Padmanabhapuram Palace

1-16 | 17-32 | 33-48 | 49-64 | 65-80 | 81-96
:: Click on thumbnail to view larger image.

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Woodwork

Woodwork

Woodwork

Woodwork

17-13

17-15

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17-6

Woodwork

Woodwork

Woodwork

Woodwork

17

18-2

19

23

Woodwork

Structure

Structure

Structure

16-1

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16-7

16

Structure

Structure

Structure

Structure


About this gallery
 
Padmanabhapuram was the seat of Travancore principality from about 1555 A.D. to later half of 18th century. Travancore or Venad as it was known, had for its kingdom, a small strip of land between Kanyakumari, the southern tip of the Indian sub-continent and Kollam (about 60 kms from Trivandrum, the present capital of Kerala State). The name of the locality where the palace and the encircling fort stands was Kalkulam. It was later renamed Padmanabhapuram by King Marthanda Varma (1729-1758 A.D), who consolidated the position of Venad by stifling strife and rebellion and annexing adjacent principalities. He submitted the kingdom at the feet of his tutelary deity, Padmanabha. The event, 'Thrppadidanam' (1750 A.D.), is a landmark in the annals of Venad.

The palace, located against an idyllic backdrop of hillocks, is an architectural marvel, comprising of several functional and interconnected blocks. The monument is noted for its simple but elegant layout, skilled and meticulous execution of the construction as well as decoration. Its more of a grand house than a palace, one would feel.

I had taken a quick tour of the palace with my video camera in 1995 and within the measly time allotted to me, could do a very rough handheld shoot. It was just a point and shoot affair without paying attention to technical details. Now, this gallery is being put up with the screen grabs of the video footage. I have categorised the pictures into different categories which appear as captions, underneath the thumbnails.

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