History of Dravida style temple architecture. introduction, sectional view, Gopuram of Padmanabhaswamy temple. The history, story and myths surrounding it and why it is the richest temple of the world.

1. HINDU ARCHITECTURE
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

2. SRI PADMANABHASWAMY TEMPLE

3. INTRODUCTION
 WHERE?
Located inside the East Fort in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala is the Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple
dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is believed to be the world’s richest temple.
 WHEN?
The history of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple dates back to 8th century. The original temple structure
dates back to 200 B.C. The presiding deity of this temple is Lord Vishnu, reclining on Anantha, the hooded
Serpent.
 HOW?
Marthanda Varma, noted among Travancore kings, did a major renovation to the temple and it resulted in
the present day structure of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple. It was Marthanda Varma who
introduced the Murajapam and Bhadra Deepam festivals in the temple. Murajapam, which literally means
continuous chanting of prayers, is still conducted in the temple once every six years.

4. History
– The origin of the Temple of Sree Padmanabhaswamy is lost in
antiquity. It is not possible to determine from any reliable historical
documents or other sources as to when and by whom the original
idol of Sree Padmanabhaswamy was consecrated. The Temple has
references in Epics and Puranas. Srimad Bhagavatha says that
Balarama visited this Temple, bathed in Padmatheertham and made
several offerings. One such legend which finds a place in the old palm
leaf records of the Temple, as also in the famous grantha entitled
“Ananthasayana Mahatmya”, mentions that it was consecrated by a
Tulu Brahmin hermit named Divakara Muni. On the 950th year of Kali
Yuga a reinstallation of the idol was done.

5. A VIEW OF THE TEMPLE COMPLEX

6. ARCHITECTURAL ASPECTS
 Padmanabhaswamy Temple is located in
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
 The temple is built in an intricate fusion of the indigenous
Kerala style and the Dravidian style (kovil) of architecture
associated with the temples located in the neighbouring state of
Tamil Nadu, featuring high walls, and a 16th-century Gopuram.
 While the Moolasthanam of the temple is the Ananthapuram
Temple in Kasaragod, architecturally to some extent, the temple
is a replica of the Adikesava Perumal temple located in
Kanyakumari District.
ADIKESAVA PERUMAL TEMPLE

7. TEMPLE STRUCTURE
• The platforms in front of the vimanam and where the deity rests, are both carved
out of a single massive stone and hence called "Ottakkal-mandapam". On the orders
of Marthanda Varma (1706–58), the Ottakkal-mandapam was cut out of a rock at
Thirumala, about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of the temple. It measured 20 square feet
(1.9 m2) by 2.5 feet (0.76 m) thick and was placed in front of the deity in the month
of Edavom 906 M.E. (1731 AD). At the same time, Marthanda Varma also brought
12,000 shaligrams, aniconic representations of Vishnu, from the Gandaki River,
north of Benares (now known as Varanasi) to the temple. These were used in the
reconsecration of the Padmanabha.

8. AESTHETICS AND ARCHITECTURE
• The temple architecture stands out for its work in stone and bronze.
The temple interiors are adorned by beautiful paintings and murals.
Some of them are that of the life-size images of Lord Vishnu in the
reclining posture, Narasimha Swamy (half-lion, half man
incarnation of Lord Vishnu), Lord Ganapati and Gaja Lakshmi.
• The temple has a dhwaja stamba (flag post) that is about 80 ft high
and is covered with gold plated copper sheets.
• Another structure that captures attention here is the Navagraha
Mandapa the ceiling of which displays the navagrahas (the nine
planets).

9. GOPURAM
• The ground floor under the
gopuram (main entrance in the
eastern side) is known as the
'Nataka Sala' where the famous
temple art Kathakali was
staged.
• The foundation of the present gopuram was laid in 1566. The temple has a 100-
foot, seven-tier gopuram made in the Pandyan style. The temple stands by the
side of a tank, named Padma Theertham (meaning the lotus spring).

10. Sanctum Sanctorum
 The garbhagriha of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple is located on
a stone slab and the main idol, which is about 18 ft long, can be
viewed through three different doors. The head and chest are seen
through the first door; while the hands can be sighted through the
second door and the feet through the third door
 The Lord's right hand is placed over a Shiva lingam.
 Sridevi-Lakshmi, the Goddess of Prosperity and Bhudevi the
Goddess of Earth, two consorts of Vishnu are by his side.
 Brahma emerges on a lotus, which emanates from the navel of the
Lord.
 The deity is made from 12,008 saligramams.

11. THE CORRIDOR
Extending from the eastern side into the sanctum sanctorum is a broad corridor which
has 365 and one-quarter sculptured granite-stone pillars with beautiful carvings.There is
a ground floor below under the main entrance in the eastern side, which is known as the
nataka sala (literally means drama hall), where Kerala's classical art form - the Kathakali
is performed during the annual ten-day festival at the temple, held during the
Malayalam months of Meenam and Thulam.

12. • Among the six kallaras or chambers in the Temple,
Bharatakkon Kallara (Chamber B) is very closely
associated with Sri Padmanabhaswamy. The
chamber B is considered to be fixed to the secret
chamber with the ‘naga bandham’ or ‘naga paasam’
‘mantras’ by the then ‘sidda purashas’ who lived
during the reign of king marthandavarma in the
16th century.

13. THE STORY
– It is said that a door of such a secret vault can be
opened by a highly erudite sadhu or mantrikas who are
familiar with the knowledge of extricating naga
bandham or naga pasam by chanting a garuda mantra'; so
except in this way, the door can't be opened by any
means by anyone.
– If any human attempts are made with man-made
technology to open the mysterious Chamber-B other than
by chanting highly sacred and powerful ‘GARUDA
MANTRAS’ by a highly sacred SADHUS or MANTRIKAS,
catastrophes are likely to occur in and around the
Temple premises or through out India

14. TEMPLE’S ASSESTS
• Among the reported findings, are a three-and-a-half feet tall solid pure golden idol of
Mahavishnu, studded with hundreds of diamonds and rubies and other precious stones.
Also found were an 18-foot-long pure gold chain, a gold sheaf weighing 500 kilos, a 36-
kilo golden veil, 1200 'Sarappalli' gold coin-chains that are encrusted with precious
stones, and several sacks filled with golden artifacts, necklaces, diadems, diamonds,
rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gemstones, and objects made of other precious metals.
Ceremonial attire for adorning the deity in the form of 16-part gold anki weighing
almost 30 kilograms (66 lb), gold coconut shells studded with rubies and emeralds, and
several 18th century Napoleonic era coins were found amongst many other objects.

15. THE WEALTHIEST TEMPLE IN THE WORLD?
• According to Vinod Rai, the former Comptroller-and-Auditor-General(CAG) of India, in
August 2014, in the already opened vault A, there is an 800-kilo hoard of gold coins
dating to around 200 B.C, each coin priced at over ₹2.70 crore (US$0.5 million). Also
found was a pure Golden Throne, studded with hundreds of diamonds and fully
precious stones, meant for the 18-foot-long Deity.
According to varying reports, at least three,
if not more, solid gold crowns have been
found, studded with diamonds and other
precious stones. Some other media reports
also mention hundreds of pure gold chairs,
thousands of gold pots and jars, among the
articles recovered from Vault A and its
antechambers.

16. A FINE EXAMPLE OF ARCHITECTURAL MARVEL

18. PRESENTATION MADE BY:-
MOHAMMED SARWAR AZAD
REGN. NO:- 1602295098
SECTION- ‘C’
3RD SEM
SUBMITTED TO :-
AR. TAPASWINI MOHANTY
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE