Despite restoration, historic Attingal palace lies forgotten

Thiruvananthapuram: It's been six years since attempts were made to restore the front portion of the Attingal (Koyikkal) palace and open it to the public, but it remains locked and inaccessible to the people.Though the palace, built in the traditional Ettukettu architectural style, and the town, which witnessed one of the earliest revolts against British rule — are closely tied to the early history of the Travancore royal family, the archaeology, culture and tourism departments have shown little interest in preserving and promoting one of the most significant landmarks of the Travancore Kingdom and Kerala's pre-Independence history.There are no signboards in the town indicating the presence of the palace, save for a street named ‘Palace Road'. Auto drivers near the bus stand are largely unaware of the monument's significance. The road that branches off from the Attingal-Varkala highway towards the palace remains unkempt as it reaches the palace gates, and there is nothing near the entrance to explain its historical importance to visitors.Believed to be centuries old, the palace was originally built as a residence for princesses adopted from Kolathunadu. It is currently owned by TDB, and a part of it is preserved by the state archaeology department. One portion of the building houses a kalapeedom run by the devaswom board, though that too looks neglected.While the palace frontage was recently restored by the archaeology department, creepers have already begun covering one side of the building. The wooden pillars and balcony railings, painted red and blue six years ago, now look worn and weathered from sun exposure. Writer and historian M G Sasibhooshan said that there are two palaces in Attingal that are historically significant but are not maintained well. "The devaswom board and the archaeology department does not carry out maintenance and repairs on time. The archaeology department hardly has funds. The only solution is to bring archaeology, museums, devaswom under the culture ministry," he said.