Cheena Kottaram or China Palace is a rest house that was constructed in 1904 for Sri Mulam Tirunal Rama Varma, the then-

King of Travancore The Maharaja of Travancore was the principal title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Travancore in the southern part of Kerala, India. The Maharaja of Travancore was the topmost ruler of Travancore until 1949, when Travancore was annexed into Indi ...

. The palace was completed along with the commissioning of Quilon-Madras rail line. It is a single-storied, red-brick building with seven rooms. The architecture of Cheena Kottaram is

Indo-Saracenic Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal, or Hindoo style) was a revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and government ...

—generally a blend of

Indian architecture Indian architecture is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Among a number of architectural styles and traditions, the best-known include the many varieties of Hindu temple architecture, Indo-Islamic architecture, especially Mughal ...

, European,

Islamic Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ma ...

, and

Moorish architecture Moorish architecture is a style within Islamic architecture which developed in the western Islamic world, including al-Andalus (on the Iberian Peninsula, Iberian peninsula) and what is now Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia (part of the Maghreb). The ...

. Cheena Kottaram is yet to get the 'National Heritage Monument' accreditation.

Etymology

Kollamites called this rest house ''Cheena Kottaram'' (China Palace) because of its resemblance to the ancient Chinese buildings.

History

Before the independence of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

, the commercial capital of

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. A ...

kingdom was Quilon (Kollam) - The city with maximum business & commercial reputation in the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing ...

, with high level of export-import operations through the flourishing Quilon Port.

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city ...

was known as ''Palace City'' that time as there were so many palaces in the city then. One and only

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

in the

was situated at

city then. During that time, there were no rail-air connectivity to

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. Kings of Travancore used to travel from

. For that, they have built the Cheena Kottaram, close to the Quilon Junction railway station.

References

{{Tourism in Kerala Palaces in Kollam Tourist attractions in Kollam