Padmanabhapuram palace is the palace of Trovanakor era which is located in Padmanabhapuram (Kanyakumari district) of Tamil Nadu. The Government of Kerala owns and maintains it.
Padmanabhapuram was the city of the capital of Hindu State of Travancore. It is about 20 km away from Nagercoil and is 50 km away from Thiruvananthapuram. A river named Wally passes through here.
This palace was constructed in 1601 by Irv Verma Kulasekhara Perumal. It ruled Vennaad from 1592 to 1609. The founder of Modern Trovancore, Anizam Thirumal Marthanda Verma (1706-1758), who ruled from Rev. 1729 to 1758, rebuilt the palace near 1750.
Marthanda Verma Raja had devoted his kingdom to the Goddess Padmanabh (the incarnation of Lord Vishnu) and had run the state as a slave of Padmanabhas.
Hence its name was Padmanabhapuram. In 1795 the capital of Trovanakor was transferred from Thiruvananthapuram to here.
Still the castle complex is one of the best examples of traditional Kerala architecture. And parts of the vast expanse of the traditional Kerala style architecture are identified.
The palace is surrounded by the state of Tamil Nadu, yet it is a part of Kerala and its land belongs to the Government of Kerala. This palace is maintained by the Department of Archeology of Kerala Government.
Padmanabhapuram palace structures - Padmanabhapuram Palace Architecture
Southern Palace - Southern Palace
The southern palace "Thai Kottaram" is only 400 years old. It now shows all the antique household articles as a heritage museum. The collection of all these gives information about the social and cultural ethos of that time.
Queen Mother Palace
Made in the traditional Kerala style, the Mother Palace is the oldest in this palace complex, which is believed to have been built in the middle of the 16th Century. In the inner courtyard, there is a patio in the traditional Kerala style called "Naluketu". In the inner courtyard there is a terrace descending four sides. Four of the four corners give support to the roof.
There is a small room in the south west corner of Mother Palace, it is called "Ekant Mandapam". There is beautiful and complex wooden carvings all around this secluded pavilion.
Especially the olive wood pillar on which is a very beautiful and elaborate floral design.
Council Chamber
The most beautiful part of the entire castle complex is the King's Council Chamber. Its asbestos windows keep smoke and dust away, and the inner chamber of the council chamber remains in cool and dark. The delicate and beautiful work of Latis appears in the council chamber.
The floor is also beautifully made. The floor is dark and it is made of different objects that contains burnt coconut pieces, white eggs and many things. The special thing is that no other copy of the floor of a kind is made.
Exhibition Hall
Seeing it with a comparatively sight, there is a new building which was built on the sayings of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal who ruled from 1829 to 1846 in Trovanakore. He was a great connoisseur of art, especially music and dance. They themselves made music and they left behind the rich heritage of classical Carnatic music.
The playroom had columns of granite and had bright black floors. There was a wooden fence on which the ladies of the royal house used to sit and watch the show.
The four-storey building was in the middle of the castle complex. The royal treasure lived in the pool of land.
The king's bedroom was on the first floor. The ornate bunks were made of 64 types of herbal wood and they all came in contact with Dutch merchants.
There were mostly underlying spaces in the rooms and other parts of the castle complex where weapons like sword and daggers were kept. On the second floor there was a room for the king to rest and study.
On the walls of his 18th century lived the pictures which were some scenes of Purano and some scenes of the social life of Trovanakor of that time also resided. The highest floor was for Padmannabh Swamy. This building was built during Marthand Verma. He was known by the name of Padmanabh Das and used to run as the slave of Lord Padmanabh Swami of Trivankore.
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