5/5 SREEHARI V N. 2 years ago on Google
Located
about
10
kms
from
Kochi,
the
Hill
Palace
Museum
was
the
official
residence
of
the
Kochi
rulers
in
17th
century.
Today
it
is
famous
as
a
full-fledged
ethno-archaeological
museum
and
as
Kerala's
first
ever
heritage
museum.
The
palace
complex
comprises
49
buildings
built
in
the
traditional
Kerala
style
of
architecture
and
is
surrounded
by
52
acres
of
terraced
land.
The
Hill
Palace
Museum
also
has
a
gallery
housing
contemporary
art.
Hill
Palace
is
an
archaeological
museum
and
palace
located
in
the
Tripunithura
neighbourhood
of
Kochi
city
in
the
Indian
state
of
Kerala.
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
in
the
traditional
architectural
style,
spreading
across
54
acres
(220,000
m2).
The
complex
has
an
archaeological
museum,
a
heritage
museum,
a
deer
park,
a
pre-historic
park
and
a
children’s
park.The
campus
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
public.
The
palace
is
about
10
kilometres
(6.2
mi)
from
the
city
centre
and
is
approachable
by
road
and
rail.
Hill
Palace
was
built
in
1865
by
the
Maharaja
Of
Cochin
and
is
now
the
largest
archaeological
museum
in
Kerala.[3]
The
official
capital
of
Kingdom
of
Kochi
was
located
previously
in
Thrissur
and
the
royal
office
of
Maharaja
as
well
as
the
court
was
all
located
in
the
city.
However,
as
per
ritualistic
customs,
the
seat
of
Queen
of
Kochi
(Penvazhithampuran)
was
seen
as
Royal
capital
as
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
official
capital.
Also
the
Prince
Rama
Varma
was
raised
in
Tripunithura,
thereby
preferred
to
live
in
the
city
even
after
coronation
as
King,
rather
moving
to
Thrissur.
Thus
for
his
benefit,
a
royal
office
was
constructed
in
1865.
Initially
it
started
off
as
royal
office,
court
building
and
offices
of
royal
secretaries
and
nobles
of
the
court,
soon
more
and
more
structures
were
added
to
main
structure
to
various
purposes.
Soon,
an
imperial
residence
building
was
also
constructed
for
the
residence
of
the
King
and
his
immediate
family
though
other
members
of
Cochin
Royal
family
had
their
own
allocated
bungalows
and
official
residences.
The
palace
was
handed
over
to
the
Government
of
Kerala
by
the
Cochin
Royal
Family
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
is
one
among
the
popular
shooting
sites
for
the
Malayalam
film
industry.
The
Horse
cart
gallery
and
Weapons
gallery
houses
a
lot
of
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