Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram - 108 Divya Desam

The temple behind the origin of the name Thiruvananthapuram, it is located at the heart of the town. The historical backdrop of Padmanabhaswamy temple goes back to the 8th century. It was the famous ruler Marthanda Varma, who inaugurated the Murajapam and Bhadra Deepam celebrations in the temple and did a noteworthy redesign to the present day structure. Murajapam, which actually implies non-stop droning of requests to God, is being conducted in the temple once in six years. In 1750, Marthanda Varma devoted the kingdom of Travancore to Lord Padmanabhaswamy. Marthanda Varma promised that the illustrious family would govern the state in the interest of the lord and his family would serve the kingdom as ‘Padmanabha Dasa’ or the Servant of lord Padmanabha.

From that point onwards, the name of each Travancore king was called before by the title Padmanabha Dasa. The idol of the presiding deity of this temple is noted for its composition, which has 1008 saligramam were brought from the banks of the river Gandaki in Nepal. The sanctum sanctorum is located on a stone slab and the main idol, which is about 18 feet long, can be viewed through three different doors. The head and chest are seen through the first door, while the hands can be viewed through the second door and the feet through the third. The temple interiors are adorned by beautiful paintings and murals. It has a flag post of about 80 feet high and is covered with gold plated copper sheets. It is one among the 108 holy Vaishnavite shrines.