 Thripunithura
Hill palace, the largest archaeological museum in Kerala and the erstwhile
official residence of the Kochi Royal Family, was built in 1865. Hill
Palace is situated at a distance of about 12kms from Kochi on Ernakulam-
Chottanikkara route. The palace complex consists of 49 buildings in the
traditional architectural style of Kerala and is surrounded by 52
acres of terraced land with ponds, fountains and lawns. A full fledged
ethno archaeological museum and Kerala's first ever Heritage museum are
the main attractions here.
The oldest building in the complex is a single storeyed Kerala style 'ettukettu'
constructed around 1850 AD with an adjacent pond, temple and urappura.
The other buildings are a combination of traditional and western architecture.
The latest construction was a three storeyed western style building constructed
in 1950 which used to function as the office.
In 1980, the palace was taken over by the Department
Of Archaeology and later converted into a Museum. It was opened to the
public in 1986. Set on top of a hillock and surrounded by terraced garden
with fountains, ponds and lawns, this palace-turned-museum displays 14
categories of exhibits including paintings, murals, sculpture in stone
and plaster of paris, manuscripts, inscriptions, carvings etc. Recently,
the museum has been renovated by Archaeological Department with a few
additions such as a two-metre wide walkway built around the palace complex
lit by fancy lamps on decorated cast iron pillars and two hundred lamp
posts to light up the locale during early morning and at night. Apart from
repairing and restoring the doors and windows, Archeology Department also
done
Renovated with intricated wood carvings
Traditional
'Nalukettu' at the northern end of the palace has been renovated with
intricate wood carvings, Kulapurars have been renovated by repairing
the compound walls and replacing the tiles etc.
The
other renovation works done by the department are,
The collections displayed in the museum are mainly from
the Travancore Royal House, Paliam Devaswom and from the department of
Archaeology. It has a gold crown embedded with precious stones and many
valuable coins, ornaments, majestic beds and samples of epigraphy.
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Monuments 
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