The kings of Travancore were well known for their generous hospitality. Over 2000 people were served free meals every day in this grand dining hall comprising two floors each having a capacity to seat 1000.Huge Chinese jars were used to store pickles for the feast.
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| The Grand Dining Hall - served 2000 free meals every day |
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| A secret room- leading to armory and watch tower. Thousands of different weapons stored here were confiscated by the British army by order of Col.Macaulay. The remaining weapons are exhibited in the new museum |
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| Ornamented ceiling in king's bedroom - above & below |
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| Royal Indian Toilet chiseled from a granite block |
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| Room where the queen has her afternoon siesta: Above & below |
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| Protected & ornamented balconies through which the queen can look outside with being seen |
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| The massive and high wooden ceiling keeps the heat away in the queen's room |
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| Ambari Mukappu: This was built for the kings to view chariot races during festivals and to appear before the public on special occasions. "Ambari" is actually the seat put on elephants back for safaris.This building has been constructed based on the shape and structure of an "Ambari". The Ambari Mukappu is the crowning example of craftmanship of Travancore wood carving. |
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| Wooden steps leading to Ambari Mukappu: Above & Below |
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| Steps leading to paintings gallery |
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| Gallery of paintings |
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| Entrance to visitors room |
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| Wooden Stairway |
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| Visitors room |
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| A view of building housing the Royal Kitchen, Granary,Provisions room etc |
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| Carved Doorway to kitchen provisions |
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| Royal Kitchen |
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| Royal stone grinder ( there are 5 such grinders in the kitchen) |
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| The Royal Well from which water was drawn for cooking,bathing,rituals etc. Now in disuse and covered by beautiful lotuses |
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| Royal Pond - above & below. Used by the royalty for having their baths and rituals |
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| Entrance to Royal Temple and Natyasala |
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| A final look at palace from the outside |
Thanks for the beautiful information with each and every minute details ...!Enjoyed the post thoroughly.
ReplyDelete@Anupama: Thanks !
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and beautiful. I can't believe those two floors contained 1,000 people each while dining there. Those floors must be incredibly strong. I also liked the room where the Queen slept.
ReplyDeleteFascinating!
ReplyDeleteWhat a quaint place. But I like the story about the kind royals a lot because we know that this world needs more kindness all around. :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting, esp. the royal toilet!
ReplyDeletethe carvings, the wood, the stone. always so impressive! thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWonderful pictures..I feel like visiting it again.. Great details too..
ReplyDeleteThoroughly fascinating and beautiful! Your photos are fantastic. I love that pond especially.
ReplyDeleteWe hear only about the unimaginable riches stored... but they shared their largess by feeding 2000 people everyday. On the other side there is amazing piece of artistry coupled with elegance of simplicity..Thanks again RR!
ReplyDeleteA breath of fresh air, that's what you give to us, thanks.
ReplyDeleteMy brother Ram,
ReplyDeleteThank you once again for sharing such beauty with us. I personally got to see things I never knew existed. You did a great job my friend!! Thank you again.
Magnificent palace and beautifully captured!
ReplyDeleteRamblings....
ReplyDeleteBellas fotos has compartido,graciass, me ha llamado la atenciòn que para darle brillo a los pisos, entre otros productos usaran las claras de huevos
¡¡¡ Magnìfico Palacio !!
Recibe mis saludos desde Argentina
un beso
@Doris Dolly: I cannot understand Spanish. But I am sure you have left a beautiful comment. Thanks and do visit again.
ReplyDeleteWow, some spread. Wonder who those 2,000 folks at meals were?
ReplyDeleteTerrific ambiance captured in these pictures.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful palace with amazing craftsmanship.
ReplyDeleteMagnificent
ReplyDeleteI loved thos thick doors , You know back home in our vilalge I have a few old old Sandooks, they are called My great grand parents had them .. I still have them
ReplyDeleteand the royal toilet made me smile , reminded me too of home :)
lovely pics sir , thank you for sharing
Open letter to all Indians-Bikram's
The pictures speak a volume of words:)
ReplyDeleteLovely photos of the beautiful palace.
ReplyDeletehttp://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2012/07/nh-17.html
Thanks for this interesting tour.
ReplyDeleteHi.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing those wonderful photos. I enjoyed this trip with you. Although it is hard to say about what is my favorite, the wooden steps leading to Ambari Mukappu is catching my eyes.
RedRose
WOW. I wish I could go there and get inspired to write some verses.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Incredible captures of such an awesome place!! Fascinating history and what a wonderful tour you've taken us on!! Thank you for sharing the beauty and the history!!
ReplyDeleteWow, such a beautiful and stunning palace - these royalties had a nice life i must say ;) Have a great day!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for all the 3 parts.. The pics were awesome and I felt like I was travelling via the pic to the palace. Every single pic is worth a million stories !!
ReplyDeleteThanks again :)
Wow, great pics sir. The dining hall was particularly impressive.
ReplyDelete@Thanks Ramya for your gracious comments. Glad that you liked the pictures immensely. Please keep visiting and following my blog. That inspires me.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.
Ram
You have made my day. It helped to recapitulate. Once again I reiterate that the wood work is fantastic. However I could not relish the idea of the dining hall with brick flooring.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteYour photos are beautiful and intelligible as usual. I enjoyed this Palace. Queen's nap must have been elegant and craftsman's works are marvelous.
Thank you for sharing.
Have a wonderful week!
woww what a lovely way to relive the ancient royal times. Superb photography.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible place! It's massive. Hard to imagine all that went on here on a daily basis. It would have taken hundreds of people to keep it operating and some very astute managers and accountants.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this most interesting journey!
Thank you Mr Ramakrishnan for the wishes :)
ReplyDeletePadmanabhpuram Palace is just wonderful! The wood interiors and the furniture are amazing!
I like very much the colours an beauty of the natural materials.This has been a very interesting tour,thank you!
ReplyDeleteRuby
A visit to the palace has been completed by just going through your posts as always.....
ReplyDeletewow that palace is enormous!! imagine living in a place like that, Ram?? furnished and with all amenities, of course... must have been good to have been a queen!! Thank you for these amazing posts, I can't get enough!!!
ReplyDeleteP. S. Your last comment made my day, you are so witty and hilarious -- even my readers are enjoying you!!!
Pretty interesting!
ReplyDeleteGreat work !!!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully captured all
thanks for sharing and visiting my blog
great serie! :)
ReplyDeletea real magnificent palace...can't even imagine how fabulous it would have been in those days :)
ReplyDeleteGreat reportage with beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the Padmanabhapuram Palace with us.
Thank you for the fascinating tour of this beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteIts very easy to imagine the everyday happenings of life past with all the glorious decorations. Wonderfully written.
ReplyDeleteYou seem to have a most exciting job Ramkrishnan :) traveling to all these wonderful places - or is this a weekend hobby?
ReplyDelete@Now Serving: Travelling,Photography & Blogging are my passion & hobby. I am retired now and hence plenty of time to pursue my passion!
ReplyDeleteFantastic, don't know how I missed this
ReplyDelete