On the Makar Sankranti day in 2020, Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Trivandrum , Kerala, will
celebrate the unique festival of Lakshadeepam – lighting of one hundred
thousand deepams or one lakh lights. Murajapam which began on November 19, 2019 will conclude on the day. The Murajapam is held for 56 days.
Lakshadeepam marks the culmination of ‘murajapam.’ Murajapam
is nearly two month long chanting of mantras for the welfare people and the land.
The tradition of murajapam and lakshadeepam was started in 1750 AD by the then
Travancore King primarily to mitigate the sins occurred during wars and
annexations. Murajapam and Lakshadeepam are held once in six years.
Laksha-Deepam was last held on January 14, 2014.
From January 14, 2020 to January 17, 2020, the entire Sree Padmanabhaswamy
Temple