Heritage Walk Trivandrum - 4th Anniversary trip to Keralapuram

I'd recently joined the facebook group of Heritage Walk Trivandrum and they have been organising trips on the last Sunday of every month to various heritage spots in the city. This was started by Bina Thomas Tharakan, an archeologist who is a special officer with the Kerala State Government working on various heritage sites in the state. Sharat Sunder Rajeev is a conservation architect who does a fair bit on researching history, an Asst. Prof. at College of Engineering Trivandrum, has also come out with his book 'The King's Craftsmen' and usually on these walks, is the in-house speaker providing a wealth of information for those interested. His blog, Tales from Travancore is a treasure trove of his writings under Hidden Histories for the newspaper 'The Hindu'.

This being the 4th year since the group was started, they planned an excursion to Keralapuram, Muthalakurichy and Udayagiri fort. It was arranged that we would leave from the Kerala University main gate by 7am and be back by 4 pm-ish. About a 100 people were expected and 2 buses were arranged for the same with a few people coming in their private vehicles. I ended up googling the 3 places the previous night to read up more on them before we left. I was quite excited by the Udayagiri fort readup as there was a lot that interested me. Everything was going fine even with the early scheduled departure from the University. Ended up meeting a couple of people from the Stories Worth Sharing bandwagon too. We were making good time till we got to the border checkpost. On the Kerala side we spent about 30 minutes to clear it. On the Tamil Nadu side was where it went downhill. Waiting for a good hour and half and we still did not get what was supposed to be just a seal on the papers. Impatience started to show on most travellers faces as any delays would result in one or the other spots being dropped from the itinerary. Most of us were still waiting by the bus so we only 'heard' of what was happening. Something along the lines of demand-for-a-bribe-while-holding-the-RC-books-of-the-buses-thus-preventing-us-from-even-returning-and-holding-us-up-for-long-thus-forcing-us-to-settle-and-leave-quickly. All I know is that a little while later we were on our way. That significant loss of time did affect us later in the day.

We ended up reaching our first in our trio of travel spots: Keralapuram. The temple being visited was the Sri Mahadevar Athisaya Vinayakar Temple. There are two temples inside this complex: One for lord Shiva and one for lord Ganesha. 'Adisiya Vinayakar Koyil' translates to 'Miracle Ganesha Temple'. Known by many attributes, Ganesha is widely known as the 'remover of obstacles', 'patron of arts and sciences' and 'deva of intellect and wisdom'. As the God of beginnings, he is honoured at the start of rites and ceremonies. Vinayaka is one of his names.

The idol of lord Vinayakar changes colour twice a year.

Utharayan (March-June) Idol is black in colour 

Dakshiyana (July-February) Idol is white in colour

During Utharayan (March-June), the idol is black in colour and during Dakshiyana (July-February) the idol turns white, hence providing for the 'Adisiya Vinayakar Koyil' name.

We were instructed not to click photographs of the Vinayakar idol when we went there so I sourced these two images from the internet.

There is another miracle associated with this temple. A well present inside the temple complex has the water change it's colour along with the idol. Only that it is the opposite. When the idol is white in colour, the water changes to black and vice versa!

We were also told about a story behind this idol. The king, who ruled Keralapuram, went for a pilgimage to Rameshwaram, a famous shivite temple facing the Bay of Bengal. A Ganesh idol was washed over while the king and his men were washing their legs at the Rameshwaram beach. The king then gifts it to his Rameshwaram counterpart Sethu Mannan. Sethu Mannan, overwhelmed by the love and affection, however returned the gift back to the Keralapuram King. It was his belief that the finder should have it. Along with the idol, the Rameshwaram king gifts another emerald idol. However, the Muslim feudal lords (many stories claim they were Mughals but this has been disputed) looted the emerald idol during their invasion. They could not take this idol with them as it was stuck to the ground and hence left behind. Though the temple was built in the 12th century, the idols are much older than that. We were told the idols are at least 2,300 years old.

Lord Shiva, on whom the other temple is created, is known as Mahadevar. The temple was renovated many times over the centuries and this information is available in the temple scriptures. Beautiful paintings dot the walls though some have been damaged with the passing of time.

Painting of Padmanabhaswamy

Upon entering the temple complex one is greeted with a view of  a yard followed by Shiva and Parvathi idols atop the dome. There are also a lot of Nagaraja idols present within the temple.

View of Shiva and Parvathi idols atop the roof

Carved inscriptions on the footpath around the temple

Carvings along the perimeter of the temple complex

We departed the temple complex after finishing with breakfast outside and proceeded to our next destination which was the Pulluvilakathu Mele Veedu, the ancestral home of the Sarvadhikaryakkars associated with the Travancore royal family, which has a prominent place in the history of Travancore.

While walking towards the house we had this lovely view and a few members of the group remarked how it reminded them of the Table Top mountain in Cape Town, S.A.. Having seen the Table Top mountain from offshore while sailing past the Cape of Good Hope, all I could think of was the Mesa Mountain from the Phantom comic book series. And this brought back quite some memories.

We were provided with a write-up on the place which was written by Sharat in one of his as-usual informative pieces for The Hindu. Following are a few snippets from the article, the whole of which can be read here.

Entrance to the Pulluvilakathu Mele Veedu

Valiya Padippura

"The 'Pulluvilakathu Mele Veedu' traces it's origin to Charode Kalathil Veedu, an ancient house located near the Charode palace. According to oral tradition, the family gained prominence duing the reign of Anizham Tirunal Marthanda Varma and the patriarchs of the family were bestowed the position of Sarvadhikaryakkar. The valiya padippura denoted the elevated social status of the family members, for it served as a venue for conducting important meetings.

Intricately carved rafters, capitals of pillars and the brass metal work in the main doors provide a glimpse to the high degree of perfection attained by indigenous craftsmen.

A splendid carving of a galloping horse invistes our attention as we enter the padippura. The presence of such a motif may point to the family's early military heritage. The thaiveedu was originally as 16-kettu, with four courtyards; however, only two courtyards remain today. It is worthwhile to note that the members of the Pulluvilakathu Mele Veedu have joined hands to form a family trust that preserves their heritage."

It was quite the learning experience walking through such old houses and admiring the intricate woodwork some of which would be difficult to replicate in today's times.

Calmness in the midst of chaos. Renovation in a neighbouring house.

Unfortunately just before departing this place the call had to be made about the third destination. Udayagiri fort was quite a bit ahead and the loss of time earlier meant that we would barely reach there before we would have to turn back for Trivandrum. That was quite a disappointment as I'd read quite a bit about that fort and it had really piqued my interest. Instead, it was decided that we would visit Eraniel Palace which was in ruins and most probably would not be around for much longer given the state of disrepair and vandalism that had befallen it.

Eraniel Palace ruins

Eraniel Palace ruins from the side

But nothing prepared me to see it in this amount of disrepair and neglect.

Intricate carvings on the stone bed


Beyond that were these ruins of what was said to be the royal bedroom. The woodwork was decaying. But we could still see some of the lovely carving on it. The stone bed was filled with stone carvings around it.

Woodwork carvings

Woodwork carvings

An older blog post by Sathiesh Kumar gives one a perspective of how this palace has quickly disintergrated and not all of it by natural means. Frankly it seems to be beyond the scope of restoration. What could be done would be to clear up the area and preserve what remains before that too would disappear. A simple google search would throw up links to many articles lamenting about the neglect from both the governments of Tamil Nadu as well as Kerala with respect to preserving what many say was the important landmark of South Travancore during ancient times. There seem to be no clear records about the history and construction of this palace but reading online people seem to have gleaned from the local population that the royal palace was established during the reign of Maharaja Vanchi Marthanda Varma around 500 years ago. It is also said that the building was the administrative hub of the Venad kings. Padmanabhapuram Palace was contructed in 1601and so the King Ravi Varma Kulashekhara moved the seat of power from Eraniel Palace to the new palace. Later, the Eraniel Palace served as the second capital of the city. 

With such deep history being literally torn apart and that too with it being unknown to large swathes of the populace, one can only hope that someone, if not the governement, would take the lead in preserving what remains. 

Well, once that vist was concluded, we headed back to the buses where lunch was served and we then proceeded back to Thiruvananthapuram. Horrid traffic and wayward routes back did ensure we reached at a much later time than desired, but all in all it was a trip worth making.