Places In Thiruvananthapuram

Veli Lagoon (Tourist Village): Delightful waterfront park.An ideal picnic spot where the lake merges with sea. The wadingpool,gardens,exquisite sculptures, a floating bridge and a wide range of aqua sports facilities

The Govt: Art Museum : Formally known as "Napier Museum" name dafter a former Madras Governer General, John Napier. It is a gem of architectural exub-

erance, combining traditional Kerala styles and good doses of Chinese and Mughal Influences.

Sree Chithra Art Gallary: Has a rich collection of paintings of Raja Ravi Varma and Roerich.It also has copies of paintings of the Ajanta, Rajput,Mughal and Tanjore Schools besides some works from China, Japa,Tibet and bali.

The Zoo: Is one of the best maintained zoos in the whole of Asia and has a beautiful sprawling lawns.

Observatory: The Observatory situated 60m above sea level is located on a hill near the Museum.It is one of the oldest in India. There is a well laid out garden in front of the hill, with a beautiful rose collection.

Shanghumugham Beach: It is popular city beach adjacent to the airport. An indoor recreation club, children's

traffic training park and a star shaped restaurant are some of the facilities at the beach

Shanghumugham Beach: It is popular city beach adjacent to the airport. An indoor recreation club, children's traffic training park and a star shaped restaurant are some of the facilities at the beach

Science and Technology Museum: Located near Mascot Hotel, the Museum is of high educative value for students of science and Technology.

Kowdiar Palace: The home of the late maharaja Sree Chithira Thirunal Bala Rama varma and his family is off limits to visitors but you can have a glimpse from the main gate. If a friendly guard is on duty, he will let you walk a bit inside the grounds where you can get a view of the grand old building at the end of its long drive.

Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple: The imposing seven storied tower makes it the most impressive landmark in the city. The temple is an excellent example of the dravidian style of architecture. There are innumerable pillars, intricate carvings, and mural paintings.

Akkulam Boat Club : 9 km away from the town. It is a popular retreat for the city dwellers. The lake has boating facilities and has largest children's Park in Kerala.

Aruvikkara:16 km north of Thiruvananthapuram and gifted with lavish scenic beauty is Aruvikkara, with an ancient temple dedicated to Durga on the banks of the river.

Neyyar Dam:29km from Thiruvananthapuram is Neyyar Dam a picnic spot and dam site. There are facilities for boating at the reservoir. There is a lion safari park and crocodile farm.

Ponmudi : An ideal hill resort situated just 54km from Thiruvananthapuram is an enchanting one for tourists. Best accommodation and restaurant facilities are available here.

Peppara Wild Life Sanctuary: 50km from Thiruvananthapuram, Peppara is accessible from Vithurai on Thiruvananthapuram-Ponmudi Road. This sanctuary with its rich fauna and birds is emerging as a big attraction to wild life enthusiasts. It is spread over an area of 53 sq.km on the western ghats. This is doted with large hills and numerous hillocks with forests and eucalyptus plantations. Elephants, Sambar, Leopard and Lion tailed macaque are commonly seen.

Agastyakoodam : This is a prominent peak in the Sahyadri ranges and can be approached on foot from Bonacadu which is 61km away from Thiruvananthapuram

Agastyakoodam : This is a prominent peak in the Sahyadri ranges and can be approached on foot from Bonacadu which is 61km away from Thiruvananthapuram

Padmanabhapuram Palace : This palace was once the capital of the State of Travancore and is 51km from the city on the way to Nagarcoil in Tamil Nadu.The palace contains 17th and 18th century murals.

Kuthira Malika : (Palace Museum): Puthen Malika is also known as Kuthira Malika.This palace was built during the time of H.H Maharaja Swathi Thirunal the king of Travncore who was also a great poet and musician. This palace has wood carvings in the traditional Travancore style. The museum presently displays various painting collections of the royal family.

Thiruvallam : Lord Parasuraman's temple is here by the river at Thiruvallam, Chithranjali, the State Film Development Corporation's studio is at Thiruvallam. This is on the Thiruvananthapuram-Kovalam route,10km from the city.

Vizhinjam : Lying just 15kms from the state capital ,that is a historic spot, which was left unnoticed for a long time. The capital of Ay-Vel kings of the 8th-9th century, the only thing that was withstood time is a rock temple, as signed to the period of the Cheras because of a strong influence to the Pallava Pandya architecture. The rock temple is just a little off the main junction ,and is a protected monument under the Archeological Survey of India.

Koyikkal Palace:This is at Nedumangadu,18km from Thiruvananthapuram.This ancient palace built during the 15th century is on the way to the Ponmudi Hill Station and the Courtallam Water falls. This is built on the traditional nalukettu style.

Aruvi Waterfalls/Vaiyanthol : Just 60km from Thiruvananthapuram and 7kms from the Bonecaud estate in the Peppara forest range.This 4 ft cascade is one of the most verdant and unspoiled spots in Kerala. Road accessibility is only upto Bonecaud,thereon the Kanni tribesmen accompany trekkers along the mountain path. Prior permission from the Forest Department is required before approaching the area.

Padamanabhapuram Palace was constructed around 1601 A.D by Iravi Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal who ruled Travancore between 1592 A.D. and 1609 A.D. The palace is located in a small village Padmanabhapuram, around 65 km from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, en route to Kanyakumari, Tamilnadu. The palace complex is inside an old granite fortress around four km long. The place is located at the foot of the Veli Hills, which form a part of the Western Ghats. The river Valli flows nearby.

Kovalam Beach : Kovalam is a beach town on the Arabian Sea in Kerala,. It is located around 16km outside Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) City in the Thiruvananthapuram district. There are a number of beach resorts in and around Kovalam. The sea port of Vizhinjam is about 3 km away and famous for its special varieties of fish, old Hindu temples, big churches and a Muslim shrine.

Vellayani Lake

Located 7-km from Kovalam via Poonkulam junction. The 750-hectre giant lake is a freshwater lake, one of the two in Kerala. The other one is in Sasthamkotta in Kollam district. A road passes through this lake, a rare sight. This lake attracts many people. Once in Kovalam, a visitor should not allow to miss the opportunity of seeing this wonder lake of freshwater. Its crystal-clear calm water, especially during moonlit nights, is a craze for the minds. The locals say a side of the lake is Kochu Kovalam, meaning tiny Kovalam.

There is a boat race in the lake during Onam which attracts huge crow. Country boat is available from Kovalam beach to reach the lake. The charge is Rs 500.

300-acre campus of Government Agricultural College is nearby. The main building of the College was built by the erstwhile Travancore royal family as their summer palace.

There is a Devi temple 300-m away from the lake. A festival called Vellayani Mahotsav is celebrated in the temple once in every three years. The festival prolongs to 54 days. The next festival is due in 2008

Varkala

Located at 40 km north of Thiruvananthapuram city,A quiet, secluded stretch of sand, the Papanasam beach in Varkala is known for its mineral springs and rocky cliffs. The 2000 year old Sree Janardhana Swamy Temple and the Nature Care Centre are the two main attractions of Varkala.

Map of Thiruvananthapuram

History of Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram is an ancient city with trading traditions dating back to 1000 BC. It is believed that the ships of King Solomon landed in a port called Ophir (now Poovar) in Thiruvananthapuram in 1036 BC. The city was the trading post of spices, sandalwood and ivory.^[4] However, the ancient political and cultural history of the city was almost entirely independent from that of the rest of Kerala. The early rulers of the city were the Ays. With their fall in the 10th century, the city was taken over by the rulers of Venad.

The rise of modern Thiruvananthapuram began with accession of Marthanda Varma in 1729 as the founding ruler of the princely state of Travancore (Thiruvithamkoor in the local vernacular). Thiruvananthapuram was made the capital of Travancore in 1745. The city developed into a major intellectual and artistic centre during this period. The golden age in the city's history was during the mid 19th century under the reign of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal and Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal. This era saw the establishment of the first English school (1834), the Observatory (1837), the General Hospital (1839), the Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library and the University College (1873). The first Lunatic Asylum in the state was also started during the same period. Sanskrit College, Ayurveda College, Law College and a second grade college for women were started by Moolam Thirunal (1885–1924).

The early 19th century was an age of tremendous political and social changes in the city. The Sree Moolam Assembly, established in 1904 was the first democratically elected legislative council in any Indian state. Despite not being under direct control of the British Empire at any time, the city however featured prominently in India's freedom struggle. The Indian National Congress had a very active presence in the city. A meeting of the Indian National Congress presided by Dr. Pattabhi Sitaramaiah was held here in 1938.

The period of Chitra Thirunal Bala Rama Varma, who took over in 1931, witnessed many-sided progress. The promulgation of "Temple Entry Proclamation" (1936) was an act that underlined social emancipation. This era also saw the establishment of the University of Travancore in 1937, which later became the Kerala University.

With the end of the British rule in 1947, Travancore chose to join the Indian union. The first popular ministry headed by Pattom Thanu Pillai was installed in office on 24 March 1948. In 1949, Thiruvananthapuram became the capital of Thiru-Kochi, the state formed by the integration of Travancore with its northern neighbour Kochi. The king of Travancore, Chitra Thirunal Bala Rama Varma became the Rajpramukh of the Travancore-Cochin Union from July 1, 1949 until October 31, 1956. When the state of Kerala was formed on November 1, 1956, Thiruvananthapuram became the capital of the new state.

With the establishment of Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) in 1962, Thiruvananthapuram became the cradle of India's ambitious space programme. The first Indian space rocket was developed and launched from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) located in the outskirts of the city in 1963. Several establishments of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) were later established in Thiruvananthapuram.

A major milestone in the city's recent history was the establishment of Technopark—India's first IT park—in 1995. Technopark has developed into the largest IT Park in India and third largest in Asia and is home to IT giants like Infosys and TCS, employing around 12,500 people in close to 110 companies. This placed Thiruvananthapuram on the IT map of India and it is today one of the most promising in the country in terms of competitiveness and capability.

Geography and Climate

A view from Ponmudi hills

Thiruvananthapuram is built on hills by the sea shore and is located at 8.5° N 76.9° E on the west coast, near the southern tip of mainland India. The city and the suburbs covers an area of about 250 square kilometers, sandwiched between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea. The average elevation is 16 ft from the sea level.

The area can be divided into two geographical regions, the midlands and the lowlands. The midland region comprises low hills and valleys adjoining the Ghats. The lowland is a narrow stretch comprising shorelines, rivers and deltas, dotted with coconut palms. Vellayani lake, biggest fresh water lake in the district is in the suburbs of the city. The major rivers that flow through the city are the Karamana river, and the Killi river.

There are highlands, which form the eastern suburbs of the city. The highest point in the district is the Agasthyarkoodam which rises 1890 m above sea level. Ponmudi and Mukkunimala are hill-resorts near the city.

Climate
The city has a tropical climate and therefore does not experience distinct seasons. The mean maximum temperature 34 °C and the mean minimum temperature is 21 °C. The humidity is high and rises to about 90% during the monsoon season. Thiruvananthapuram is the first city along the path of the south-west monsoons and gets its first showers in early June. The city gets heavy rainfall of around 1700 mm per year. The city also gets rain from the receding north-east monsoons which hit the city by October. The dry season sets in by December. December, January and February are the coldest months while March, April and May are the hottest. The winter temperature comes down to about 18 °C and summer temperatures can sometimes go as high as 35 °C.