Adikesava Perumal Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is the nearest international or national airport, about 90 km from Nagercoil and 110 km from Kanniyakumari.

• By train

  Nagercoil Junction is listed among the railway stations for Thiruvattaru, and daily trains run from it.

• By road

  The temple is about 6 km northeast of Marthandam, 30 km northwest of Nagercoil and about 60 km from Kanniyakumari. Thuuckalay, Thiruvattar is a stop on a bus route from Nagercoil.

Why devotees come here

Adikesava Perumal Temple in Thiruvattaru, Kanyakumari district, is one of the 108 Divya Desams, the holy Vaishnavite sites. Vishnu lies here in a reclining position. The temple was the state temple of erstwhile Travancore.

The reclining Vishnu here is surrounded by rivers, and the temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams. Legend says Adikesava defeated the demon Kesi. The legend also says the circle of rivers around the town gave it its name. Tradition holds that Parasurama consecrated the shrine, and that the sage Veda Vyasa praised it in the Padma Purana.

Stone inscriptions dated 779 KE are cited for the temple. Before the Battle of Colachel in 1741, Marthanda Varma, the ruler of Travancore, offered 908 panams, a yataghan and silk at the feet of Adikesava and prayed for victory. The architecture fuses Dravidian and Kerala styles, with wooden pillars, doors and roofs.

A thirty-feet-high fort wall surrounds the temple. You view the reclining Vishnu through three doors. The temple is also called the Srirangam of the Chera Kingdom, and it was the Bharadevatha shrine of erstwhile Travancore.

Festivals

• Vaikunta Ekadesi dayVaikunta Ekadesi

  The temple celebrates it with pomp and glory.

Tips for your visit

• Paal Payasam, aval and appam are the prasadams at this temple.
• Inside the fort wall, the reclining Vishnu is viewed through three doors.
• Nagercoil has two major bus stands for the mofussal routes.

Questions people ask