Ramaswamy Padmanabhapuram

Ramaswamy Padmanabhapuram is a beautiful east facing temple in this ancient capital of the Travancore Kings. A small temple tank is outside to the right before the entrance. The entrance is a double storeyed Kerala style old building with tiled roofs. It  has  Srikovil,  Namaskaramandapam,  Nalambalam,  Vilakkumatam, Balikkal mandapam and tiled super structure built in typical Kerala style. The outer Prakram is large and is entered through the Mahamantapam. The outer walls of the Prakaram are fitted with oil lamps as is typical in these parts. The inner Prakaram consists of the Sanctum Sanctorum. The unique feature in this temple is the wood carved depiction, in 46 wooden panels, of the complete Ramayana in the upper walls of the Vilakkumadam (the walls above the fixtures for oil lamps). The depiction starts with King Dasaratha performing Yaga for getting children and ends with the Coronation of Lord Rama. What is interesting here is the adoption of the early attempts at animated story telling in four incidents, the killings of Tataka, Subahu, Maricha and Jatayu. These are presented with two busts and heads connected to the main body, one in living condition and one in the fallen condition infusing life into these still images and also employing the technique to minimize space to tell a long story.