Distance from Anantya: 18 kms
Drive Time: 30 minutes
Excursion Time: 2 hrs
Dress Code: Visitors are required to adhere to a dress code. Men have to remove shirts to enter the premises. Appropriate dress wear is available at the resort.
A Kerala styled temple patronized by the kings of Travancore. The simple grandeur of the Adikesava Perumal temple will leave you with a spiritual feeling or at the very least with a sense of calmness and inner peace. A temple which is grand and yet quiet as it is visited only by the locals. Many legends and folklore that surround this temple. One legend tells the story of how this Vishnu temple came to be set amidst 12 very important Shiva temples. According to this legend, the god Brahma was performing a Yagna (worshipping fire) without his consort Saraswati. An enraged Saraswati caused two demons Kesan and Kesi to emerge from the fire. The demons wreaked havoc on all the three worlds. The devas approached Vishnu for help. Vishnu assumed the form of “Kesava Perumal,” fought the demon Kesan and threw the demon on the mountain Mahendagiri. Vishnu’s snake Aadisesha coiled itself around the demon and immobilized him. Vishnu then lay down on the snake. When the demon tried to escape, Vishnu created 12 Shivalingas around him to stand guard. Shiva temples were constructed around each of these Shivalingas.