Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram literally means "City of Lord Anantha" in Malayalam. The name derives from the god of the Hindu temple at the centre of the city. Anantha is the serpent Shesha on whom Padmanabhan or Vishnu lies. The temple of Vishnu lying on Ananta, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple is the most recognizable landmark of the city. The city was officially known as Trivandrum in English until 1991, when the government decided to change the city's name back to the original name, Thiruvananthapuram, in all languages. However, the city is still widely referred to as "Trivandrum" (now Thiruvananthapuram).