Asia

Atop the Golden Dreams – Sri Padmanabaswamy Temple

Atop the Golden Dreams – Sri Padmanabaswamy Temple

Visit Thiruvananthapuram in the land of Kerala, God’s Own Land in Kerala and go to Padmanabhaswamy temple here. The presiding deity here is Lord Vishnu and the temple is located in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. The architecture here is entirely Dravidian and has all the glory of the past culture. The dome of the temple was constructed sometime in the 16th century b. It is constructed on the lines of the temple at Thiruvattar.

Thiruvananthapuram means the sacred residence of Lord Padmanabha. The idol here is in the sleeping p posture which is believed to be the posture of the Indian God Lord Vishnu. The god is seen lying on the serpent Anantha or also known as Adi Sesha. The serpent is seen to have five hoods all facing inside. This signifies contemplation. The right hand of the idol is over the linga of the Indian god Lord Shiva. The two goddesses Sri Devi and Bhudevi are seen on the two sides of the idol. There is also an idol of the Indian god Lord Brahma who comes out of a lotus from the navel of the idol of Lord Vishnu. 12,000 saligramams have been used to make this idol. These saligramams have been collected from Nepal from the banks of the river Gandaki. There is an ayurvedic mix that covers this idol of Lord Vishnu and everyday worship is done with flowers and other offerings.

The platforms are called vimanams and this is the place where the idol is kept. It is a simple big stone and is cut out of a rock from Thirumala which lies near the Padmanabhaswamy temple. It was brought specially for this. There are three doors from where we can see the idol. The image of the sleeping deity and the linga of Lord Shiva is seen through the main door. Sridevi and the Divakara Muni and Brahma is seen through the second door and the Lords feet and Bhudevi with the sage Kaudinya seen through the third door.

There are six chambers in the Padmanabhaswamy temple premises and there is Srichakram which is the holy room. There are other temples inside the temple. There is the Thiruvambadi shrine, then the Sree Yoga Narasimha shrine and the Shree Krishna Swami shrine.

The Padmanabhaswamy temple has a 100 foot and a seven tier gopuram. This has the Pandyan style of architecture. The temple is adjacent to a tank. This tank is known as the Padma Theertham. This means the lotus spring. There is a corridor in the temple which has lovely carved granite pillars made of stone. These are around 365 of them. The carvings here are exquisite and have to be seen to be believed. The corridor goes on to the eastern side and into the sanctum sanctorum and into the sanctum of the temple. There is a flag staff in the temple which rises to around 80 ft. This staff faces the main entrance from the interiors of the temple.

The Padmanabhaswamy temple should be seen with a lot of devotion in mind and all the rules in the temple should be followed.