Top 5 Famous Temples to Visit in Kerala

Kerala is the best tourist destination in south India with wide range of beautiful places like beaches, hill stations, lakes, canals, national parks, resorts along with it Kerala is well known for the famous temples with its uniqueness in structures, offerings, festivals, customs etc. Among all temples few are connected with our great epics Mahabharata and Ramayana. Its unique culture and tradition along with the beautiful natural environment makes Kerala to stand as the best tourist place in south India. Most of the Kerala people feels that their day starts with the prayer and offering in the temple with a bath either in the pond nearby or in the house itself as a tradition. Because of this divine lifestyle of people along with its unique beauty, Kerala is referred as “God’s own country”.  Following are the Best Temples In Kerala which can be visited for to glorify god.

Top 5 Important Temples In Kerala

5.Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple:It is one of the famous temples which are located in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and it is headed by the royal family of Travancore. The temple is one of the 108 Divya desams which are usually called as principle centers of worship of the Vaishnavism.  Lord Balarama, according to Srimad Bhagavatam visited Phalgunam which is now known as Thiruvananthapuram as part of his teerthyatra and took bath in Panchapsaras and made a gift of ten thousand cows to holy men. The temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha and it is replica of the famous Sri Adikesavaperumal Temple at Thiruvattar. Thiruvananthapuram name comes from Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple where ‘Thiru’ ‘Anantha’ ‘Puram’ means Sacred Abode of Lord Anantha Padmanabha. The city was also known as Anandapuram and Syananduram.

Padmanabhaswami  Temple

Address: Purv Fort,  West Nada Rd, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala- 695023.

4. Ettumanoor Mahadevar Temple: Ettumanoor temple is situated in Kottayam district of Kerala. Lord Shiva is the main god who is worshipped here and legendary belief tells that demon named “Kharaa” worshipped Shiva and he got three Shivlingas from lord Shiva. He holds each Shivlingas in his hand and the third one in the mouth. In Vaikom he placed one of the Shivalinga which got it fixed, so this place is named as Vaikkom mahadeva temple. Later Khara placed other two Shivlingas at Ettumanoor and Kaduthuruthy. Visiting the three temples on the same day is considered as one of the sacred thing by the people and temple celebrations are carried out for every 10 days on Feb/march and ends by Thiruvathira Ezharaponaana Ezhunallathu. Even Shiva raatri is celebrated in this temple.

Ettumanoor Temple

Address: Kovilpadam Rd, Ettumanoor, Kerala-686631

3. Vadakkumnathan Temple: It is also known as Tenkailasam and Vrshabhacalam. It is one of the oldest temples which are dedicated to Shiva at city of Thrissur, Kerala. It is famous for its architechturural style and has monumental towers on all 4 sides along with a Kuttambalam. According to local people, this temple was first built by Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu. Tekkinkadu Ground, encircling the Vadakkunnathan Temple, is the main venue of the Thrissur Pooram. Non Hindus are not allowed to enter into the temple. In the year 2012 Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has recommended 14 sites, including Vadakkumnathan Temple and palaces, from Kerala to include in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

Vadakkumnathan Temple

Address: Near Thekkinkadu Maidan, Kuruppam, Anchuvilakku, Thrissur, Kerala-680022

2. Chottanikkara Temple: It is one of the famous temples in Kerala and it is famous for goddess Bhagwati located in Ernakulum which is popular destination for temples. It is one of the famous and well known temple in Kerala and Rajarajeshwari is the main idol worshipped here as in three forms which includes Saraswathy in the morning, Lakshmi at noon and Durga in the evening. It is famous for its architecture and one should not miss the “guruthi pooja” in the “Keezhkkaavu” temple at chottinikkara. Earlier “Guruthi Pooja” was carried on only Fridays but nowadays it is performed every day.

chottanikkara Temple

Address: Chottanikkara, Thrippunithura, Ernakulam, Kerala-682312

1. Aaranmula Temple: It is one of the “Divya desams” which is referred as 108 temples of Lord Vishnu as mentioned by 12 poet saints. It is situated in the banks of river Pampa and mainly worships Lord Krishna. The temple has 4 towers on its outer wall and it contains 18 steps which lead to the eastern tower and descending 57 steps to reach the northern tower, so that one can reach Pampa River over there. It is one of the famous Krishna temples in Kerala. The major celebration occurs at the time of Onam which is the main festival for the Kerala people where a marvelous carnival of snake boats is organized on this occasion. “Aaranmula kannadi” a sparkling mirror is the most precious procession in this temple.

Aranmula Temple

Address: State Highway 10, Mallapuzhassery, Kerala-689533