About Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Thiruvananthapuram Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is located at Thiruvananthapuram (the old name of the city is Trivandrum) in the capital city of Kerala state in India.
The main idol is that of Sree Padmanabhaswamy (Lord Vishnu), who is seen reclined on the mighty five hooded serpents Ananth (or Adi Sesha) in what is called “Anantha Sayanam” posture (eternal sleep) in Yoga style. This is a replica of the idol found at the Adikesavaperumal temple, Thiruvattar, in Tamilnadu state, India.
Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple has two other deities, Sree Yoga Narasimha and Sree Krishna Swami, among others, in the temple premises.
How do I Go to Thiruvananthapuram Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple?
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is accessible by railway, road, and flight. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is the nearest airport. Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station is the nearest railway station to the temple. Being the capital of Kerala, it is well connected to all major cities of India.
Kovalam, a major beach tourist center in India, is hardly 15 kilometers from Thiruvananthapuram Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple.
Treasure findings at Thiruvananthapuram Temple
(The next two paragraphs were added in 2014.)
Padmanabhaswamy temple, Trivandrum, is now considered the World’s Richest Temple after the recent treasure evaluations done on the underground cellars.
The total worth of recently evaluated items comes to 90,000 crores, and more cellars are yet to be opened and evaluated. Amicus curiae (the technical term for the court-approved person; can be called ‘friend of the court’ in plain English) has reported that there may be many more treasures at the unopened underground cellars, and the Indian Supreme court appointed a five-member committee in April 2014 for the administration of the temple, with Thiruvananthapuram District collector, Temple Thantri, Temple Nambi, and two other members. The Supreme Court has also appointed an executive officer for the temple. Sree Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, the new titular Maharaja of Travancore (after the death of Sree Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma in December 2013) continues to be the trustee of the temple and still does the ritual duties as the Maharajah of Travancore.