VARKALA

51 km north of Thiruvananthapuram city and 37 km south of Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram district, south Kerala.Varkala is a seaside resort and spa. It is also an important Hindu center of pilgrimage. The final resting place of the great social reformer, Sree Narayana Guru, is near Varkala, atop a hill called Sivagiri. High cliffs with mineral springs rise majestically from the coastline. According to a myth, sage Narada was approached by a group of mendicants who confessed to having sinned. Narada threw his valkkalam (cloth made of the bark of a tree) into the air, and the place where it landed was subsequently named Varkala. The mendicants were directed by Narada to offer their prayers in the newly created place by the seashore. The place where they prayed for redemption came to be known as the Papanasham Beach (Papanasham means redemption from sins). The 2000-year-old Sree Janardhana Swamy Temple and the Nature Care Center are the two main attractions here.