Varkala Janardhana Swamy Temple.

The old-age Sree Janardana Temple at Varkala which attract a great number of devotees from all over the country. It is located about two kilometer west of Varkala railway station atop a hill on the coast. This temple is situated on the seashore in Varkala at Trivandrum district and is a Mahakshetra. The presiding deity is Vishnu, and the idol including the lotus shaped platform is six feet in height. As per epic the idol was found from the southern sea coast. The sanctum sanctorum is round in shape and is facing east. Four poojas are conducted in a day abiding by Cherumukku thanthric. 

 The chief priest should compulsorily be from another place, and should not be a native of the place where the temple exists. Sub-deities are Ganapathi, Shastha, Ananthakrishanan (Nagam) Shiv a, Chandikeshan, Hanuman and Nagam. Ten days festival is observed with an arrattu on the Uthram star day of the Malayalam month of Meena. Offering of Bali here for the repose of souls is a very important ritual. As per Mahabharatha, Balabhadran has come here for a pilgrimage. There is an interesting legend behind it. Once Brahma was relaxing in his Vyjayanti assembly, the stage Narada entered singing in the praises of Sree Narayana. Brahma was so enraptured that he fell at the feet of Narada seeing him not as a son but as Hari himself. 

The other Devas saw this burst into laughter and Brahma, greatly embarrassed , infuriated, cursed then banishing them to earth where they could purify their minds and acquire knowledge and wisdom. Narada consoled the devas and advised them to do penance at the place where his valkalam fell. And the place where it lended is now called ‘varkala’ a colloquial from of valkalm. The devas built a temple there dedicated to Lord Krishna. This was however destroyed by sea erosion. Lord Brahma , the legend goes, came to earth one day to conduct a yega. Lord Mahavishnu as Sree Janardana Swamy appeared before him to bless the devas and redeem them. The presiding deity of Varkala temple is thus Sree Janardana Swamy. The image has four handed one holding divine water, another, the conch, the third, the discus and the fourth, the mace.

Sree Janardana said to have brought the holy Ganga here with the help of the Sudarsanachakra. The holy water collected is now known as Chakra Tirtha. The water used for the temple is from this souurcs. It is widely believed that worship at his shrine cures many ills which explain why devotee come here from all over the country and even abroad including non-Hindus. The chief offering made is mukkacharthu and muzhukappu ie decorating the face and whole body respectively with sandal paste.

The annual festival –arattu- is a 10 days event commencing with the kodiyettam or flag-hoisting ceremony on Kartika dayand ending with arattu on Uttram say in Meenam. Varkala is also famousfor the Papanasam holy spring, which is a health resort in addition to being a place which elevates the pilgrim spiritually. Sree Narayana Guru the great social former, chose the nearby Sivagiri gere for meditation. He built the Sarada Mutt temple at Sivagiri which attracts innumerable devotees.