Ananthapura Lake Temple

Ananthapura Lake Temple in Kasaragod district is a 9th-century shrine set in the middle of a freshwater lake about 302 feet across, kept full by underground springs. A narrow stone footbridge is the only way to the sanctum, whose copper-clad roof is reflected in the water. Legend says Lord Narayana appeared to a sage here as a child and later vanished, a story tied to a cave whose entrance lies in the lake precinct.

Carved wooden ceiling panels in the namaskara mandapam show the ten avatars of Vishnu, and the muktha mandapam is painted with the nine Navagrahas; there is also a shrine to Jala-Durga. Ruins around the lake suggest a once larger complex. For decades the lake was home to Babia, a crocodile believed to be vegetarian, and a single new crocodile has been seen there since late 2023.