportion – thrice the length of his staff. Immediately, the idol shrank, and the Lord instructed the sage that he should be worshipped through three doors. These doors are now the doors in the temple through which the idol may be viewed. Through the first door, the worship is offered to Shiva; through the second entrance to Brahma on the Lord's lotus navel, and through the third is Vishnu's feet, which are said to lead to salvation. Another story tells of a 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, took the first food item he saw which was an unripe Mango on a coconut shell as an offering plate and performed primary pooja. To this day, the naivedyam or offering of unripe mango is offered to the deity here in the same coconut shell that Divakara Muni offered his prasadam to the Lord. Millions of devotees believe that the Lord has personally come in disguise and had saved the Travancore Kingdom from enemy attack on multiple occasions.
Darshan, sevas and festivals: There are many festivals related to this temple. The major festivals are bi-annual. The Alpashy festival, which is in October/November and the Painkuni festival, which is in March/April, lasts for 10 days each. These festivals culminate with the Aarat (holy bath) procession to the Shankumugham Beach. The word Aarat refers to the purificatory immersion of the deities of the temple in sea. This event takes place in the evening. The King of Travancore escorts the Aarat procession by foot. The festival idols as Utsava Vigrahas of Sri Padmanabhaswamy, Krishna and Narasimha are given a ritual bath in the sea, after the prescribed pujas. After this ceremony, the idols are taken back to the temple in a procession that is lit by traditional torches, marking the conclusion of the festival.
A major annual festival related to Padmanabha temple is the Navaratri festival. The idols of Saraswati, Durga, and Murugan are brought to the kuthira malika palace in front of Padmanabha temple as a procession. This festival lasts for 9 days. The famous Swathi music festival is held every year during this festival.
The biggest festival in this temple is laksha deepam, which means hundred thousand (or one lakh) lamps. This festival is unique and commences once in 6 years. Prior to this festival, chanting of prayers and recitation of three vedas is done for 51 days. On the festival time, hundred thousand oil lamps are lit in and around the temple premises. The next laksha deepam is slated on January 2014.
Sreekovil: In the Sreekovil, Vishnu is depicted in a reclining position over the serpent Anantha or Adi Sesha. The serpent has his face pointed inwards (signifying contemplation). The Lord's right hand hangs over Shiva. Sridevi, the Goddess of Prosperity and Bhudevi the Goddess of the Earth, two consorts of Vishnu stand by his side and the god Brahma emerges on a lotus, which emanates from the navel of Vishnu. The idol is said to be made from 12008 Saligram. These Saligram are from the banks of the Gandaki River in Nepal, and it is believed that they were brought with much ceremony on elephants. The idol is covered with, Katusarkara yogam, a special ayurvedic mix, was used to make a plaster which keeps the deity clean. The daily worship is with flowers and for the abhishekam, special deities are used. The flowers have always been removed using peacock feathers fearing damage to the katusarkara.
The platform in front of vimanam and where the deity rests are both carved out of a single stone and hence called "Ottakkal Mandapam". In order to perform darshan and puja, one has to climb on to the Mandapam. The deity is visible through three doors – Face of the Lord and Siva Linga underneath his hand in the first door, Brahma seated on lotus emanating from the Lord's navel along with the "Utsava moorthi" and deities of Lord Vishnu, Sridevi and Bhudevi in the second door and the Lord's feet in the third door. Only the King of Travancore may perform Namaskaram, or bow prostrate on the "Ottakkal Mandapam". It is traditionally held that anybody who bows prostrate on the mandapam has surrendered all that he/she possesses to the deity. Since the ruler has already done that, he/she is permitted to bow on this mandapam.
