The one and only lake temple in Kerala, Ananthapura has been built in the middle of a lake in Ananthapuram village, 6km from the town of Kumbla in Kasaragod district of Kerala. This beautiful temple is erected in a 302 sqft lake on a remote rocky hillock. The ruins of temples all around the lake remain to tell us of a huge ancient temple complex. This temple is open to all visitors irrespective of religion or caste. The principal deity is Lord Vishnu seated on the serpent god Adisesha. Legend has it that the temple is the original seat of Anantha Padmanabhaswamy in Thiruvananthapuram.
The right corner of the lake has a secret cave, believed to have a tunnel that served as a secret passage to Thiruvananthapuram for the Lord. Another speciality of the lake is a divine crocodile that lived here for around 75 years. It died recently. The crocodile called Babiya was a vegetarian and lived on temple offerings only twice a week. The original deity in the sanctum sanctorum or srikovil is made of 70 medicinal substances called kadu-sharkkara-yogam which was later replaced by a panchaloha vigraha or idol made of five metals. Efforts are on to retain the special idol.
