Trivandrum Holidays

The state of Kerala’s capital, Thiruvananthapuram, for obvious reasons still widely and more commonly known as Trivandrum is built on seven hills 87-km from the southern tip of India. A number of places in Kerala have been stripped of their anglicized names and given Malayalam names, Thiruvananthapuram being one of them.

Today, it's splendid past is to be seen in it's old buildings, most of them built in wood in the Kerala style, with tiled roofs and carved gables, in it's botanical garden and zoo with it's quaint museum; in it's wide roads and public buildings; and in it's lively intellectual life. Some of Kerala's leading filmmakers, poets and writers live here.

The historical heart of the city is in the Fort area at the southern end of MG Road, which encloses the Shri Padmanabhaswamy Vishnu temple (closed to non-Hindus). Behind the temple is the Margi school of Kathakali dance drama. This is the place to ask about authentic Kathakali performances.

The Puttan Malika Palace southeast of the temple is constructed in a typical Keralan style and houses a museum that contains Travancore heirlooms. Housed in a Keralan-style building dating from 1880, the Napier Museum offers an eclectic display of Keralan arts and crafts including 12th century Chola bronzes, 15th century Keralan woodcarvings and minutely detailed ivory work.