A Contemporary Analysis on the Growth of Religious Tourism and the Role of Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple

The tourism sector became one of the most important industries which paved the way for economic progress in many countries. There are various types of tourism existed like Eco tourism, medical tourism, Adventure tourism, Pilgrim tourism etc.,. Tourism is promoted by the government and organizations and treated as a part of their culture. In Kerala the tourism department was organized by the government to attract tourist from worldwide they also have a vision to explore the cultural characteristics of Kerala state to the world. With its natural beauty, Kerala is famous for religious centers and every year large numbers of religious or pilgrim tourists visited Kerala.  Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala state is one of the important religious centres which attracted large number of tourist from in and abroad. The festivals and the religious ceremonies of the temple which were originally starts during the time of Travancore ruling dynasty and its architecture are the main attractions. But now it again amazed the world through disclose of its huge treasure. The present paper tries to analyse the historical background and the main attractions of the temple and its role to promote tourism in Kerala.