Padmanabhapuram palace

Kanyakumari is at the very tip of India where the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and. The Bay of Bengal converge. The waves were coming from every which way as we travelled by a ferry to the temple. People were laughing and screaming as the boat rocked and waves splashed us in the face. Sorry no pictures you'll have to google it. The battery ran out.

Below

Padmanabhapuram palace situated in the Kanyakumari district, in the Tamilnadu state under the control of the Kerala government. Padmanabhapuram Palace was once the capital of the State of Travancore. The palace was built during 1601 by Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal who ruled Travancore between 1592 AD and 1609 AD. The name of the palace refers to the image of the lotus coming from the navel of Lord Vishnu (Padma - lotus, nabha - navel, Puram - Town).

Dining Hall

The picture above is one of the areas in the palace where food was served.

They used the foods like Rice, Ghee, Curd,Curries with Vegetables. (They were vegetarians)

 The most powerful king of this dynasty was Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1729-1758 CE) 

Later his successor Karthika Thirunal Ramavarma(1758-1798 CE) shifted the capital from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram during 1790. After that the Royal family kept the palace as their ancestral property. In the year 1938 the Government of Travancore declared it as a protected monument under the provisions of Ancient Monument Act, which was in force at the time.

The Padmanabhapuram Palace is spread across 6.5 acres of land. The complex consists of fourteen palaces with,  verandahs, corridors, pillared halls and courts. They were built of teakwood and granite. The important parts  in the Palace complex are Poomugham (entrance hall), Manthrasala (council hall) Manimeda (clock tower), Natakasala (the hall to perform Kathakali), Uttupura (dining hall) Thaikottaram (Mother Palace), Uppirika Malika (storeyed building) Kannadithalam, Navarathri Mandapam

   The magnificent wooden carvings on the ceilings and pillars are the most attractive features in this palace.The Kings bedroom contains a beautiful carved bed which is made from 64 varieties of medicinal  woods.

This area is where the king watched chariot races. Which was a common event of this time.