India Guide
Kerala
Puttan Malika Palace
Address: Immediately southeast of Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Price: Rs20, camera Rs15
Opening time: Tues– Sun 8.30am–12.30pm & 3–5.30pm
The Puttan Malika Palace (literally "horse palace") became the seat of the Travancore rajas after they left Padmanabhapuram at the end of the nineteenth century. It was originally commissioned by Raja Ravi Thirunal Varma, who died at the tender age of thirty, only a year after its completion. The cool chambers, with highly polished plaster floors and delicately carved wooden screens, house a crop of dusty Travancore heirlooms, including a solid crystal throne gifted by the Dutch. The highlight, however, is the elegant Keralan architecture itself. Beneath red-tiled roofs, hundreds of wooden pillars, carved as rampant horses, prop up the eaves, and airy verandas project onto the surrounding lawns.
The royal family have always been keen patrons of the arts, and the open-air Swathi Sangeetotsavam festival, held in the grounds during the festival of Navaratri (Oct/Nov), continues the tradition. Performers sit on the palace's raised porch, flanked by the main facade, with the spectators seated on the lawn. Songs composed by Raja Swathi Thirunal (1813–1846), known as the "musician king", dominate the programme.