[5] The principal deity is Padmanabhaswamy (Sanskrit: पद्मनाभस्वामि, IAST: Padmanābhasvāmi), a form of Vishnu enshrined in the "Anantashayana" posture, engaged in eternal yogic sleep on his serpent mount named Shesha.

But the edifice that the deity assumed was of an extraordinarily large size, with His head at Thiruvattar near Thuckalay, Tamil Nadu, body or udal at Thiruvananthapuram, and lotus-feet at Thrippadapuram near Kulathoor and Technopark (Thrippappur), making him some eight miles in length.

Padmanabhan Thampi, arch rival of Anizhom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, marched to Thiruvananthapuram with his forces and tried to loot the vaults of the Temple.

Emboldened by this heavenly intervention, Pallichal Pillai and local people opposed Padmanabhan Thampi and ensured that the mercenaries did not proceed with the misadventure.

Despite their cultural value, only a minuscule portion of these grantas (bundles) of cadjan leaf records, written mostly in ancient scripts of proto-Tamil and archaic-Malayalam, have been deciphered.

The idols of two goddesses holding chamaram, Garuda, Narada, Tumburu, the divine forms of the six weapons of Vishnu, Surya, Chandra, the Saptarshi, Madhu, and Kaitabha are also in the Sanctum.

There are also shrines for Rama accompanied by his consort Sita, brother Lakshmana and Hanuman, Vishvaksena (the Nirmalyadhari of Vishnu and Remover of Obstacles), Vyasa and Ashwatthama the Chiranjivis, Ganapati, Sasta, and Kshetrapala (who guards the temple).

The temple has a corridor with 365 and one-quarter sculptured granite-stone pillars with elaborate carvings which stands out to be an ultimate testimonial for the Vishvakarma sthapathis in sculpting this architectural masterpiece.

The festival idols "Utsava Vigrahas" of Padmanabhaswamy, Narasimha Moorthi and Krishna Swami are given a ritual bath in the sea, after the prescribed pujas.

The temple and its assets belong to the deity, Lord Padmanabhaswamy, and are for a long time have been controlled by a trust which is headed by the Travancore royal family.

[31][32][33][34] In June 2011, the Supreme Court of India directed the authorities from the archaeology department and the fire services to open the secret chambers of the temple for inspection of the items kept inside.

The review of the temple's underground vaults was undertaken by a seven-member panel appointed by the Supreme Court to generate an inventory, leading to the enumeration of a vast collection of articles that are traditionally kept under lock and key.

Among the reported findings, are a 1.1 metres (3.5 ft) tall solid pure golden idol of Mahavishnu, studded with hundreds of diamonds and rubies and other precious stones.

[3] In early 2012, an expert committee had been appointed to investigate these objects, which include lakhs of golden coins of the Roman Empire, that were found in Kottayam, in Kannur District.

[49][50] The valuables are believed to have been accumulated in the temple over several thousand years, having been donated to the deity (and subsequently stored there), by various dynasties like the Cheras, the Pandyas, the Travancore Royal Family, the Kolathiris, the Pallavas, the Cholas and many other kings in the recorded history of both South India and beyond, and from the rulers and traders of Mesopotamia, Jerusalem, Greece, Rome, and later, the various colonial powers from Europe, and other countries as well.

[11][12][10][51] Some people have suggested that a part of the stored riches reached the Travancore kings in the later years in the form of tax as well as conquered wealth of other South Indian kingdoms.

[11][12][10][19][57] Also, much of the treasures housed in the much larger and as-yet-unopened vaults, as well as in the much smaller cellars that have been opened, date back to long before the institution of the so-called Travancore Kingdom, e.g. the 800 kg (1,800 lb) hoard of gold coins from 200 B.C that was mentioned by Vinod Rai.

[62][14] The Bhagavata Purana says that Balarama visited Phalgunam (now known as Thiruvananthapuram), took bath in Panchapsaras (Padmateertham) and made a gift of ten thousand cows to holy men.

[63] Though the sannidhyam of Padmanabha has always been present in the holy land of Thiruvananthapuram, and it was a very ancient and renowned pilgrim spot even during the time of Balarama, the present-day temple for the deity came up later.

The Pushpanjali Swamiyar of Naduvil Madhom sent letters to the Chairperson of the Administrative Committee and the Executive Officer on 8 February 2016 expressing his strong opposition to the opening of Kallara B.

Azhvanchery Thamprakkal, the supreme spiritual leader of Kerala Brahmins, while addressing a meeting held in connection with the Ratha Yathra, also demanded that faith should not be trampled upon by opening Kallara B.

[77] Several hundred pots and other items made of gold, that are used for daily rituals or intermittently for ceremonies in the Temple, were not inventoried as the Temple-priests expressed strong objections.

[76] In April 2014, Amicus Curiae advocate Gopal Subramanium filed a 577-page report to the Supreme court of India alleging malpractices in the administration of the temple.

According to him, the authorities failed to perform their ethical duties by opening many bank accounts, trusts and also not filing Income Tax returns for the past ten years.

The lack of adequate investigation by the police is a telling sign that although Thiruvananthapuram is a city in the State of Kerala, parallelism based on monarchic rule appears to predominate the social psyche.

The committee will include Thiruvananthapuram District judge K. P. Indira,[81] Thantri and Nambi of the temple and two members to be decided in consultation with the Government of Kerala.

The IB cites Mr Subramaniam's report on Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple as one of the instances where he relied heavily on his spiritual instincts rather than rational logic and hard facts.

[90] In his second report on Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple, Mr Subramaniam himself reveals that "It was his morning ritual of [shutting] his mind and seeking guidance, which resulted in discoveries in this direction.

Despite opposition from the Royal Family and the tantric priests of the Temple, he pulled out a stone Yantra from the nearby Marthandan Madhom Palace and did pooja on it for several days.

In his first report to the Supreme Court, the Amicus Curiae directed the Tantries to examine whether a Sri Yantra can be installed in the Sanctum Sanctorum, in front of the processional idol.