Padmanabhaswamy Temple
The Shree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is a Hindu temple, dedicated to Vishnu, in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the state of Kerala, India. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is widely considered as the world's richest Hindu temple. The name of the city of 'Thiruvananthapuram' in Malayalam and Tamil translates to "The City of Ananta" (Ananta being a form of Vishnu). The temple is built in an intricate fusion of the Kerala style and the Dravidian style of architecture, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century gopura. While as per some traditions the Ananthapura temple in Kumbla in Kasaragod district in Kerala is considered as the original spiritual seat of the deity ("Moolasthanam"), architecturally to some extent, the temple is a replica of the Adikesava Perumal temple in Thiruvattar in Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu. The principal deity is Padmanabhaswamy (Vishnu), who is enshrined in the "Anantha Shayana" posture, the eternal yogic sleep on the infinite serpent Adi Shesha. Padmanabhaswamy is the tutelary deity of the Travancore royal family. The titular Maharaja of Travancore, Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, is the current trustee of the temple. History Several extant Hindu texts including the Vishnu Purana, Brahma Purana,