A temple in the middle of a lake, the Ananthapura Lake Temple, is the only such temple in Kerala. Constructed in the 9th century, this temple is located 30 km from Bekal in Kasaragod district in Kerala. 

There are several myths linked to the history of this temple. It is widely believed that it is here that the great Tulu Brahmin sage Divakara Muni Vilwamangalam did penance and performed pujas. Legend has it that Lord Narayana appeared before the revered sage in the form of a young child. As the boy’s face was glowing with radiance, the overwhelmed sage asked him who he was and where he was from. The boy said that he had no mother or father or anyone else at home. Vilwamangalam took pity on the child and told him to stay with him. The boy agreed on the condition that he would stay only as long as he felt like, and that the day he felt humiliated, he would leave once and for all. The sage agreed. They lived in peace for a while but as time passed his childish pranks became more and more intolerable for the sage until one day he lost patience and reacted angrily to the boy thereby humiliating the child. Proclaiming that if Vilwamangalam wants to see him ever again he will have to go to Ananthankat, the forest of Serpent God Anantha, the boy disappeared. 

The sage immediately realised that the little child was none other than the Lord himself and regretted his actions. At the place where the boy disappeared, he found a cave and went into it in search of the child. The cave took him to the sea from where he proceeded further south and finally reached a woody area. Here, Vilwamangalam saw the little boy who then disappeared into a massive illippa tree (Indian butter tree or Mahua tree). The tree suddenly collapsed and assumed the form of Lord Vishnu lying on a thousand hooded serpent. It is here that the temple stands today.

Constructed in the middle of a lake that is 302 feet in length and the same in width, the roof of this unique shrine is covered with copper sheets. The lake that it stands on has a perennial supply of pure spring water. The ruins that can be found around the lake point to the fact that this current temple structure was once a part of a great temple complex. The namaskara-mandapam, sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum), thitappalli, shrines of Jala-Durga and the entrance of the cave are all located in the lake. The foot-bridge that connects the namaskara mandapam to the eastern rock is the only passage to the sreekovil. The exquisite wooden carvings on the ceilings of the mandapam that depict scenes from the different stories of the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu are yet another attraction here at this temple. The muktha-mandapam also has the Navagrahas or nine planets beautifully painted on it. 

The main deity here is Lord Vishnu who is portrayed as being seated over the five hooded serpent king Lord Anantha. A remarkable feature is that the original idols here at this temple were not made of metal or stone. Rather they were made of a rare combination of more than 70 medicinal materials that were known as the `kadu-sharkara-yogam’. These were later replaced with panchaloha metals in the year 1972. The Ananthapura Lake Temple is considered to be the original abode or ‘moolasthanam’ of Lord Ananthapadmanabha who is the deity of the world renowned Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. 

Another interesting aspect of the temple was Babia, a vegetarian crocodile found here, that was considered to be the temple guardian until a few years ago. Unfortunately it died in 2022. 

Temple Timings: 05:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M. | 05:30 P.M. - 07:30 P.M.