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.
