An ideal blend of scenic beauty and maritime climate, Kerala is one of the major tourist attractions in India. With its ancient cultural history and abundance of temples and pilgrimages apart from its natural bounties, Kerala is rightly termed ‘’God’s Own Country’’. The excellence of the craftsmanship and traditional architectural style of the temples, in addition to their various festivals and celebrations throughout the year, attracts tourists and devotees from all around the globe.
Famous Temples of Kerala:
Kerala Tour Packages, along with the backwaters and beaches, offers a visit to these temples as well:
- Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple: Located in Trivandrum city, this is one of the most famous temples in the world to be dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is also one of the richest temples of India. It is built in the splendid fusion of Dravidian and indigenous Kerala style of architecture. It maintains a strict dress code and allows only Hindus to enter the temple.
- Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple: Located about 910 feet above sea level, it is the most prominent as well as ancient Sastha temple in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. With a mild tropical climate and a beautiful shrine surrounded by dense forests and mountain ranges, it attracts 3-4 millions of pilgrims every year.
- Guruvayur Shri Krishna Temple: Located in the Thrissur district, it is famous for its huge Thrissur Pooram festival. Also called the ‘’Dwarka of South India’’, it is a significant pilgrimage center and draws thousands of pilgrims and devotees from all over the world.
- Vaikom Mahadeva Temple: Located in the Kottayam district of Kerala, it is a celebrated Shiva temple. It is one of the rare temples to be revered by Vaishnavites as well as Shaivaites. The Shiv Linga is believed to belong to the Treta Yug, making it the oldest temple in Kerala.
- Mannarasala Nagaraja Temple: This unique temple is dedicated to Serpent Gods. It attracts infertile women who come here to pray for a child to the Nag Devta. It comprises of about 30,000 images of snakes among the trees and along the paths. It is also famous for a special turmeric paste that is believed to have curative powers.
- Chottanikkara Devi Temple: Dedicated to Goddess Bhagwati, it celebrates the power of women and draws numerous visitors throughout the year. The goddess is worshipped in three different forms of Sarwasti, Lakshmi and Durga in the morning, noon and evening draped in white, crimson and blue respectively.
There are various other temples in Kerala that display a stunning architecture, decorations and exclusive forms of worship.