Vishnu is also called Janardhana,means one who destroys Birth.
अविनयमपनय विष्णो दमय मनश्शमय विषयमृगतृष्णाम् ।
भूतदयां विस्तारय तारय संसारसागरता ॥
The form of Vishnu represented here as Janardhana, who destroys janma (birth) brought about by avidya(ignorance) and bestows on the worshipper the awareness of his identity with the Lord.
The Temple is in Varkala,about 10.9 km west of Kallambalam on NH 66 near sea, 25 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, 13 km south of famous
backwater destination Paravur and 2 km from Varkala-Sivagiri Railway station. It is situated near the Arabian sea shore.It is referred to as Dakshin
Kashi (Benares of the south).
The presiding deity of this temple is Sri Janarthana Swami. The deity is found in standing position facing towards the east. His right hand is position as if he is performing “Aachamanam“.
The Deity facing East,has His right hand is raised towards his mouth and legends say that if his hand goes nearer to his mouth, the world will come to an end.
It is believed to happen at the end of the Kali Yuga.
There are more Janardhana temples in India, about 12.
Varkala Janardhana temple is the oldest, about 2000 years old.
Legend:
According to the legend, attracted by the music from Narada’s Veena, Lord Vishnu started following him and reached Satyaloka.
Seeing Lord Vishnu, Brahma prostrated before him. Lord Vishnu soon realized that he has reached Satyaloka but did not realize that Lord Brahma is prostrating before him and left back to Vaikunta.
It seemed as if Lord Brahma is falling towards the feet of Narada and all the devas laughed.
This made Brahma angry and he cursed devas to be born as humans in the earth. Devas repented their folly and begged to be forgiven. Brahma replied that the curse would be withdrawn when they do a penance to please Lord Janardana.
Devas asked where that place is where they should do the penance. Brahma told them that the place where Sage Narada’s ‘Vastra’ falls will be the sacred place.
It is Varkala where his ‘Vastra’ fell and Devas did the penance accordingly to get relieved of the curse.
According to Mahabharata, Balabhadran has visited the place for pilgrimage.
Poojas.
Performance of Tharppana here is considered important.
Four poojas are conducted in a day by the priest.
The chief priest should be from another place, not from Varkala
Sub-deities are Ganapathi, Shastha, Ananthan (Nagam) Shiva, Chandikesha, and Hanuman.
A ten-day festival with Arattu is conducted on the Malayalam month of Meenam on the day of Uthram.
Nearest Airpor/Railway Station, Bus Station.Trivandrum
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