Varkala Sivagiri railway station 4.79

Varkala railway station also known as Varkala Sivagiri railway station, station code VAK, is a major railway station serving the district of Thiruvananthapuram of Kerala. It is situated in the municipality of Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram district. It falls in the Thiruvananthapuram railway division of the Southern Railway zone of the Indian Railways. It is on Kollam-Thiruvananthapuram railway line and is an important railway station in Thiruvananthapuram district, after the Thiruvananthapuram Central station. In close proximity to the station is Varkala Bus Station.Name of the StationThe station name used to be 'Varkala' till 2005. It was renamed "Varkala Sivagiri" after the samadhi of Sri Narayana Guru,situated in Varkala in the year 2005. Most of the trains are allowed temporary halt in this station during a week period of the famous "Sivagiri Theerthadanam" (Sivagiri Pilgrimage).SignificanceVarkala beach which is one of the popular tourist destination in kerala is at a distance of 5 km from the railway station.Sivagiri Mutt founded by the social reformer Sree Narayana Guru is situated at the top of the Sivagiri hill near Varkala.Janardana Swami Temple is a Vaishnavite shrine which is estimated to be 2000-year-old.