Padmanabhapuram Palace

Padmanabhapuram Palace at Kanyakumari district

Padmanabhapuram Palace

     A long way from the madding swarm, in a little spot named Thuckalay close to Kanyakumari, is arranged the memorable wonder Padmanabhapuram Palace as a token of a former period. Found 64 kms from our capital city this authentic objective will torment you always with its structural richness and natural appeal.

History of Padmanabhapuram Palace

      Padmanabhapuram is notable as the previous capital of the Travancore Kingdom. It is accepted that the royal residence was worked by the leader of Venad, Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal, around 1601 CE and was later reconstructed by King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma.

Architecture

       Despite the fact that the spot goes under the State premises of Tamil Nadu, it is claimed by the Government of Kerala. The wooden castle is worked in a native Kerala style design with perplexing rosewood carvings, dumbfounding figures and wall paintings. With its spiritualist atmosphere, the castle charms sightseers from all over to observe its bewitching magnificence upgraded by extraordinary rooms, colossal extensive corridors, a 300-year-old shroud, rooms loaded up with chronicled trinkets like Chinese containers, weapons, old fashioned furnishings, metal lights, etc.

Thai Kottaram (Mother’s palace)

     Thai Kottaram or ‘Mother’s palace’ is the oldest shape wide inthe complete complex. It is constructed withinside the conventional Kerala fashion nalukettu (a square shape wherein 4 halls are joined collectively with a crucial courtyard open to the sky). In one nook of the Thai Kottaram is the Ekantha mandapam or ‘chamber of solitude’. The chamber has very stunning and complicated timber carvings all around. One of the unique hobby is a pillar crafted from a unmarried jackfruit tree timber with its distinct and exquisite designs.

Mantrasala (King’s council chamber)

      Mantrasala or ‘King’s council chamber’ is one of the maximum stunning a part of the complex. It has many small home windows that preserve the warmth and dirt away. The interiors are cool and dark, sensitive and exquisite lattice works may be visible all around the chamber. The ground is black and shiny- fabricated from a aggregate of various substance that encompass burnt coconut shells, egg white etc.

Natakasala (Performance hall)

    Better called the Hall of overall performance is a massive corridor with very complex structure. This changed into the complicated wherein many foremost performances and dramas used to happen. This corridor is a great instance of exquisite structure however additionally one of the great complexes in the palace. 

Central mansion

        Central mansion is a four-storied constructing on the middle of the palace complex. The floor ground residence the palace treasury, the second one ground homes king’s bedrooms. The decorative bedstead of the king is manufactured from 64 types of medicinal woods, a present from the dutch merchants.

        The third floor is king’s resting and take a look at rooms and the fourth ground is the worship chamber of the royal household. The partitions of the chamber are protected in extremely good work of art depicting scenes from the Hindu epics and of the social lifestyles of Travancore country at that time. The pinnacle ground changed into built at some stage in the reign of King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma who submitted Travancore Kingdom to the own circle of relatives deity Lord Padmanabha (Lord Vishnu) at Padmanabhaswamy Temple.

Thekke Kottaram (Southern palace)

       Thekke Kottaram or ‘Southern palace’ is predicted to be as antique as Thai Kottaram and now serves as a background museum displaying vintage families and curios. Some of the thrilling objects on the museum consists of Chinese jars talented through the merchants, plenty of guns utilized in warfare, brass lamps, timber and stone sculptures, furnitures and mirrors utilized by the own circle of relatives, a gallery of artwork depicting the incidents from the records of Travancore Kingdom etc. 

Other features of Padmanabhapuram palace

          In addition to the palace structures, there are a few different thrilling capabilities as properly on the complex. The clocktower withinside the palace has a three hundred 12 months antique clock which nevertheless functions. The huge diner can accommodate 2,000 human beings at a time at some stage in feasts. The palace pond with its inexperienced water and the bathtub residence linked to it's far a marvel of its own. There is a mystery passage in the palace via which the king, his own circle of relatives and entourage ought to break out at some stage in the time of an attack. The passage connects Padmanabhapuram Palace to Charottu Palace 3 kms away.