Sage Narada, after paying his respects to Lord Narayana, left Vaikuntam to see Brahma. Enraptured by the sweet music of Narada, Narayana followed him unobserved. When Narada reached Brahmaloka, Brahma saw Narayana following his son Narada and offered salutations to him, at which Vishnu, realizing the awkward situation, suddenly disappeared. Brahma found that the person whom he had revered was his own son, Narada. The 'Prajapathis' who were laughing at this incident were cursed by Brahma that they would be born on earth and suffer the miseries of human beings. Narada advised them to perform penance at the place he himself would select for them. Narada threw his ‘Valkalam' (bark upper garment) into the air and at the place where it fell down, they consecrated a temple for Janardanaswamy (a name of Vishnu). Hence the name Varkala is a corruption of ‘Valkala', but the name came into prominent usage.