Padmatheertham Pond

 A pond in the city center 

Having spiritual association with  

Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple 

The richest temple in India

By the means of hidden treasures 

Built during the 13th or 14th century

From a small natural spring-fed pond 

It was expanded into a bigger pond 

By the King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma

Pond received water from the Killi river for some years

Now it relies on its old aquifers 

It is spruced by the renovation

of walls and bathing ghats

New lamps and a tiled road on the left

Facing the Padmanabha Swamy Temple 

Changed the look of the pond itself 

The smaller temples in the perimeter 

Draw people for devotion

Evening fills the pondside with 

devotees, locals, and the city dwellers 

I used to meet my friends 

At one end of the pond

Facing the waters and shared 

happiness and sorrows over the years

Enjoying the light breeze from the pond

I remember a man being drowned 

In the pond by a man on live television

I remember a giant inflated sculpture of

Lord Vishnu laying over the serpent 

On the pond during a festival 

The visual of the old clock 

Getting wooden goats to bang heads 

When the time reaches the hour mark

It is still exciting during special occasions

We used to feed the big fishes in the pond 

During our evening hangouts 

It remains a dream to enter the bathing ghat

As it is restricted 

But big rats used to hang out there 

I've seen the pond fully drained once 

But didn't notice any treasure beneath the mud

A lot of devotees come during the Sabarimala season

And they hangout on the walls of the pond

A myth tells that there is an underground tunnel

That connects the pond with the sea 

When the temple is lit with a hundred thousand lamps

The reflection on the pond is mesmerizing 

This is an iconic temple pond in my city Thiruvananthapuram. The image is taken from the Stock.