Padmanabhaswamy Temple is located in Thiruvananthapuram. The meaning of Thiruvananthapuram in Malayalam translates to "The City of Lord Ananta", referring to the God worshipped in Padmanabhaswamy temple. The temple exhibits intricate fusion of the Chera style and the Dravidian style architecture, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century gopura. Though the Ananthapura temple in Kumble is worshipped as the Moolasthanam, architecturally to an extent, the temple is a replica of the Adikesava Perumal Temple in Thiruvattar. The idol contains 12,008 Shaligram-Silas brought from the River Gandaki in Nepal.
The deity in the temple is enshrined in the "Anantha Shayana" posture - in the eternal sleep of Yoga-Nidra on the serpent god Anantha. Padmanabhaswamy is the tutelary deity of the royal family of Travancore.
Some facts about the Padmanabhaswamy Temple are:
Padmanabhaswamy Temple is the richest temple in the world. In the vaults of Temple Treasury lies a treasure of an estimated one hundred Trillion dollars.
The Alpashy festival in October/November and the Panguni festival in March/April lasts for ten days each. On a ninth day the Maharajah of Travancore, as Thrippappoor Mooppan, escorts the deities to the Vettakkalam for Pallivetta.
Navratri is celebrated as the annual festival.
The biggest festival in Padmanabhaswamy Temple is Laksha Deepam. It is observed once every six years. Before the festival, chanting of prayers and recitation of three Vedas is performed for 56 days (Murajapam). On the last day, a hundred thousand oil lamps are lit in the temple premises.