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Padmavilasom Palace
Padmavilasom Palace is a 150 year old traditional Travancore palace nestled within the archeologically significant part of the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram (popularly known as Trivandrum).

Padmavilasom Palace is one of the last conserved royal palaces in Travancore, Kerala. Embellished in Travancore history that dates back to the 19th century the palace was home to the Travancore royal family. Preserved in its traditional architecture and interiors your stay would bear resemblance to how the royal family used to live in the 19th century.

History of the Padmavilasom Palace

Lord Sree Padmanabha (Lord Vishnu), the deity of Travancore looms large over anything else in the history of Kerala's capital city of Thiruvananthapuram. As any other historically important place in India, the yesteryear Thiruvananthapuram too had witnessed rise and fall of kingdoms, palace coups, nation's freedom struggle, political power struggles etc. However, in any hierarchies here, one can note the devotion to the divine without attributes as a sublime highlight of that history.

Padmavilasom Palace too gains importance for its astounding position of total submission to Lord Sree Padmanabha since its inception. Padmavilasom Palace belonged to the lineage of Vadasseri Ammaveedu family, which is known for its nobility and proximity to the royal family. Lord Sree Padmanabha's Aarattu (Procession) is one of the biggest festivals of this region. The procession commences from Sree Padmanabha temple and concludes at Shanghumukhom seashore. The palace Padmavilasom Palace which is situated on the left side of the road gains historical prominence for its puja offerings to Lord Sree Padmanabha. Kings, palace heads, officers and relatives of royal family watched Aarattu with pious and piety standing before Padmavilasom Palace.

The castle was built between 1870 and 1890 in a Victorian architectural pattern. Kavadiar palace, University college, Manmohan Bungalow and Belhaven palace in Thiruvananthapuram were also constructed in Victorian style. History attributes Padmavilasom Palace's construction to a master architect Shankaran Thampi. Shankaran Thampi was the palace suprendindent of King Vishakom Thirunal. Later, Sree Moolam Thirunal became the king after Vishakom Thirunal. Sree Moolam Thirunal noted the talents of Shankaran Thampi and had asked Thampi to tie nuptial knot with his wife's sister. After marrying Kalyanipillai, the queen's sister, Shankaran Thampi gained more trust and proximity to the royal family. Later, he was appointed to construct the major buildings connected with the palace. Most of his buildings were known for its architectural marvel as it blended European style and Indian traditional designs.

Shankaran Thampi planned the construction of Padmavilasom Palace, as a palace exclusively built for the royal family to perform puja while the Aaarattu is on. The castle is blessed with the gaze of right eye of Lord Sree Padmanabha. It is built in such a way that when the procession returns, it gets the blessed look of the left eye of Lord Sree Padmanabha and Goddess Lakshmi. The conclusion is that Lord Sree Padmanabha's both eyes fall in the threshold of Padmavilasom Palace. The visionary in Shankaran Thampi is still revered for this art of brilliance of selecting this location for Padmavilasom Palace.

An eventful history which ranges from royal strictures to freedom struggle lies dormant in Padmavilasom Palace. Several major administrative decisions of Travancore was taken in the courtyard of Padmavilasom Palace.

The literary stalwart C V Raman Pillai, who enriched the literary realm with epic historic novels often visited the palace. Several literary discussions between C V Raman Pillai, who is also known as the Walter Scott of Kerala and Shankaran Thampi were held here. It can be recalled that C V Raman Pillai's novel Ramaraja Bahadur is a tribute to Shankaran Thampi. During the freedom struggle, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter Indira Gandhi had their sojourn at Padmavilasom Palace in 1939.

Tinu mohan (talk) 09:20, 17 April 2018 (UTC)