09-04-2024
Our return journey taken care of, we went exploring Trivandrum. We had already selected some temples and palaces worth visiting. The city is especially know for its huge, and extremely richa dn wealthy, Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple, with ist statue of Vishnu asleep on his mount, the snake Anantha (hence the name of the city). On the outside an impressive building. But to enter, you would have to adhere to al kinds of clothing restrictions. We were actually just passing the temple, on our way to Kuthiramalike Palace Museum, home to the royal family of Travancore during the British raj.
The palace, mainly built with wood, has 80 halls and chambers, of which only 20 are open to the public. Built in the typical Kerala achitectural style, the palace complex stretches a large area besides the famous temple. It took fivethousand craftsmen 4 years to complete. There are elaborate woodcarvings all through the building. Those of horse's heads carrying the roof made that The royal family of travancore still exists the palace was commonly also known as the palace of the laughing horses. The royal family of Travancore still exists these days. In 1956 the kingdom became part of the Indian republic and the abdicated the throne. The family now lives a dozen kilometers away, in an even grander palace. This is not open to the public.
The royal palace has a hidden passageway to the temple, for the maharadja to use. And even now, the royal family visits the temple on a daily basis. At those times, the temple is closed to the ordinary man. We decided to not try and visit the temle just now, as there were more museums and palaces we'd like to see. So first we went to Napier museum. It is housed in a magnificent colonial building, surrounded by large and relatively cool, park-like gardens. We first strolled around the gardens, only then to find out that the museum itself was closed on a Monday. The next door Museum of Natural History was also housed in a beuatiful building, and also closed, due to a holiday. We walked 500 metres to Kanakakunnu Palace, situated on a hill. But it was closed and under renovation. We walked through it's garden, where a summer carnival was taking place. So, in short: we only saw these old buildings from the outside
Early in the evening, we took a rikshaw out to the beach. Not one of the touristy areas, but a beach where fisherman had banked their boats. By the roadside, the women sat selling todays fish. After some more walkes and rikshaw rides in the gathering dusk, it was time to have dinner and return to the hotel.
The next morning, after another dip in the pool and the extravagant breakfast, we walked around in the neighbourhood of the hotel. We saw many temples, al painted in the brightest of colours. The kerala temples mostly have wooden, painted statues depicting Hindu gods and tales from the Vedas. The fierce Indian sunlight makes all the colours in this colourful land shine even brighter. The saffron earth, the lush green of the plants, the shiny silk sarees of the women adorned in golden jewellery. All this, and the brightly painted temples with their golden interiors, added with the colourful LED lighting decorating shops, temples, churches and mosques, create a cacophony of visual stimuli that leave you stunned.
After this walk, we took a rikshaw to the station. Climbing out of the auto, a man from the railways -on the lookout for tourists to make some money- offered to help us get to our train. He carried out case, and asked to see the ticket. He brought us to the correct platform, and eventually ushered us onto the right train. We had not asked for his help, and he made us pay far too much, but without a helping hand, I'm not sure we wouldn't have missed our train. As we got on our way, I discovered in the train app, that we could order food, to be delivered to the train during certain stops. we ordered a pizza, to be delivered on the way. But the train was late, and the delivery-guy had to wait half an hour at the platform for us to arrive. But he was there, and handed me my pizza, as hung out the doorway. This is quite the thing we would need back home!
All in all, our journey back to Kochi was very comfortable. We had a roomy compartment, with not only benches, but they could be converted to bed. With pillows, bedsheets and a blanket. The A/C kept our space cool. And the pizza was the icing on the cake. We're ready to travel the whole of India like this. And we defenitely want to go back to Trivandrum, to see all those things we missed.
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