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Ananthapura Lake Temple
Photo: Kateelkshetra, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Famous temples · Kerala

Ananthapura Lake Temple

The only lake temple in Kerala, with its sanctum inside the water

Checked 21 Oct 2026 with 5 sources3 min read

DirectionsShare

Getting there

  • By air

    Mangalore Airport is the nearest airport, about 54 km away via NH66.

  • By train

    Kumbla railway station is about 5 km away and is the nearest major railway station.

  • By road

    To drive, take a deviation from Naikap, 4 km from Kumbla, on the Kumbala-Badiyadka road. Local buses, taxis and private vehicles also reach the temple from Kasaragod town.

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Rules to know

  • The temple is open to all, regardless of religion or caste.

Why devotees come here

Ananthapura Lake Temple is in Ananthapura village, Kasaragod district, Kerala. It is the only lake temple in Kerala, and its sanctum stands inside the water. Vaishnavite tradition counts it among the 108 Abhimana Kshethrams.

Ananthapura Lake Temple is dedicated to Anantha Padmanabhaswamy, and its principal deity is Vishnu. Legend says this is the place where the deity first settled. Folklore also tells of Babia, a vegetarian crocodile said to have guarded the lake for decades. In one legend, a boy vanished into a tree, and the tree fell and took the shape of Vishnu reclining on a serpent. According to local legend, the deity left for Thiruvananthapuram through a cave at the north corner of the lake. Some traditions hold that this temple was the original seat (moolasthanam) of the Padmanabhaswamy deity in Thiruvananthapuram.

The past of the temple is still obscure apart from myths. The shrine is described as 9th-century, and the old Malayalam poem Ramacharitam mentions the temple in some detail. The sanctum stands inside the lake and is reached by a narrow stone footbridge from the eastern rock. Its copper-sheeted roof rises from the water.

Inside, a mandapam ceiling carries wood carvings of the ten incarnations of Vishnu. The doorkeepers Jaya and Vijaya are carved in wood on either side of the sanctum, and the muktha mandapam has painted images of the nine Navagrahas.

Tips for your visit

  • Look for the cave at the north corner of the lake, the spot the local legend links to the deity's journey.
  • The narrow stone footbridge is the only route to the sanctum.

Darshan at home

Not in the app yet

Ananthapura Lake Temple is not in the Divya Darshan 360 app yet. These Famous temples temples are, with darshan videos you can watch at home:

In the appChamundeshwari Temple, MysuruChamundi Hill, Mysuru, KarnatakaIn the appDakshineswar Kali Temple, KolkataDakshineswar, North 24 Parganas, near Kolkata, West BengalIn the appShirdi Sai Baba Temple, MaharashtraShirdi, Rahata taluka, Ahilyanagar district, Maharashtra
Get the appAndroid

The app is free, Android only. For darshan as if you are standing there, see the VR box (₹899, or ₹949 cash on delivery).

Questions people ask

Is Ananthapura Lake Temple open to everyone?

Yes. The temple is open to all regardless of religion or caste, and it welcomes visitors throughout the year.

What makes this temple unusual?

The sanctum stands inside the lake and is reached by a stone footbridge from the eastern rock. It is the only temple of this kind in Kerala.

Is there really a crocodile at the temple?

Folklore tells of Babia, a vegetarian crocodile said to have guarded the sacred lake for decades. It is told as a legend.

Is this the original seat of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple?

Some traditions hold that it is the original seat of the Padmanabhaswamy deity of Thiruvananthapuram. This is a tradition, not a settled fact.

How we checked this page

On 21 Oct 2026 we checked every fact on this page against these sources, official ones first. Anything we could not confirm is left out.

  1. Ananthapura Lake Temple, the only lake temple in Kerala at Kasaragod, Kerala Tourism (Government of Kerala) keralatourism.org
  2. Ananthapura Lake Temple, Pilgrim Centres in Malabar, Kerala Tourism (Government of Kerala) keralatourism.org
  3. Ananthapura Lake Temple, Incredible India (Government of India) incredibleindia.gov.in
  4. Ananthapura Lake Temple, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org
  5. Kasaragod, Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org

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