Kanakakkunnu_Palace_Thiruvananthapuram_Kerala_DSC00225

Kanakakkunnu_Palace_Thiruvananthapuram_Kerala_DSC00228

Kanakakkunnu Palace is situated in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

near the Napier museum, India. It served as an

official residence An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...

for Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer during his dewanship, in addition to Bhakti Vilas and Padma Vilas. It is India's first digital garden, created by Akhilesh S. V. Nair and A. Gangaprasad,

University of Kerala University of Kerala (formerly known as University of Travancore) is a state-run public university in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital of Kerala, India. It was established in 1937 by a promulgation of the Maharajah of Travancore, Chithi ...

, Department of Botany. Today the palace and its sprawling grounds are the venue for many cultural meetings and programmes. An all India Dance Festival (October - March) is organised by the Department of Tourism every year. During this period the

classical Indian Dance Indian classical dance, or ''Shastriya Nritya'', is an umbrella term for different regionally-specific Indian classical dance traditions, rooted in predominantly Hindu musical theatre performance,, Quote: All of the dances considered to be part ...

performances are conducted every day.

History

It is said to be built by Sree Moolam Thirunal. In the past It has been later used by the Travancore royal family to entertain its guests and serve non-vegetarian food as the royal family was vegetarian. It is now protected by the

Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) is a Public sector undertakings in Kerala, public sector undertaking that conducts and regulates the tourism activities in the Indian state of Kerala. The KTDC is headquartered at Thiruvananthapur ...

the palace plays host to a lot of cultural meets and programs. The

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) is a non-profit charitable organisation registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. In 2007, the United Nations awarded INTACH a special consultative status with the ...

(INTACH) has listed this place as a heritage monument. Two Malayalam movies,

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

and it's sequel L2 Empuraan, both which were written by Murali Gopy, directed by

Prithviraj Sukumaran Prithviraj Sukumaran (Help:IPA/Malayalam, /pr̩t̪ʰʋiɾaːd͡ʒ/; born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, producer, director, and playback singer who primarily works in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Bollywood, Hin ...

and starring

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

in the lead titular role were shot here.

Details

Located about 800 meters north east of the Napier Museum in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram city, Kanakakunnu Palace is one of the last architectural vestiges of the colonial era. Built during the reign of Travancore king Sree Moolam Thirunal (1885−1924) with the help of Vishwakarmas, the palace served as the main venue for royal banquets. Later Chithira Thirunal, one of Travancore’s popular rulers, refurbished the palace and constructed tennis courts in the premises. He also did use it for a few years as a summer retreat. Now under the Kerala government’s wing, the palace complex walls-in the Nishagandhi open-air auditorium and Sooryakanthi auditorium. The auditoriums are the venues for various cultural meets and programs. The All India Dance Festival aka Nishagandhi festival is hosted annually by the Department of Tourism at the Nishagandhi open-air auditorium. Indian classical dance exponents from across the country come down to participate in the festival.

Prominent events

References

{{Tourism in Kerala Palaces in Thiruvananthapuram