State of Kerala

Kerala is situated on the down southwest coast of India having Trivandrum as its capital. Surprisingly the land of Kerala was gifted because Lord Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Lord Sri Krsna, acquired it from the ocean. The land of Kerala always remains green. We had discussed previously (in the Karnataka chapter) in this regard as how Lord Parasurama acquired this land by throwing his arrow into the ocean. In this state 24% of the people are Christians, 15% are Muslims and the rest are Hindus. St. Thomas came here in 52 AD and Palatine’s Muslims came here in 14th century. That is why so many converts are found in this state. King Kulasekhara, great saintly king and author of the Mukunta Mala Stotra, a prayer book written in Sanskrit for pleasing Lord Visnu, became the ruler of Kerala in the eighth century. Prior to this king Chera dynasty was ruling Kerala. During the time of Kulasekhara, the Malayalam language was developed from Tamil.

Sripada Sankaracharya was born in this state in and around the time of King Kulasekhara. Sankaracharya and King Kulasekhara existed at one time and thus the Vaisnavism and Saivaism made rapid and equal growth in this period. The natural outcomes of these isms resulted in the construction of many magnificent temples and the development of arts and literature. King Karalavarma ruled from 1125 to 1155 who built a huge temple of Padmanabha Swami in Trivandrum. These kings were addressed as dharma rajas (saintly kings) and were all dedicated to spirituality. They handed over their kingdom, in the chain of dynasties, to Lord Sri Padmanadbha and Padmanabha (Krsna). While entering into the temples in Kerala, the men have to remove their shirts. Although Kerala has many Christianity and Muslim, the Sanatan Dharma still flourishes. The dance called Kathakali, the traditional Kerala dance, is famous for depicting Lord’s pastimes from Ramayana and Mahabharata.