Parikshit Thampuran Museum -Cochin

Parikshit Thampuran Museum.

Parikshit Thampuran Museum is a very good archeological museum is located next to Shiva temple in Durbar hall road in Ernakulam.  It is also famously known as Durbar Hall Art Gallery. It has the largest collections of ancient things especially belongs to 19th century. It is one of the finest museums in Kerala as well as in India also.

It has various types of collection in it like statues in stone and in plaster of Paris, paintings, wall paintings, old coins etc and the collections belongs to Cochin royal family. Once it was used by the Cochin royal family as Durbar Hall where they used to put meetings, used for office purpose and also to invite the guest to stay. The major attraction of this museum is Durbar hall which is designed beautifully.

It was used as guest rooms during the early time. Now it went under the administration of Archaeological department of Kerala. The Parikshit Thampuran Museum is constructed in Kerala Architecture method. It got this name from the last ruler Rama Varma Parikshith Thampuran who belongs to Cochin royal family. And it is also used as cricket ground among the British army and the local club.

Pallipuram Fort -Cochin

Pallipuram Fort

It was built by the Portuguese in 1503. It is the oldest existing European fort in India. In 1789 the Dutch captured the fort in 1661and sold it to the State of Travancore. This fort is situated in the northern extremity of the Vypeen Island.

Pallipuram known as Palliport to the British is about a few miles from the Munambam beach.

Popularly known as Ayikkotta or Alikotta, Pallipuram fort is a hexagonal shaped structure constructed using laterite, chunam and wood and each face measures 32 feet in length and 34 feet in height. The walls which are six feet in thickness are thickly plastered using mortar. The cellar inside the fort was used to store gun powder. The fort, now in ruins, is being protected by the Kerala state department of archaeology. 

Adjacent to the fort, there is a catholic church dedicated to Mother Mary, known as Church of Our Lady of Snow or Manjumatha Church.

Sreepadmanabhaswamy Temple, Thiruvanathapuram

Sreepadmanabhaswamy Temple

Sreepadmanabhaswamy temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It is situated the heart of the Thiruvanathapuram city. The Thiruvanatha puram city got its name after the name of the Lord. The meaning of the word is “The land of Sree Anantha Padmanabha Swamy”. 

The Temple architecture both Kerala and Dravidian Style. It is a grand seven storeyed structure adorned by innumerable stones carvings, ancient inscriptions and colorful murals. There are around 324 pillars in the temple corridor. 

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple stands Majestically beside the holy tank, named Padma Theertham, it means the Lotus spring. The Methan Mani or clock tower stands next to the Padmanabha Swamy Temple. It is a historic landmark which is constructed with a highly complex pulley system. 

In 3^rd January 1750, Maharajah Marthanda Varma dedicated the Kingdom of Travancore to Lord Padmanabha.  Marthada Varma vowed that the royal family will rule the state on behalf of Lord and he and his descendants would Serve the kingdom as Padmanabha Dasa or the Servant of the Lord Padmanabha. 

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple became the richest Hindu Temple in India as well as the world. 

Kerala Kalamandalam - Cheruthuruthy - Thrissur

Kerala Kalamandalam

Kalamandalam is the cultural depository of Kerala. It is founded in 1927 by the famous poet Vallathol Narayana Menon.  This is the Kerala’s first institute to provide training in classical performing arts.  The introduction of Kalamandalam gave rebirth to the two classical forms of dancing, Mohiniyattam and Kathakali, which were slowly loosing importance.

It is situtated 32 km from Thrissur, and placed on the banks of Bharathapuzha River in Cheruthuruthy. The Kerala Kalamandalam is the Cradle of Kathakali training in India.  The Kalamandalam and its surroundings reflect the simple, pure and ethnic atmosphere in which these arts have survived for centuries.

The Koothambalam is the traditional dance theatre at Kalamandalam. It is the only one in Kerala which is built outside a temple complex.

We can called the Kalamandalam is the cultural heart of the Kerala.