Temples in Kerala
5 Temples*
A hand-researched beginning, not a full count — more great temples of this state are added as our research completes.
Kerala keeps its great temples under the Devaswoms — the statutory boards, Travancore and Cochin, Malabar, Guruvayur and Koodalmanikyam, that between them administer some three thousand shrines — and with them it keeps a discipline the traveller meets at the gate. Men leave the shirt outside and wear a mundu to the heels, bare-chested or with an angavastram over the shoulder; women come in a sari, a set mundu or a half-sari; stitched, bifurcated garments are not worn inside, and at several of these shrines, Sree Padmanabhaswamy and Guruvayur among them, entry is for those who profess the Hindu faith. In Thiruvananthapuram, within the East Fort, Vishnu lies in yogic sleep upon Adisesha as Sree Padmanabhaswamy — an eighteen-foot Ananta Shayana seen not at once but through three separate doors, a Divya Desam of the Alvars, and the deity to whom Marthanda Varma surrendered the kingdom of Travancore in 1750, every ruler after him reigning as Sree Padmanabha Dasa.
North of Kochi the state turns to Shiva and to the Mother. At the heart of Thrissur stands Vadakkunnathan, held in Kerala tradition to be the first of the hundred and eight Shiva temples Parashurama gave this coast; the lingam there is never seen, buried under centuries of ghee poured in daily ablution, and the Thekkinkadu maidan around it is where Thrissur Pooram is kept on the Pooram star in Medam. Northwest of that town is Guruvayur, which devotees call Bhuloka Vaikuntha, where Krishna stands as Guruvayurappan, the four-armed Mahavishnu of Melpathur's Narayaneeyam, and where the long Carnatic music festival named for Chembai closes on Guruvayur Ekadasi in Vrischikam. On the outskirts of Kochi, Chottanikkara Bhagavathy is served as Saraswathi at dawn, Lakshmi at noon and Durga in the evening, with the Keezhkkavu shrine of Bhadrakali below her, long resorted to for the healing of the troubled mind; Makam Thozhal on the Makam star in Kumbham is her greatest day. Deep in the forest of Pathanamthitta, ringed by eighteen hills, Ayyappa keeps his own dham as Sree Dharma Sastha at Sabarimala — the son of Hari and Hara, reached only on foot. Kochi is the natural gateway, Thiruvananthapuram lying far to the south and Thrissur and Guruvayur to the north.
Vishnu Desam
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Sree Padmanabhaswamy
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
Vishnu asleep on the serpent Adisesha in the city that carries his name — an eighteen-foot Padmanabha seen not at once, but through three separate doors.
Guruvayur Sri Krishna (Guruvayurappan)
Guruvayur, Thrissur, Kerala
Vishnu standing four-armed in a Kerala sanctum and loved as a small boy — the Bhuloka Vaikuntha where Melpathur sang the Narayaniyam and the Ekadasi night belongs to music.
Shiva Mahadev
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many major temples are listed in Kerala on MereMandir?+
Five — Sree Padmanabhaswamy inside the East Fort at Thiruvananthapuram, Vadakkunnathan at the heart of Thrissur, Guruvayur to its northwest, Chottanikkara Bhagavathy on the outskirts of Kochi, and Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha deep in the forest of Pathanamthitta. Between them they cover four of the traditions on MereMandir: two homes of Vishnu — one a Divya Desam of the Alvars, the other the Guruvayurappan whom devotees call Vishnu's abode on earth — the Shiva Mahadev temple that Kerala tradition counts first of Parashurama's hundred and eight, a Devi seat where the Mother is worshipped in three forms through the day, and the Devata dham of Ayyappa, the son of Hari and Hara, reached only on foot after forty-one days of vratham.
Which of Kerala's temples are Divya Desams?+
One — Sree Padmanabhaswamy at Thiruvananthapuram, counted among the hundred and eight Divya Desams sung by the Alvars, where Nammalvar sang the glory of Padmanabha and which the Divya Prabandham places among the thirteen of Malai Nadu. Guruvayur, revered though it is, is not one of the hundred and eight; its standing rests on its own long tradition rather than on the Alvars' canon. Vadakkunnathan and Chottanikkara belong to the Shiva Mahadev and Devi traditions.
Can Kerala's temples be covered in one trip?+
They divide naturally into two legs. Vadakkunnathan, Guruvayur and Chottanikkara all lie in the centre of the state — Thrissur and Guruvayur north of Kochi, Chottanikkara on the city's own outskirts — so Kochi makes a comfortable single base for them, with Kerala's busiest airport and its main rail junction. Thiruvananthapuram, where Padmanabhaswamy stands, is far to the south, an easy train or short flight down the coast, and is usually taken as a journey of its own. Four or five unhurried days cover those four. Sabarimala is not a stop on that circuit: it is its own pilgrimage, entered through the forty-one days of vratham and reached only on foot, and its doors stand open only in their seasons — the Mandala kaalam and Makaravilakku, the first days of each Malayalam month, Vishu and the Painkuni utsavam of Meenam.
What is the best season to visit temples in Kerala?+
October to February, once the southwest monsoon has passed and before the coastal heat builds. The great observances follow the Malayalam months and the stars, so their Gregorian dates move each year: Thrissur Pooram on the Pooram star in Medam (April–May), Guruvayur Ekadasi in Vrischikam (November–December), with the Chembai music festival closing on it, Makam Thozhal at Chottanikkara on the Makam star in Kumbham (February–March), and the two ten-day utsavams at Padmanabhaswamy — Alpasi in Thulam and Painkuni in Meenam. Confirm the temple calendar before fixing dates.