The Padmanabhapuram Palace, located near Thuckalay in Kanyakumari, continues to attract history buffs and connoisseurs of antiquity. Currently maintained for posterity by the Govt. of Kerala Archaeology Department, this palace was erected around 1601 AD by the ruler Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal, and was rebuilt in 1750 by the founder of modern Travancore, King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1706–1758). King Marthaanda Varma dedicated the kingdom to his family deity Sri Padmanabha, a form of Lord Vishnu and ruled the kingdom as Padmanabha dasa or servant of Lord Padmanabha.
The features of this palace are especially noteworthy. The clock tower in the palace complex has a 300-year-old clock, which still keeps time. There’s large hall with a capacity to accommodate around 1000 guests, and it was once upon a time a space for holding ceremonial feasts on auspicious occasions. Interestingly, the palace has a secret passage, now blocked, through which the king, his immediate family members, and their entourage could escape to another palace, located several miles away in case of a serious threat. The palace complex also has old Chinese jars, all gifts by Chinese merchants, weapons, brass lamps, wood and stone sculpture, a variety of furniture, large mirrors made of polished metal, paintings portraying the history of Travancore and a wooden cot made of up to 64 wooden pieces of a variety of medicinal tree trunks.
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