Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple ,the icon of the city. The World's Richest Temple, The temple has received world fame after the details of wealth of the temple was released after an order from the supreme court of India. The Royal family has steadfastly guarded the wealth from raiders and occupying British forces. There are many stories about how the Kingdom and its people protected the lord's wealth. The temple itself has 1000's of stories to tell with immaculate sculptures and mandaps. The entire Thiruvanathapuram city was built around this temple. Its an architectural wonder and was nominated from India into last round of 7 Wonders of World. The building style is a mixture of Kerala and Tamil architecture. The temple has many structures inside, like musical pillars, golden mandap, 500 pillared corridor famous for its sculptures and large collection of temple mural paintings. The temple has a large clear pond called Padmatheertham, which is also landmark. The deity is Maha Vishnu in a rare reclining posture, called as "ananthasayanam" or the lord's sleep. The temple has a huge role in history of Kerala, with the presiding deity even being crowned as Emperor of Travancore in 18th century and all the rulers ruling the state in the name of the deity. The royal crown of Travancore, is preserved inside the temple, though getting a glimpse of it is a rare. The temple does not use any lighting generated by an electrical source and no light bulbs or tube-lights can be seen inside. The only lighting is either natural or from oil lamps, which is quite minimal. The use of electronic items is prohibited. This temple is open only for Hindus and others cannot enter inside. Even the Hindus admitted to the temple have to follow rigorous dress code and customs. Dress code for men is just Kerala Mundu (White Dhothi) with nothing on from the waist-up. It is available for one time hire or for sale from the nearby shops. Women are required to wear a Indian Sari or Kerala Mundu (The idea is that your legs must not be visible separately). This temple belongs to Travancore Royal Family and guarded by Palace Guards of Travancore.
Beware of presence of large number of professional touts at the entrance of temple, who attempt to forcibly sell puja plates with flowers, incense, oil lamps to first timers, tourists etc. Likewise at exit gates, touts try to hard sell pictures, lamps, shells by claiming it to holy and sacred. Do not be carried away by claims and politely avoid them.
The recent supreme court order has made the surroundings and the temple more secure with round the clock vigil.
East Fort, an old fort around Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. Today most of fortifications have been dismantled, except the Eastern side, thus the fort has got its current name- East Fort. The Fort Gate directly opens before Sree Padmanabha Temple and designed in European style. The illumination of East Fort Gate in evenings, is a major attraction.
The Kerala Government Secretariat, is the one of the most recognizable icon of the city. Built as Huzur Cutchery (Secretarial Offices in Malayalam) in 1860, to serve as the Royal Durbar Hall of Travancore Kingdom, this building is a super-imposing structure. The building was designed by British Royal Engineers Corps combining Roman-Dutch-English-Kerala architectures, a testimony of Kerala's past influences with Roman, Dutch, English. The old Legislature Assembly Hall inside the complex (Asia's first native legislature assembly)is a good museum with a detailed gallery that depicts the history of Travancore Legislature Assembly. Other areas of this building are not of tourist interest, as they are government offices.
The Napier Museum (note that there is no sign saying 'Napier Museum', just 'Art Gallery' and it's the big building in the park to the north of Museum Raod) Named after a former Madras governor, General John Napier, this museum is a beautiful building in the museum (read: park) compound. English architect Chrisholm created this building combining English-Saxon-Travancore architectural styles. This museum displays rare archaeological and historical artifacts including bronze idols, ceramics, an impressive carved wooden cart, Buddhist statues from various parts of the country and some neighbouring places, ivory carvings, chests, Balinese shadow puppets, various old coins, Hindu puja items, etc. Quite a few of the objects are foreign, and of those quite a∂ few are Chinese. Unfortunately most are lacking labels, have labels only in Malayalam or are very vague. Look up at the impressive roof when you enter! (Open 10AM-5PM, closed on Mondays and before noon Wednesday. No photography allowed, unfortunately. 5INR for a ticket, and the same price for foreigners!!!)
Keralan Museum (opposite of the Napier Museum's garden-complex, on the south of Museum Rd.) Housed in a beautiful old colonial building, this newly developed museum (circa 2008 vintage) presents a periodised history of Kerala. It's the first 'interactive' museum in the country, featuring touchscreen terminals. Unfortunately, like so many museums and historical texts in India, there are no maps at all (what are these people thinking?!?!?!). Regardless, the museum comes across as very pleasant, clean, modern and well presented when compared to others. Displays begin in the stone age and advance through rock art and stone tools to pottery, bronze sculptures, folk art and architecture, with a few latter-day items to boot. A small canteen behind the museum for staff of the adjacent tourist department offers good value fish or vegetable curry. (Entry is 200 for foreigners, extra for a camera but I didn't pay and nobody cared. Indians are probably 20 or so...)
Sree Chithra Art Gallery is an art gallery located in the Museum compound and displays a rare collection of mainly Indian paintings. The main attractions are paintings by world famous Kerala painter Raja Ravi Varma and other famous painters Raja raja Varma and Nicholas Roerich. Also featured are miniature paintings from around the world, Kerala mural paintings and Tanjore miniature paintings.
The Zoological Park Closed Mondays, Tu-Su 10AM-5PM. This is the first zoo in India opened in 1843, as a concept of Palace for wildlife. Situated in the Museum compound, this area is a rich botanical garden. There is a wide variety of animals, plants and birds. It has a separate reptile park and butterfly garden.
Palace museum East entrance of the the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. - Has a good collection of many antique items from the Travancore era Kings. Thrones, paintings and many belongings kept in a very good condition housed in an erstwhile royal building.
Kerala Legislature Assembly Complex The new Legislature Assembly Complex called as Niyamasabha (Law House in Malayalam), is a super imposing modern structure located in heart of the city. Its famous for its classical Kerala architecture with ornate teak works, a unique Kerala styled dome, exquisitely designed interiors and a vast expanse of greenery around it. A photo shoot before this structure is a favourite activity among tourists.
Legislature Museum adjacent to Legislature assemble, there is a good museum that depicts history of South Asian Legislature assemblies. This building was once the headquarters of Travancore Royal Nair Brigade (Travancore Army). Today its one of the best galleries, that can give you a detailed look into history of South Asian legislature activities and process.
Kanaka Kunnu Palace (Golden Hill Palace in malayalam) is a cultural hotspot of the town. The large palace and its sprawling gardens was once the banquet palace for visiting State guests of Travancore. Today its a famous for its galleries and the grand lawns serve as open air auditoriums for regular concerts and evening dance programs.
Priyadarshini Space Planetarium, is one of the largest planetariums of India rated as one of the best horizontal planetariums of the world, with a good collection of astronomical science objects from ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization). It has 2 major shows regarding various secrets of universe. It has a good Sky Theatre, a large conference hall and venue of regular space related programs.
Kerala Science and Technology Museum, near to Priyadarshini Planetarium, is one of the largest science museum, featuring a timeline of various technologies in area of electronics, technology etc. There are several galleries on Electrical Engineering, Biomedical, Mechanical Engineering, etc. It has a very good collection of many electronic equipments and a good 3D Theatre with regular shows.
Chachanehru Children's Museum is a good children's museum with a large collection of dolls, masks, paintings etc. A mini aquarium and water play area is set here. Located in Thycuad, in the heart of city, is a good evening spot for families.
Kuthiramalika Palace, a unique palace designed by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal (a famous musical genius Maharaja of Travancore), this palace is famous for its horse shaped windows and decor. This palace, located near to Padmanabhaswamy temple has some good collections of antiques related to Maharaja Swati Thirunal's times. This palace is venue of famous Swathi Thirunal Music Festival as well as many other musical concerts patronized by Royal family.
Kowidar Palace, is a super-imposing structure, located in Kowidar. This is the current official residence of Travancore Maharajas and royal family and off-the-limits for public. However a friendly guard may let you inside to have a glimpse of this large architectural wonder built in mixture of Saxon-Travancore styles. The public however can enter into Panchavadi, the resting place of Late H.H Maharaja Chitra Thirunal- the last King of Travancore who was very popular king.
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Thiruvananthapuram Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
