Padmanabhapuram
| Author:Laxman Burdak, IFS (R) |
Padmanabhapuram (पद्मनाभपुरम) is a town near Thuckalay in Kanyakumari district in the state of Tamil Nadu, Indian.
Location
Padmanabhapuram is located at 8.23°N 77.33°E. One can take a bus from Thiruvananthapuram or Nagercoil and get down at Thuckalay, which is two kilometres away from Padmanabhapuram.
The nearest places around this old capital city of South travancore is Marunthukottai (It is a very old fort having weapons storage facility), Saralvilai, Kumarakovil (Lord-Murugan Temple), Moolachel, Charode, Manali, Udaygiri fort ...
History
Padmanabhapuram was the erstwhile capital of the Kingdom of Travancore. The Travancore King, Rama Varma, who was popularly known as Dharma Raja, shifted the capital in 1795 from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram. By that time, the boundaries of the Travancore had extended to half of the present day Indian state of Kerala. Up to 1957, Padmanabhapuram formed part of the Travancore Kingdom and subsequently the Travancore-Cochin State. It was when the states were divided on linguistic basis that Kalkulam (including Padmanabhapuram), Vilavancode, Thovala and Agastheeswaram Taluks of erstwhile Thiruvananthapuram District of Travancore-Cochin State were included in the Madras State (later renamed as Tamil Nadu) as Kanyakumari District.
Padmanabhapuram Palace
The popular Padmanabhapuram Palace, the old palace of the Travancore kings, is also located here. It is spread over an area of 6 acres. The palace is known for it antiques, including the armoury of the royal family. The woodwork in this palace is intricate. This Palace is maintained by the Govt.of Kerala Archaeology Department.
Other tourist locations include Thirparappu Waterfalls, Hanging Bridge in Mathoor, Ancient Jain Temple in Chitharal (a small village situated at a distance of 8 km from Marthandam.)
Temples
There are many temples around Padmnanbhapuram Palace: Padmanabhapuram Madan-Ishakkiamman Temple, Padmanabhapuram Bhuththan Temple, Padmanabhapuram Pillayar Temple, Padmanabhapuram Murgan Temple, Ramaswamy Temple, Padmanabhapuram Sarswathy Amman Temple, Perumal Temple, Neelakandaswamy Temple and Padmanabhapuram Chettu Samudhaya Mutharamman Temple
Thirukarthikai is the famous festival celebrated at Padmanabhapuram Chettu Samudhaya Mutharamman Temple.