THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Thiruvananthapuram -- which splits into ‘Tiru’, ‘Anantha’ and ‘Puram’ -- means ‘The City of Lord Anantha’. It is named after ‘Ananthan’, the deity at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. According to historians, the name Thiruvananthapuram came into existence only 142 years ago, with the place known earlier as ‘Tiruaanandapuram’, ‘Syanandapuram’ and ‘Aanandapuram’.
“The Sanskrit name of Tiruaanandapuram was Syanandapuram. In the 12th century, there was a book named ‘Syanandapura Varnanam’, written by a Tulu Brahmin who used to be the priest of the temple. He has written about the location, rituals and festivals of the temple. Back then, the place was called ‘Syanandapuram’,” said historian M G Sasibhooshan.
In the 14th century, another book in Malayalam came out with the name ‘Anandapura Varnananam’, he pointed out. “The name of the place was changed to Anandapuram. Two Vaishnav poets have written books about Vishnu temples and had mentioned Thiruvananthapuram in their works as Anandapuri and Aanandapuram, respectively.
In an 18th century encryption, the city was mentioned as Tiruvaanandapuram. It was only 142 years ago that it got the name Thiruvananthapuram,” Sasibhooshan said. The British Raj later began calling the city ‘Trivandrum’. But Thiruvananthapuram was made the capital of the princely state of Travancore in the 18th century, and ever since it has remained the same.
The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple was built by King Marthanda Varma in 1745 when he shifted the capital from Padmanabhapuram in the south (now in Tamil Nadu) to Thiruvananthapuram, and started reigning as ‘Padmanabha Dasa’.
What’s in a name
Introducing: Weekly column on the history of place names in the city. Got any whacky suggestions? Write to cityexpresskoc@gmail.com