Colonial Napier Museum building, Thiruvanthapuram - a master piece from Robert Chisholm

Napier Museum bulg,Thiruvananthapuram Holiday Plans

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of Kerala, India has many historical buildings of national importance and some of them were built during the colonial period, following typical Indo-Saracenic design quite suitable to tropical countries like India. This design is a blend of European and native Indian style (Hindu-Gothic and Mogul-Gothic). This amalgamation, an exotic absorption of native elements from Hindu and Islamic cultures gives an extra boost to the appearance of the building. For example, the Gothic roof, ornate onion-shaped domes  atop the structures and minarets when architecturally combined, the new design makes the building stand apart among  others.  An important  advantage of  the Indo-Saracenic design is  it provides a nice natural air-conditioning system and consequently the interior portions of the building remain cool during hot seasons.  

The Napier Museum in Thiruvanthapuram  is an art and natural history museum situated just 6 km from  the heart of the town and is being visited by lots of people. First established in 1855, for unknown reason, the old building was pulled down and a new stylish building came up in 1874 when British Raj was functioning directly under the British Crown.
The new building was named after Lord Napier, the Governor of Madras Presidency from 1866-1872. It was designed by none other than  Robert Chisholm, the consulting Architect of the Madras Government. He was a famous and experienced architect who was good at blending the local design with European features, thus enhancing the beauty of his creations.  He was the one who designed the Senate building on the Marina at Madras (Chennai) and also the Nyay Mandir  market building in Vadadora. The latter was built by the Maharajah of Badoda, Sayajirao Gaekwad III in memory of his wife Maharani Chimnabai.   

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Napier Museum bulg,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala Culture

Built  in 1880, Napier Museum building with its Indo Saracenic design is a landmark edifice in this sprawling  city.  In this famous  museum there are  rare collections of archaeological and historical artifacts, exquisitely designed bronze idols of deities, ancient ornaments, a temple chariot and intricate ivory carvings. There is an Art Gallery called   Sree Chitra Art Gallery and this section houses the  works from Raja Ravi Varma and Nicholas Roerich, besides Mughal and Tanjore art forms.

Museum Visiting Hours: Open 10.00 am -  4.45 pm Closed on Mondays, Wednesday forenoons.

Napier museum,Thiruvananthapuram. Indian Roadie

The adjacent  Museum grounds  form the famous Trivandrum Zoo, which is one of the oldest zoological gardens in India. Established in 1857 (at a time when East India Company was running the government for the Crown),  it is spread over 55 acres (220,000 m2) of land. This city and adjacent areas  once constituted the Princely state of Travancore for which Sir. C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, an eminent lawyer and legal luminary  from erstwhile Tanjore district, (now Tamil Nadu) was the last Dewan.

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