VERNACULAR ARCHITECTUREPATHMANABAPURAM PALACE

BY R.NIVETHA B.ARCH , 2nd YR

Padmanabhapuram Palace complex is located in at Padmanabhapuram Fort, close to the town of Thuckalay in Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu. It is about 20 km from Nagercoil, and about 50 kilometers from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The palace complex is inside an old granite fortress around four kilometers long. The palace is located at the foot of the Veli Hills, which form a part of the Western Ghats. The river Valli flows nearby. The palace is administered by the Government of Kerala archeology department.

LOCATION

The palace was built by Trippapur Moopam, the head of the Trippapur Swarupam Dynasty that ruled over Padmanabhapuram. It was constructed in the 14th Century, as a mud palace in the Nalukettu style of architecture that prevailed in Kerala. For nearly two and a half Centuries, from 1500 to 1790 CE, Padmanabhapuram reigned supreme as the seat of royal power, and the pivotal point for the growth of trade, commerce, culture, art and literature throughout the region that today comprises Kerala and Southern Tamil Nadu. The palace complex was constructed around 1601 A.D by Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal who ruled Travancore between 1592 A.D. and 1609 A.D. (767 M.E and 784 M.E). The construction of the Perumal palace at the centre of the complex was completed in 1744 A.D. On the day of its completion, Maharaja Anizham Tirunal Marthanda Varma, dedicated this palace to Lord Padmanabha and named the palace Sri Padmanabha Perumal Palace. From then on the fort and the surroundings earlier known as Kalkulam came to be known as Padmanabhapuram. The name refers to the image of the lotus coming from the navel of Vishnu (Padma - lotus, nabha - navel, Puram - Town).

HISTORY

The palace is known for its planning and military architecture and remained the center of power till 1790, when the capital was shifted to Thiruvananthapuram. The main attractions of the Padmanabhapuram Palace are its sheer aesthetic beauty, murals, innovative designs and time tested wooden carvings. In the late 18th century, the capital of Travancore was shifted from here to Thiruvananthapuram, and the place lost its former glory. Travancore, which was a princely state for over 400 years, included a large part of present-day Kerala and the western part of Tamil Nadu. Though the palace is now in the State of Tamil Nadu, it was once the traditional home of the royal family of Travancore, so it is maintained by the Government of Kerala. However, the palace complex continues to be one of the best examples of traditional Kerala architecture, and some portions of the sprawling complex are also the hallmark of traditional Kerala style architecture. The palace is situated in the centre of the Padmanabhapuram Fort with an area of 186 acres amidst hills, dales and rivers. All the buildings in it are elegantly designed and display a simplicity of architectural style characterised by pointed gables, dormer windows and long corridors, The earliest of structures was built about 1335 AD.

LAYOUT

LAYOUT

PLANS AND SECTION

ELEVATION OF CLOCK TOWER

SECTIONS

The palace is known to be an architectural marvel of the south, being the largest wooden castle in Asia. The palace gets its uniqueness from its subtle facade, differentiated style of architecture and its intricately carved woodwork and granite work. A collection of 14 ethnic palaces and 127 beautiful royal rooms, Padmanabhapuram palace is a restores the rich cultural heritage and royal styles of living, safely within its periphery. The palace consists of the King's Chamber called Mantrasala, for council meetings, constructed in the traditional style of Kerala using egg-whites, burnt coconut shells and decorated with colored mica. The King's mother's palace is the oldest one which comprise of sloping roofs and carved pillars, one of which is a masterpiece as it is carved out of a single piece of wood. Natakshala, a huge hall where performances used to take place, has a shiny polished granite flooring and a room for the royal women folk to watch the performances from. Thekee Kotaram also known as the Southern Palace, houses the royal artifacts and various articles of cultural and traditional importance.

ARCHITECTURE

Thai Kottaaram is the oldest building in this palace complex. The remaining blocs were constructed by different rulers. Construction continued till the reign of Swati Tirunal.

The main blocs include:

¤ POOMUGHA MALIKA PLAMOOTTIL KOTTARAM,

VEPPINMOODU KOTTARAM, ¤ THAI KOTTARAM,

¤ OTTUPPURA, ¤ HOMAPPURA,

¤ UDAYARVILAKOM KOTTARAM, UPPIRIKKA MALIKA,

¤ AAYUDA PURA,¤ INDRA VILASOM,

¤ CHANDRA VILASOM, NAVARATHRI MANDAPAM, PUTHEN KOTTARAM, AND

THEKKE KOTTARAM.

MANTRASALA (COUNCIL CHAMBER) A steep and narrow flight of wooden stairs leads to a trap door that opens into the first floor, which houses the mantrasala, or council chamber, where the king held his cabinet meetings. The narrow staircase and the heavy trap door are said to have been designed with the intention of warding off unexpected person can enter at a time

The floor is dark coloured and is made of a mixture of varied substances, including burnt coconut shells, egg white and so on. The remarkable aspect is that this particular floor finish and texture could not be duplicated in any other construction. On the ceiling is depicted the images of Navagriha. The narrow corridor from here leads to huge oottupura/dining hall. Nearly 2000 people can sit at a time.

King’s Council chamber is the most beautiful parts of the entire palace complex. It has windows, with coloured mica, which keep the heat and the dust away, and the inside of the council chamber remains cool and dark. Delicate and beautiful lattice work can be seen all around the council chamber. The floor is also beautifully done, with a fine and perfect finish.

Thai Kottaram (Mother's palace) Mother’s palace, designed in traditional Kerala style, is the oldest construction in the entire palace complex and is believed to be constructed around mid-16th century. True to the traditional Kerala style, there is an inner courtyard, called 'nalukettu'. In the inner courtyard, sloping roofs from all four sided taper down. Four pillars on four corners support the roof. On the south-west corner of the mother’s palace, there is a relatively small room, called the chamber of solitude or 'ekantha mandapam'. The chamber of solitude has very beautiful and intricate wood carvings of every description all around. Of particular interest is a pillar of single jackfruit wood, with very detailed and beautiful floral designs.

The pillar in the palace made of one Jackfruit tree with intricate carvings

This is also Dharbakulangara Kottaram. The ceiling of the Dhyanamandapam in this structure is adorned with 63 floral motifs. All the flowers except the central one have two rows of petals. Thai kottaram is built in the Nalukkettu style. There is an underground passage from here to charottu kottaram, which is 2 kms away. There is a pond and a hall for massaging.

NATAKSALA (HALL OF PERFORMANCE) This is a relatively new building, constructed at the behest of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, who reigned in Travancore from 1829 to 1846. He was a great connoisseur of arts, especially music and dance. He himself composed music and has left a rich legacy to classical carnatic music. The Nataksala or the hall or performance has solid granite pillars and gleaming black floor. There is a wooden enclosure, with peepholes, where the women of the royal

household used to sit and watch the performance.

Four-storeyed central building (UPPIRIKKA MALIGA) built by Marthanda Varma in 1744 CE. The courtyard here was the testing ground for hopeful recuits into the royal army. The test? Lifting 38Kg stone on to the top of a pillar - not once, but a hundred times. The four-storied building is located at the centre of the palace complex. The top floor (called upparikka malika) served as the worship chamber of the royal household. Its walls are covered with exquisite 18th century murals, depicting scenes from the puranas, and also few scenes from the social life of the Travancore of that time. There are several rooms just below the worship chambers, which included the king's bedroom. The ornamental bedstead is made of 64 types of herbal and medicinal woods, and was a gift from the Dutch merchants. Most of the rooms here and in other parts of the palace complex have built-in recesses in walls for storing weapons like swords and daggers. The centrepiece of attraction in the King's bedroom is the huge four-poster bed made of 67 different pieces of wood from medicinal trees. The bed, which has a symbol of serpents entwined around a cross over a pot of nectar is believed to have been gifted to the king by the Dutch East India Company during the time of Captain Adrian Van Goens, who complied the Hortus Indicus Malabaricus in the 16th Century.

The third floor of the King's quarters houses the puja room, perhaps the most captivating part of the palace, filled as it is with 8th Century murals in dull, earth colours, bathed in the yellow glow from the oil-wick lamps. Unfortunately, since 1990, this room has been closed to the public because of the weakening walls and the need to preserve the rare murals. All you can do now is stare at the closed heavy door at the top of the staircase and make do with the photographs in the official guidebook. Adorning the ladies' quarters, called veppumoottu kottaram, are two large belgian mirrors that stretch almost from floor to ceiling, while on the walls are watercolours of Lord Krishna, the dark-skinned lover boy of 6,000 gopikas. The watercolours have since been shiffted to another room, but it requires a feat of imagination to conjure up visions of princesses gazing forlornly at the impossibly perfect images of the master of love, even as dancers performed at the navarathri mandapam below, all

Thekee kottaram (Southern palace) In the southern side of the main complex of Padmanabhapuram Palace but outside the compound wall there is a small palace. It is actually a traditional building in the style of a Naluketu. This wonderful architectural elegance shows the beauty of our domestic architecture. Now a Heritage Museum is housed in this building. The southern palace is as old as the ‘Thai kottaram’ (Mother's palace), which would make it about 400 year old. Now, it serves as a heritage museum, exhibiting antique household articles and curios. Collections of items give an insight into the social and cultural ethos of that period. Padmanabhapuram Palace and Thekke Kottaram with their premises are now protected monuments under the Department of Archaeology, Kerala.

THE CHAMBER OF MURALS The mural room remains one of the most important single collections of wall paintings in India. Located on the fourth floor, of what had been of the private rooms of the Maharaja, the walls are covered with murals without intervals. This chamber the bedroom of the Maharaja has a notable feature. The mural of Sree Padmanabhaswami adorns both end of the room in order that the image of Deity should be the first thing to be seen by the Maharaja which ever side he woke on. The room is 33ftx16ft giving a perimeter of 98 ft. The wall is 9.25 ft high. The picture surface is therefore is 900 square ft. The paintings existed during reign of Anizham Tirunal Marthanda Varma. These murals belong to a school of art of wide extent is seen in the existence of similar works in Sucheendram in the South, to Thrissur in the north. Excellent copies of the murals have been hung in the Sree Chithra Art Gallery in the Museum and Zoo Complex Thiruvananthapuram. Within the Palace complex, there was discovered under a coagulation of decades of white washing what turned out to be a mandapam in front of a saraswati shrine in the characteristic style of Vijayanagara with monolith granite pillars, thickly carved with Hindu deific figures and puranic incidents. They are seen in here fullness with the pleasing effect of colonnades of sculpture topped by elaborately carved capitals.

The mandapam 73ftx20ft is believed to have erected in the 16th century. Whether it was constructed as a detail of the main palace or the latter grew around the mandapam, is a matter of speculation. But Thai kottaram is the oldest construction. At the instance of Amma Maharani, an image of Saraswati was installed in the long disused shrine at which the then Maharajas worshipped and in whose hall performing arts were staged. The installation of the image is not for worship but in order to give the visitors of all faiths an idea of a Hindu Shrine. Series of paintings of Lord Krishna based on Krishna Karnamrutham, and portraits of the rulers adorn the walls. There is a clock tower. The building houses stone tablets from the chola days and Venad Kingdoms.

Originally, the area comprising the fort, the palace and its surrounds covered a total of 86 acres. Today the area administered by the Kerala Department of Archaeology is 6.5 acres. If you look very hard, you'll see a deep gutter on either side of the entrance to the Palace. That is all that is left of the moat infested with crocodiles, so it is believed - that once surrounded the fortress. A large courtyard separates the main entrance, called the King used to receive visiting dignitaries from over from overseas. At the centre of the hall, hanging from the carved ceiling,is a brass lamp, shaped like a horse-rider. Its beauty, as the guide will enthusiastically point out, is that whichever direction you turn it, it will return to its original position and remain absoultely horizontal, thus ensuring that no oil is ever spilled. Such mastery od craftsmanship will be a recurring theme as you meander through the 127 rooms of the palace - most are large and airy, used for dwelling and administration, while the smaller ones are toilets and utility areas. Almost all the rooms feature intricate carvings in teak and the wood of the jackfruit tree, and narrow verandahs are common around most rooms. The ceiling of the poormugham has carvings of 90 different flowers in full bloom, while on the behind the chinese chair- a gift from visiting Chinese traders - can be seen coloured wooden planks depicting the reclining figure of Lord Vishnu, also known as Padmanabhaswamy. The chair bears the inscriptions of 17th century Chinese art, and complements the other magnificent piece of furniture in

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Chinese Jars, Brass lamp in the Poomugham, Carved Jackfruit - Wood Pillars Slats in the Viewing Corridor, Coloured Window, Shrine room

The pictures are:

Other interesting features The Padamnabhapuram Palace complex has several other interesting features: ¤ The Palace though surrounded entirely by the State of Tamil Nadu is still part of Kerala and the land and Palace belongs to the Government of Kerala. ¤ The clock tower in the palace complex has a 300 year old clock, which still keeps time. ¤ A big hall now bare, which can accommodate around 1000 guests, and where ceremonial feasts were held, on auspicious occasions. ¤ A secret passage, now blocked, through which the king, his immediate family members, and their entourage could escape to another palace, located several kilometers away in the event of any emergency. Name of this palace is Charottu kottaram. ¤ A fligh t of steps leads to a bathing pond, which has lost its freshness due to neglect and years of disuse. The Palace complex also has a section of curios and several interesting objects: o An entire room filled with old Chinese jars, all gifts by Chinese merchants.

o A variety of weapons (which were actually used in warfare), including swords and daggers.

o Brass lamps, wood and stone sculpture, a variety of furniture and large mirrors made of polished metal.

o A gallery of paintings depicting incidents from the history of Travancore.

o A wooden cot made of up to 64 wooden pieces of a variety of medicinal tree trunks

o Polished stone cot, meant for cool effect

o Toilet and well

Ambari Mukhappu - Built for King to view chariot races.The structure built in the shape of Ambari, the seat put on the elephant back for safaris

Ambari Mukhappu - Built for King to view chariot races.The structure built in the shape of Ambari, the seat put on the elephant back for safaris

Queen's dressing

room

Polished stone cot, meant for cooling

effect

Cot made with about 64 medicinal woods Palace Toilet