Places of interest in and around - Thiruvananthapuram

Varkala

It is an important Hindu centre of pilgrimage. The 2000 year old Sree Janardhana Swamy Temple and the Nature Care Center are the two main attractions here. The final resting place of the great social reformer, Sree Narayana Guru, Sivagiri is near Varkala. Besides this, Varkala is a seaside resort. According to a myth, sage Narada was approached by a group of mendicants who confessed to having sinned. Narada threw his Valkkalam (cloth made of the bark of a tree) into the air, and the place where it landed was subsequently named Varkala. The mendicants were directed by Narada to offer their prayers in the newly created place by the seashore. The place where they prayed came to be known as the Papanasham Beach (Papanasham means redemption from sins).