Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

3031 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Modern · Hindu · India

Venkatachalapathy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala · 8.4804°, 76.9425°

Vishnu as VenkatachalapathyModernTamil (Dravidian)
Sacred since
1898 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
1898
Modern

History & significance

A Vishnu temple a minute's walk from the southern gate of the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, built in 1898, its idol consecrated by the fortieth Azhagiya Singar of the Ahobila Matha; the sanctum follows Tamil rather than Kerala practice, without the elaborate carving or a gopuram.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

The image is said to have been found in a pond near the house of Ranga Iyengar of Veeravanallur about a century before the temple was raised, and his family's eldest son has served as chief priest for three generations.

Open in Google Maps ↗Wikipedia ↗View on the atlas map

Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Modern