Kowdiar Palace - historical residence of Travancore rulers

Navrang India August 17, 2017

Kowdiar Palace, Trivandrum TechnoparkToday.com
Kowdiar Palace, Trivandrum wikimedia.org
There is no dearth of palaces in the state of Kerala. The princely state of Travancore had a close contact with the colonial rulers and to maintain their royal status and to entertain the visiting dignitaries, the rulers built palaces of beauty, elegance and simplicity. Simple in design and impressive, unlike the Mogul palaces or other Maharajahs' palaces, they are not highly embellished. They took pride in following the Kerala style of architecture, thus retaining the Kerala tradition of building design. Most of them have wooden ornate pillars beams, etc besides regular kerala features. Wood was widely used as Kerala occupies much of Western Ghat mountains.
 
The historical Kowdiar Palace was the residence of
Travancore Maharajahs and their families who were patrons of art, music and literature. Considered as one of fine palaces in Kerala, it is located in the capital city of Thiruvanathapuram and this three-storied building has as many as 150 rooms, wooden elevator and six beautiful steeples. As like other palaces in this state, it is built in typical Kerala style architecture that enhances the grandeur of this edifice.

Maharaja Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma,parayilat.blogspot.in/


Built during the reign of Sree Chithira Moolam Thirunal in 1934, this beautiful palace  was presented to Rani, Sethu Lekshmi Bayi on the occasion of her wedding - Pallikettu with  Col. G.V. Raja. Pursuant to Constitutional Amendment of 1971, the Royal family's estates were legally partioned and divided equally between  branches of the two Travancore Queens - Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and Sethu Parvathi Bayi. This Palace is owned by the heirs of Sethu Parvathi Bayi as it was built by her son Maharajah Sree  Chithira Thirunal

The last Raja Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma is buried in the this palace garden. The  Kowdiar Palace is only 14 kms from Thiruvananthapuram International airport and only 6 kms from Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station.
The palace can not be accessed by the Public as the royal members of the family use it. Places like Raj Bhavan, Kanakakkunnu Palace and Napier museum are near by  and worth a visit.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kowdiar_Palace