The other day I learned the meaning of Thiruvananthapuram- the place of the sacred snake. Situated in Thiruvananthapuram (also known as Trivandrum) is the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, famously known for a reclining Lord Vishnu. He is reclining on none but a snake. It is also known that the snake represents time and that devotees can not see the end of this snake, which means that He is reclining on endless time. Devotees from all over India flock to see this temple as it is only one of few with Lord Vishnu in this reclining position.
Ajay Prasad recently shared his thoughts on Trivandrum and the tourism sector there. He notes that:
Trivandrum attracted about 200,000 foreign tourists, up by a whopping 28% from 2006. This means that we attracted 38% of all foreign touristswho came to Kerala. It also accounted for 15% of domestic tourists.
Many of the tourists must be coming to tour “God’s own Country” or visit Amma’s ashram. Many foreign tourists would be disappointed to tour Kerala temples such as the famous one mentioned above as only Hindus (ie. Hindu Indians) are allowed inside. Of course, however, Trivandrum can be an alternative gateway to the other side of South India, Tamil Nadu, which does allow foreigners into many more temples, such as Nagercoil and Suchindrum Thanumalayan Temple, both a few hours drive from Trivandrum.
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