India Guide
Kerala
Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple
A Neoclassical gateway leads from the western end of Chalai Bazaar to the Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, which is still controlled by the Travancore royal family. Unusually for Kerala, it's built in the Dravidian style of Tamil Nadu, with a tall, seven-tiered gopura gateway and high fortress-like walls.
Few foreigners get to see it (non-Hindus are not permitted inside) but the deity enshrined in the central sanctum – spectacularly large reclining Vishnu – is composed of 12,008 sacred stones, or salagrams, brought by elephant from the bed of the Gandhaki River in Nepal. The main approach road to Shri Padmanabhaswamy, where devotees bathe in a huge tank, is lined with stalls selling religious souvenirs. It's an atmospheric area for a stroll – particularly in the early morning.