TIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Illumined thus, he came to momentous decision of dedicating his whole kingdom to his family deity Sri Ananthapadmanabhaswamy. The unrest surfacing in certain quarters, of the conquered kingdom, adding uneasiness to his perturbed, conscience, the aftermath of the war, hastened him to the holy presence of the presiding deity to placing his scepter and crown at the feet of the Lord as a symbol surrendering all his possessions and rights by kingdom. As a mark of total, unconditional surrender, he placed his sword on the steps of the sanctum sanctorum and declared that he would thenceforward act as the Lord's vassal, and be called Padmanabhadasa only. Hasn't he proved himself the modern version of Bharat? And ordained that his successors too would act likewise. This verily perched him higher than Bharat to speak the truth. 

What a decision! How unique is his renunciation!! Has any nation followed that suit!!! Will future produce such another!!!! Doubtful! At once he made conch as the emblem of the state and used for badges and coins. This unparalleled decision was whole-heartedly accepted in the royal household, and later it became a tradition and was accepted by the succeeding kings with mute submission. And some of the members of the royal family never took food until and unless worshipping the Lord at the shrine. So infinite and implicit was the faith that the princely members turned model princes to the millions of princes. That miraculous change in this out-look manifested itself in several ways - he began the constructional work of the temple on such grand scale that it emerged soon as a marvellous shrine attracting global attention. To be precise, he glorified it, and it divinised him in turn. His humanism, and patronage of arts too are of unearthly in charter and content.

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