Hill Palace is an

archaeological museum An archaeology museum is a museum that specializes in the display of archaeological artifacts. Many archaeology museum are in the open-air museum, open air, such as the Ancient Agora of Athens and the Roman Forum.David Watkin. ''The Roman Forum ...

and

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

located in the Tripunithura neighbourhood of

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

. It is the largest archeological museum in the state and was the imperial administrative office and official residence of the Cochin Maharaja. Built in 1865, the palace complex consists of 49 buildings spreading across and built in the traditional architectural style. The complex has an archaeological museum, a

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

museum, a

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

park, a pre-historic park and a children's park. The campus section of the museum is home to several rare species of medicinal plants. Presently, the palace has been converted into a museum by The Kerala State Archaeology Department and is open to the public. The palace is about from the city centre and is reachable by road and by rail. The Centre for Heritage Studies (CHS), an autonomous research and training institute set up by the Department of Cultural Affairs, of the

Government of Kerala The Government of Kerala (abbreviated as GoK), also known as the Kerala Government, is the administrative body responsible for governing the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who ...

also functions at the site. The CHS is designated as the 'Manuscript Conservation Centre' (MCC) and 'Manuscript Resource Centre' (MRC) by the

National Mission for Manuscripts National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

History

Hill_palace_horse_cart_room_back_of_palace

The Hill Palace was built in 1865 by the Maharaja of Cochin and is now the largest archaeological museum in Kerala. The official capital of the Kingdom of Kochi was previously located in

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, 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 List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

, and the royal office of the Maharaja as well as the court were all located in the city. However, as per ritualistic customs, the seat of the queen of Kochi (Penvazhithampuran) was seen as the royal capital, as the Kochi royal family had matrilineal traditions and the queen was regarded as sovereign of the state under whose authority the king ruled. Since 1755, the queen and her retinue lived in Tripunithura, thereby making the city as the official capital. Further, the prince Rama Varma was raised in Tripunithura, thus he preferred to live in that city even after his coronation as king rather than moving to Thrissur. Thus, for his benefit, a royal office was constructed in 1865. It initially started off as a royal office, court building and offices of royal secretaries and nobles of the court, but soon an increasing number of structures were added to the main structure for various purposes. Soon, an imperial residence building was also constructed for the residence of the king and his immediate family, although other members of the Cochin royal family had their own allocated

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

s and official residences. The palace was handed over to the government of Kerala by the

Cochin royal family The kingdom of Cochin or the Cochin State, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It originated in the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until i ...

, and in 1980, the palace was taken over by the Department of Archaeology and later converted into a museum. It was opened to the public in 1986. The museum and its campus are popular shooting locations for the Malayalam film industry. The horse cart gallery and weapons gallery house numerous historical artifacts. The museum gardens are also some of the last green refuge of the town. A checklist of fauna found within the gardens, prepared by Sandeep Varma and Gokul Vinayan, has been published under the title 'The Fauna of Hill Palace

Museum

The museum displays 14 categories of exhibits, including the Crown and ornaments of erst from the Cochin royal family's reign, paintings, sculptures in stone and marble, weapons, inscriptions and coins. The major share of attractions in the museum were contributed by the

, with some exhibits from the Paliam Devaswom and the Department of Archaeology. The museum collection includes a gold crown embedded with precious stones and many valuable coins, ornaments, majestic beds and samples of

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 ...

. The Malayalam movie Manichitrathazhu was shot here.

In the media

The Hill Palace has been the location for many films in Malayalam. is the most famous movie shot at this location, but many filmmakers have utilized this place for shooting purposes. Some popular films shot in the palace include '' Moonnam Mura'' (1988), '' Manichitrathazhu'' (1993), '' Kaliyoonjal'' (1997), ''

Dreams A dream is a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that usually occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Humans spend about two hours dreaming per night, and each dream lasts around 5–20 minutes, althou ...

'' (2000) and '' Chotta Mumbai'' (2007).

Gallery

Image:Thripunithura Hill Palace 2.jpg Image:Hill Palace Cochin (23656703924).jpg Image:Hill Palace Museum.jpg Image:Hill Palace by GV-4.JPG Image:Hill Palace by GV-6.JPG Image:Fiberglass model of dinosaur, Hill Palace, Tripunithura (July 2011).jpg Image:Thripunithura Hill Palace.jpg Image:Hill Palace Ernakulam Deer Sanctuary.jpg Image:Hill Palace Museum Tripunithura DSC 1234.JPG Image:Hill Palace Museum Tripunithura DSC 1232.JPG Image:Hill Palace Museum Tripunithura DSC 1243 03.jpg Image:Hill Palace Museum Tripunithura DSC 1432.jpg Image:Hill Palace Museum Tripunithura DSC 1497.jpg

References

External links