Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala, India Editorial Photo

Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Thiruvananthapuram, India, in the state of Kerala. The shrine is run by a trust headed by the royal family of Travancore. The temple is one of 108 Divya Desams (Holy Abodes of Vishnu) – principal centres of worship of the deity in Vaishnavism. Lord Balarama, according to Srimad Bhagavatam (10.79.18), visited Phalgunam (now known as Thiruvananthapuram) as part of his teerthyatra, took bath in Panchapsaras (Padmatirtham) and made a gift of ten thousand cows to holy men. The temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil literature canon of the Tamil Alvar saints (6th–9th centuries AD), with structural additions made to it throughout the 16th century, when its ornate Gopuram was constructed. The Temple is a replica of the famous Sri Adikesavaperumal Temple at Thiruvattar. Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple gave its name to Kerala’s state capital Thiruvananthapuram