Shakthan Thampuran Palace is situated in City of

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is named as Vadakkekara Palace, was reconstructed in Kerala-Dutch style in 1795 by Ramavarma Thampuran of the erstwhile Princely State of

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

, well as

Sakthan Thampuran Rama Varma Kunji pillai Thampuran (1751–1805), or Rama Varma IX, popularly known as Sakthan Thampuran (''Sakthan'' meaning powerful), was the ruler of the Kingdom of Cochin. The current southern Indian city of Kochi was part of the erstwhile ...

(Greatest ruler of the Cochin dynasty) is preserved by

Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

Department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

. The palace was converted into a museum in 2005 by

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Style

The main structure of the Sakthan Thampuran Palace has a two-storeyed building and a traditional Kerala style

Nālukettu Nālukettu is the traditional homestead of old Tharavadu where many generations of a matrilineal family lived. These types of buildings are typically found in the Indian state of Kerala. The traditional architecture is typically a rectangular ...

. High roofs, extra thick walls, spacious rooms and floors paved with finely smoothened Italian marbles are some of the structural specialities of this palace. The interiors of the palace, because of its unique construction offer comfortable and pleasant staying conditions irrespective of the prevailing weather conditions.

History

Sakthan Thampuran Palace once belonged to the Perumpadappu Swaroopam, the ruling dynasty of

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. This was the centre of power of King Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran, who ruled

between AD 1790 and 1805. His rule was regarded as the Golden Era of the Cochin dynasty. The palace is close to the Vadakkumnathan Temple in Thrissur. Saktan Thampuran is credited with the introduction of the Thrissur Pooram festival, an annual festival in May with teams representing the Parmekavu Bhagavathy temple and Tiruvambadi Krishna temple competing for primacy in front of the Vadakkumnathan temple with elephants, percussion, drums, fireworks, etc. The palace was once known as Vadakkechira Kovilakam and it was the king who renovated it into the present form. The palace keeps with it the historical remnants of some important events like the visit of

Tipu Sultan Tipu Sultan (born Sultan Fateh Ali Sahab Tipu, 1 December 1751 – 4 May 1799), also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore based in South India. He was a pioneer of rocket artillery.Dalrymple, p. 243 He int ...

with his army. The last member of the royal family to reside here was Rama Varma Bharathan Thampuran, a grand nephew of Chowwarayil Theepetta Veliyathampuran. The palace has a very old Sarpakavu (sacred serpent grove) in its premises.

Museum

The museum displays

Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

Gallery Gallery or The Gallery may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Art gallery ** Contemporary art gallery Music * Gallery (band), an American soft rock band of the 1970s Albums * ''Gallery'' (Elaiza album), 2014 album * ''Gallery'' (Gr ...

where one can find bronze statues belonging to the period between the 12th and the 18th centuries,

Sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

gallery displaying granite statues from the 9th century to the 17th century,

Numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

Gallery, which systematically displays ancient coins, which were in circulation in the former province of

and neighbouring kingdoms and the history gallery depicting some of the milestones of the Kochi dynasty and the

Epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

Gallery showcasing the genesis and evolution of ancient writings. Other galleries of interest at the palace include, a Gallery for

Household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

Utensils made of

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

and

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, used by the rulers of Kochi; and a

Megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

Gallery exhibiting remains of the great stone age. The numismatic section have coins used in Kerala from the 5th century B.C. Roman gold coins (from the Eeyyal hoard) and

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. At ...

native coins (in silver), Veerarayans (gold coins) otta puthan and iratta puthan issued by the kings of Cochin are displayed. These indicate an urban development and commerce. The coin board that measured coins in hundreds to thousands is unique. The coins issued by Tipu Sultan during his brief spell in Kerala, Indo-Dutch coins, Malabar coins (issued by the French), and coins of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

point to different periods of the history of Kerala.

Serpent Grove

Serpent Grove or

Sarpa Kavu Sarpa Kavu (meaning ''Abode of Snakes'') or Naga Banna is a traditional natural sacred space seen near traditional homes in Kerala state of South India and in the region of Tulunad. The site is believed to be inhabited by snakes, and the area ...

is a snake shrine built for worship of serpent gods like ''Naga Raja'' (King of the snakes) and other snake deities, which is believed to bring prosperity to the royal family. Apart from the occasional prayers and ritualistic feeding of milk to the snakes to please the serpent gods, human interventions in these places are nil. The snake deities worshiped in serpent grove in the place is ''Naga raja'' and ''Nagayakshi.'' They are located in the palace garden and can be found under a Saptarna tree. File:Two images - Nagaraja and Nagayakshi under a Saptarna Tree.jpg, Front view of the serpent grove File:Nagaraja under a Saptarna Tree.jpg, Nagaraja under a Saptarna Tree File:Nagayakshi under a Saptarna Tree.jpg, Nagayakshi under a Saptarna Tree Located on the southern side of the Shakthan Palace is the

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

Garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...

, set up recently to exhibit and preserve some of the indigenous varieties of

plants Plants are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic eukaryotes of the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all curr ...

and

trees In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are u ...

of Kerala. The archaeological garden, situated in the northeastern part of the palace, has collections from the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years, and ended between 4,000 BC and 2,000 BC, with t ...

recovered from the outskirts of Thrissur.

References

{{Tourism in Kerala, state=collapsed Palaces in Thrissur Royal residences in India Tourist attractions in Thrissur Buildings and structures completed in 1795 1795 establishments in India