Sreevaraham Lakshmi Varaha Temple, locally known as Sreevaraham Temple, is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

in Sreevaraham,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

, near to the Padmanabhaswamy Temple. The principal deity of the temple is

Varaha Varaha (, , "boar") is the avatar of the Hinduism, Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a wild boar, boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. In legend, when the demon Hiranyaksha steals ...

, the third avatar of the god

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

. The temple is administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board.

Deities

The main deity is Lakshmi Varaha -

sitting with his consort

Lakshmi Lakshmi (; , , sometimes spelled Laxmi, ), also known as Shri (, , ), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the goddess of wealth, fortune, prosperity, beauty, fertility, sovereignty, and abundance. She along with Parvat ...

on his lap. The sub-deities are

Ganapathy Ganesha or Ganesh (, , ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in the Ganapatya sect. His depictions are found throughout India. Hind ...

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

Nagaraja A Nagaraja ( ', ) is a king of the various races of the nāga, the divine or semi-divine, half-human, half-serpent beings that reside in the netherworld ( Patala), and can occasionally take human form. Rituals devoted to these supernatural being ...

, Yakshiamma and others.

Importance

The principal deity of the temple is Varaha, the third avatar of Vishnu. This is one of the few temples in India where Lakshmi is depicted with Varaha. Only three temples of Varaha exist in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

Architecture

The temple is of typical Kerala style architecture and the sanctum is round in shape and its roof is covered with copper plates. The 'nalambalam' which is the outer structure is square shaped. There is a golden flag post in the temple. The temple pond is the largest temple pond in Kerala and has an area of 1 acre

Offerings

Offerings that are common in other Vishnu temples are done here also which includes 'Archana, Ganapathy Homam, Ashtothararchana, Thrimadhuram, Paalpayasam, Unniyappam, Thulabaram and so on.

Festivals

The main festival is in the Malayalam month of Meenam (mid March -mid April) and during the same period of 'Painguni Festival' of Padmanabhaswamy temple. Varaha Jayanthi in the Malayalam month of Meenam is also celebrated in a grand manner.

References

External links

GeoHack - Sreevaraham Lakshmi Varaha Temple, Thiruvananthapuram
{{Hindu temples in Kerala Hindu temples in Thiruvananthapuram district Varaha temples