Slide 1
Padmanabhapuram Palace
The legendary kings of Venad ruled from this magnificent 16th
century wooden palace. The Padmanabhapuram Palace, 60 kilometres
from Trivandrum, is now within the State of Tamilnadu but it was
once the traditional home of the royal family of Travancore, so it
is maintained by the Kerala government. The palace is one of the
best examples of the traditional wooden architecture of Kerala.
Such stately homes were adorned with carved wooden ceilings, curved
and slatted shuttered windows, intricate interlocking beams for the
roof, sculpted door panels and pagoda like tiled roofs.Intricate
carvings and murals and exquisite wall paintings reflect the unique
talent of the sculptors and painters of the olden times.
Main courtyard, Padmanabhapuram Palace.
Inner courtyard of palace.
Padmanabhapuram Palacecomplex is located in
atPadmanabhapuramFort, close to the town ofThuckalayinKanyakumari
District,Tamilnadu. It is about 20 km fromNagercoil, and about 50
kilometers fromThiruvananthapuram,Kerala. The palace complex is
inside an oldgranitefortress around four kilometers long. The
palace is located at the foot of theVeli Hills, which form a part
of theWestern Ghats. The riverValliflows nearby. The palace was
constructed around 1601 A.D by Iravipillai Iravivarma Kulasekhara
Perumal who ruled Travancore between 1592 A.D. and 1609 A.D. In the
late 18th century, thecapitalof Travancore was shifted from here to
Trivandrum, and the place lost its former glory. However, the
palace complex continue to be the best examples of traditional
Kerala architecture, and some portions of the sprawling complex are
also the hall mark of traditional Kerala style building art.
Inner courtInner court of the Palace, most of the buildings are
connected to each other with green patios in between. The roof is
enlarged to keep out the hot sun and the heat from the tiles can
cool off as they respire air, still the hot air can escape from the
top windows built in a innovative way.
The mantrasala - the discussion chamber of courtiers has an
impressive display of light and shade created by wooden window
grills. The colourful windows have placeholders to store perfumes
that spread in the room when the wind blows in. The dark and hard
flooring of the room and rest of the palace have a superb finish
that almost match marbles in their finesse.
Mantrasala (Council chamber)Kings Council chamber is the most
beautiful part of the entire palace complex. It haswindows,
withcoloured mica, which keep the heat and the dust away, and the
inside of the council chamber remains cool and dark. Delicate and
beautiful lattice work can be seen all around the council
chamber.The floor is also beautifully done, with a fine and perfect
finish. The floor is dark coloured and is made of a mixture of
varied substances, including burntcoconutshells,eggwhite and so on.
The remarkable aspect is that this particular floor finish and
texture could not be duplicated in any other construction.
The Mantrasala
Inside the PalaceThe corridors around the main rooms are very
airy and the constant cool stream of the air cools off the inner
walls.The polished coconut-shell floor is very easy to
maintain.
Palace tank
View from the raja's (the rulers) bedroom at palace.
Detail of column in palace.
Nataksala (Hall of performance)
The Nataksala or the hall or performance has solidgranitepillars
and gleaming black floor. There is a wooden enclosure, with
peepholes, where the women of the royal household used to sit and
watch the performance.
Navarathri Mantapa and Saraswati Temple. These are carved from
stone, a significant detour from the wooden structures in rest of
the palace. The Mantapa, the place for performances in the palace,
is adorned with carved pillars and a floor that is polished well
enough to create reflections.
Kings Cot
An old Oil lamp In Madurai you find a lot of those lamps with
peacoks but never with this kind of horse.There are not many
artefacts left in the Palace, like furniture, except for a bed and
ceramic pots to keep rice in, but you don't miss them at all as the
carved ceilings and doors in rosewood, the shiny floors made of
highly polished coconut shells make up for it; and the rooms are
connected by stairs, halls, patios and corridors
One of the kings of Travancore, of Padmanab-hapuram
The Napier Museum was established by the ruler of Travancore in
1855 and is named after the then Madras Governor, General John
Napier. Chisholm, its British architect, combined Kerala, Mughal,
Chinese and Italian styles of architecture in his design. This
architectural splendor has a natural air conditioning system which
keeps the museum pleasant in any weather.
Napier Museum houses a rare collection of archaeological and
historic artifacts, bronze idols, ancient ornaments, a temple
chariot, ivory carvings and life-size Kathakali dancers. The
figurines preserved here amply illustrate the varying features of
South-Indian sculpture from the 8th to 18th century.
On my way back to Kanyakumari the taxidriver insisted to see the
garden belonging also to the Padnamabhapuram Palace build in the
same period between high walls. I was not really in the mood as I
had a terrible headache but finally I agreed.It was not really
worth the sightseeing but this pawn was remarkable as he was so
narcistic to pose for me like a real Tamil, so I did him that
favour. :)
an uninvited but most welcome visitor to the palace!Trinity
October 2009
