Sree Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Ananthapuram

It is an ancient temple believed to have been built in the eighth or ninth century A.D. The past history of the temple is still obscure except for some myths. It was at this place Vilwamangalam did penance and performed poojas. There are different Vilwamangalams who lived from tenth century to sixteenth century. Of these the Vilwamangalam who is connected with this temple lived in the tenth century. The exact name of Vilwamangalam is not known but there is every likelihood that his name was Divaakara Muni, a great Thulu Brahmin sage. This corroborates his association with Ananthankaadu at Thiruvananthapuram (the capital of Kerala) and the origin of the present Sree Padmanaabha swamy temple. The legend is that one day when Vilwamangalam was in penance at this place Lord Narayana appeared before him as a small child. Over whelmed on seeing a great radiance on the face of the boy, he was anxious to know about the boy and asked him who he was. The boy replied that he had no father, no mother and none at home. Vilwamangalam felt pity on him and allowed the child to stay with him. At once the child put forth a condition that when ever he felt humiliated he would leave the place. Vilwamangalam agreed to this condition. The boy served Vilwamangalam well for quite some time. The legend goes that one day when Vilwamangalam was conducting pooja at this temple, the child drank all the milk offered to the deity. On another day the naughty boy swallowed the saalagraam of the sage. Those juvenile pranks made Vilwamangalam angry and he pushed the boy with the back of his left hand.This humiliated the boy and he disappeared after proclaiming that if Vilwamangalam wants to see him again he would have to go to Ananthankaadu;the forest of serpent God Anantha. He soon realised that the child was none other than the Lord himself and he had great repentance. At the place where the child disappeared Vilwamangalam found a cave. He proceeded in search of the Divine child through this cave and reached the sea. Then he proceeded further towards south in search of the Lord and at last reached a woody area near the sea. He saw the Divine child there vanished within a huge illippa (Indian butter tree or Mahua tree). Immediately the tree fell and assumed the shape of Lord Maha Vishnu lying on a thousand hooded serpent. Another myth of Sree Padmanaabhaswaamy temple mentions that Vilwamangalath Swaamiyar of six teenth century had located Ananthankaadu. Whatever may be the legend. Kerala has two great Vaishnavite temples dedicated to Anantha Padmanaabhaswaamy, one at Kumbala at the north and the other at Thiruvananthapuram at the south-the only difference being that at Kumbala the idol of Maha Vishnu is in sitting-pose on Lord Anantha while at Thiruvananthapuram Maha Vishnu is reposed on Lord Anantha.

The temple is famous for the crocodile living in the tank. From very ancient times, one crocodile is seen there. There is no instance of it harming any one, though the devotees take bath in this tank. In 1945, when the British soldiers were stationed there, one soldier shot dead the earlier crocodile (named as Babiya) for fun. To the surprise of all, the soldier who shot it died within few days by snake-bite, perhaps a revenge by the serpent God Anantha. Another crocodile appeared in the tank soon and even now if one is fortunate he can see it. The devotees pay great respect to this crocodile which reminds the story of Gajendra-moksham of Sreemad Bhaagavatha Puraana.

The temple felt into ruins as centuries passed. However, in 1972, His Holiness Kaanchi Kaamakoti Jayendra Saraswathi Swamy visited the temple and initiated its renovation.

The details of the original owners or as to who installed the temple are still obscure, though it was treated as one of the graama-kshethras (ie. the kshethram of one of the graamams established by Lord Parasuraama). For quite a long period, the temple remained in oblivion and only recently the devotees realised the importance of the temple. The local people managed the temple for some time and in 1970 it was taken over by the HR&CE Department. The Managing Trustee of the temple is now nominated by the Department.

In structural aspects, this temple is unique, as it is erected in the middle of an impressive lake of 302 feet (92 metres) in length and in width. The lake always has perennial supply of pure abundant spring water. All around the tank there are ruins of temple and other buildings which proclaim that once it was a great temple-complex. The sreekovil , namaskaara-mandapam. thidapalli,shrines of Jala-Durga and the entrance of the cave are located in the lake. Good granite rocks exist on the northern, eastern and south-western sides of the temple. The namaskaara mandapam is connected with the eastern rock by a foot-bridge which is the only passage to the sreekovil. The namaskaara-mandapam is spanned by a few wooden planks to the sopaanam of the sreekovil. As the temple is unique each constituent unit of the temple deserves elaboration. The square dwi-thala sreekovil of saandhaara type has an integrated mukha-mandapam. The circumference of the sreekovil (excluding mukha mandapam) is 34.4 metres. The adhishthaanam has been built over granite pillars fixed at the tank and it has mouldings of paadukam, Jagathi vrutha-kumudam, kumuda-padi, kampam, galam, padi, all above the water level and made of laterite and plastered by cement. There are two walls for the sreekoull both made of dressed laterite stones. The floor has granite stories. The outer-wall (baahya-bhiththi) has been beautifully built with kudya sthambhas, jaali-windows, and saala-sikhira. They also have niches made of stucco. The roof is covered with copper sheets. The sopaanam has six direct steps, all made of granite with the railings in the form of rolling tongues from vyali-mukhas. There is no pranaalam for the sreekovil. The mukha-mandapam stands on four granite pillars. At the outer-side of the sreekovil, there is a functional pradakshina-paadham. The detached namaskaara mandapam, also built on pillars, has four columns on which the pyramidal roof rests. The thidapalli, an independent structure on the lake, built on pillars, is located on the southern side of namaskaara-mandapam. Since it is only one-step away there is no passage to it.

The Jala-Durga shrine built in 1976 is at north-east projecting to the lake. On the north of it is the famous cave where the great hermit Divaakara Muni meditated. The water level is shallow here and one can easily enter the cave. At the centre of the cave there is a Padma-theertham which has perennial spring water. The cavity of the cave goes deeper as one enters and it is believed that it leads to the sea (about 5 km. away). On the top of the cave is the sub-shrine of Lord Ganapathi.

The gopuram at the eastern-side, was built in 1976 as part of the renovation programme and with the liberal contributions from His Highness Marthaanda Varma of Travancore royal family. In the gopuram there are holy sthhaanas for Goddess Ullaakkal and Sree Veerabhadran.

The sub-shrine of Sree Ganapathi installed in a separate sreekovil over the cave is built of laterite. The inscription on a granite stone in front of Sree Ganapathi shrine is of Thulu dialect written in Malayalam scripts of about the fifteenth century. Nava-grahas are installed in the front portion of Sree Ganapathi shrine. Naaga is installed at the south. A small pond is seen at its front. Hardly 100 metres from the southern boundary of the lake temple there is a pradishta of Lord Vana-Saastha located in a sacred grove (kaavu). The Parthasarathy temple is on a small rock believed to have been consecrated by Vilwamangalam (either Divaakara Muni or Swaamiyaar). North of this sub-shrine, a small tank exists. which is used by devotees for bath.

In short, the temple is unique in architectural excellence, antiquity,historical associations etc. and is located in a picturesque serene atmosphere.

The temple has excellent wood carvings on the ceilings of namaskaara-mandapam which depict the incidents taken from the stories of Dashavatharam, some of which are painted. At the mukha-mandapam, the carved nava-grahas are painted. On the sides at twelve positions gaja-mukhas are carved. On either side of the sreekovil. dwaara-paalakas (Jaya and Vijaya) are beautifully carved in wood, as the sanctum-sanctorum is considered as Sree Vaikuntha itself.

Mural paintings are mainly on the walls of the sreekovil based on stories of Dashavatharam. When the temple was renovated steps were taken to protect these original paintings.

The principal deity is MahaVishnu. The wooden idol was replaced by a pancha-loha idol in 1976, which was donated by Kaanchi Kaamakoti Mathaadhipathi (His Holiness Jayendra Saraswathy Swamy). The Lord Maha Vishnu idol (height of 90 cm.) in sitting pose over a five-hooded serpent king Lord Anantha has four arms with abhaya and varada poses and chakram (disc) and sankh (conch) in hands. There are other pancha-loha idols on the same peetham of Sree Ananthapadmanabhaswamy ie. Sreedevi on the right and Bhoodevi on the left. All these idols face east. In addition, there are images of Garuda and Hanumaan. The idol of Lord Ganapathi (45 cm.) facing east and made of krishna-sila is in sitting pose. Jala-Durga idol facing-east is made of marble with the pose of leaning on a lion. The Parthasarathy vigraham is in standing pose while Lord Vana Saastha sila is without any form facing east.

The temple is kept open daily (betweeen 5:30 AM and 1 PM and 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM).
Three poojas are held usha-pooja (8 AM). Uccha pooja (12:30 PM) and aththaazha-pooja (7:30 PM). There is no daily sreebali. The annual kalasam is done on Medam 5th.

The main vazhipadu are Shraavana pooja, pavamaana-sooktha abhishekam, pushpaanjali and sahasranaama archana and feeding of the crocodile. Prasaada-rice is offered to the crocodile every day and sometimes it opens its mouth and takes it directly from the priests. Devotees also bring cocks as nerccha to the crocodile on Tuesdays and Fridays. It is strange to note that if the devotees have any pollution in their house the crocodile refuses to accept the offering of cocks. Another offering is guruthi (kuruthi) given to Raktheswari on Tuesdays after the aththaazha-pooja. Ladies are prohibited in the compound when guruthi is offered.

Vishu is celebrated as pradishta day of this temple. The rites conducted on pradishta day include Ganapathi homam, suddhi-kalasam, guru-pooja, go-pooja and ganga-pooja besides other offerings followed by anadhaana. Classical dramas or religious dramas are also staged. On the fifth day after Vishu, theppothsavam is conducted. The uthsava-vigraham is taken in procession on a decorated wooden-canoe around sreekovil. The other important days are Thiruvonam and Ashtami rohini

The thanthri belongs to Delampaati illam and melshanthi belongs to Sivolli-Brahmins. The other staff includes a manager, a nambisan and adichu thali.

Ananthapuram temple is at a sparsely populated place located six km south-east of Kumbala. To reach there one has to take a deviation from Naayakkaapp (5 km. from Kumbala) on the Kumbala-Badiyatukka road. The road from Naayakkaapp is one km. upto the temple and is a tarred one. The nearest railway station is Kumbala. Facilities for stay are available at Kumbala or at Kasaragod which is 16 km. from the temple.