Skip to content Sri Janardhana Swamy Temple
Situated on a small hilltop near the beach, Varkala Janardhana Swamy’s temple was constructed more than one thousand years ago. It is approximately 60 km from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. It is one of the ‘Abhimana Sthalams’ because of its uniqueness.
The speciality of this temple is we can see the Lord’s Right hand in the ‘Achamanam’ position. It is a rare thing that is very interesting here. People believe that this hand is rising slowly towards the Lord’s mouth. It was believed that the Lord’s hand when it moves up near the lips, the world will be in deluge.
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Temple Legend
There are many legends about this temple. Once the great sage Narada was playing on his veena called Mahati. Lord Vishnu was immersed by the divine music and started following him till Satya Loka. Lord Brahma immediately stood and offered ‘pranams’ to Lord Vishnu. By that time, Lord Vishnu had gone back to his abode Sri Vaikunta.
When ‘devas’ were observing, it appeared that Lord Brahma was worshipping his son Narada, and laughed. Lord Brahma cursed them to be born on earth. To overcome this curse, they need to do penance seeking blessings from Lord Vishnu. Narada took his ‘Valkalam’ (a part of garment) and threw on the earth and it fell on the hill top. Hence, the name was converted to ‘Varkala’.
Another legend is that a Pandya king was in distress and was searching for peace and found this temple in his despair. He had a dream and was instructed to re-build this temple to get cured. At this time, he found this idol with the right hand in ‘achamanam’ position (sipping water for purification before performing a ritual).
The main idol is in a charming and beautiful form with four hands. The right hand is in ‘Achamanam’ position with Chakra and the left with Conch and Mace. There are other shrines for Lord Ganapathi, Lord Shiva and Lord Nagaraja. It has Dwajasthambam and an ancient tree which are worshipped.
Lord’s name is ‘Janardhana’. It means one who destroys the cycle of birth and death and gives ‘moksha.’ Performing the rites for ‘Pitru’ (Bali for ancestors) are highly sacred. During Karkadaga Kerala state-related Month (between July-August) according to Kerala month, performing the rites are the predominant ritual by many of the Keralites.
Some local musicians play special instruments to remove the ‘Naga Dosha.’ People used to offer their prayers by worshipping through musical form.
May Lord Janardhana Swamy grant us ‘moksha’ by removing our sins!
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