Ancient · Hindu · India

Sreevallabha Temple

Thiruvalla, Kerala · 9.3737°, 76.5627°

Sreevallabha PerumalUndeterminedKeralaDivya Desam

Sacred since

100 BCE

first attestation / structure

Standing structure

traditionally 57 BCE; later rebuilt

Undetermined

History & significance

Among the largest and oldest temple complexes of Kerala and a Divya Desam, traditionally dated to 57 BCE and later brought under Travancore in the 1750s. It is famed for staging Kathakali nightly as a temple offering.

Sthala katha — the legend

Vishnu is said to have come as a young celibate student to answer an aged devotee's prayers and slain the demon Thukalasura, before revealing his universal form.

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