History
The Kerala Verma Valiya Koyil Thampuran has depicted Varkala and its tunnels as a landmark in the poem “MayooraSandesam”. The famous guru Narayana, a reformer made Varkala, his principle place in the period 1855 to 1928. He laid the foundation of the Sivagiri mutt and it has of late been another attraction of the small wonder destination. The samadhi of the late Guru is preserved in this place. Legends say, that a king of the Pandyan dynasty was instructed by the Lord Brahma to construct the Janardhana Temple to relieve the king of his sins. The idol's location was seeing to the king in his dream, it is believed. Thus for ages Varkala has been a pilgrimage destination and is in recent years a favored tourist getaway. But several other myths abound on the birth of Varkala. Another legend is when a group of pilgrims approached Saint Naradan and told him that they had sinned, Naradan threw his valkalam and it landed at this place and the place came to be known as Varkala. Naradan told the pilgrims to pray for redemption from Sins at Papanasam.
