It
is architecturally the most notable of temples Kerala with both; he indigenous style and
the features of Dravidian architecture harmoniously blended 'knows when this temple was
built-one legend traces it back to 3000 B.C. An engraved inscription in Sanskrit and
Malayalam characters on the base of the mandapa inside reveals that the temple was
reconstructed from Vimana down and the work started in 1729 A.D. Indeed, most of what is
seen today within the temple walls attributed to Marthanda Varma, the maker of modern
Travancore, referred to above, which entitles him to the first place among the royal
devout.
Even before he became King in 1729, he had made plans for reconstructing the temple. When
he came to the throne he put these works under way personally supervising much of it.
Notable among these works were reconstruction of the sanctum sanctorum and the replacement
of the old, recumbent wooden idol of Sri Padmanabha with a new one, fashioned out of 1200
'shalagrams' which were specially brought down for the purpose and molded into shape with
a particular kind of mortar made of Kadusarkara, a
compound of lime and granite covered with the paste of molasses and mustard. |
