Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family

Tripoto
10th Feb 2018
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 1/12 by Vinod Ponoth
The Royal Crest has four symbols, the palanquin, the lamp, the umbrella and the counch.
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 2/12 by Vinod Ponoth
On the Gopuram of Sree Poornathrayesa temple.
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 3/12 by Vinod Ponoth
Meeting with Paliath Ravi Achan, erstwhile Ranji Player. (http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/33453.html) during the course of the Heritage walk.
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 4/12 by Vinod Ponoth
The Kalikota Palace, built sometime in 1800, the palace initially functioned as a school, then later for family functions. The Dutch style being prominent in this construction, it is a huge structure, extremely beautiful, with painting and mechanised windows.
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 5/12 by Vinod Ponoth
Sri Paliath Ravi Achan flanked by Sri Balagopal on the right, Sri Vijay Kerala Varma of the Cochin Royal Family and the group.
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 6/12 by Vinod Ponoth
A nice wall hanging at one of the palace. I guess it probably has some functionality too !
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 7/12 by Vinod Ponoth
With some of the member so the Royal Family. Extreme right is Sri Vijay Kerala Varma
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 8/12 by Vinod Ponoth
The sliding windows at Kalikota Palace. The left is an overall view and the right if you zoom in, you shoudl be able to see the ropes that help the window pane to move up and down.
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 9/12 by Vinod Ponoth
A black and white photo bringing to light the resplendent colors of the past.
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 10/12 by Vinod Ponoth
Shri Balagopal C K our walk lead
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 11/12 by Vinod Ponoth
Our group in front of the Amma Thampuran Kovilakkam.
Photo of Heritage Walk-Thripunithura, the seat of Cochin Royal Family 12/12 by Vinod Ponoth
The clock tower or 'mani malika' in front of Sree Poornathrayesa temple. Now why do we need a clock tower there... Well you will be surprised to know that Thripunithura had its own time zone, which was couple of minutes ahead of IST!

Heritage comes from the old French word 'inherit'. Sadly today very little is actually inherited, especially culture and traditions. Our much sought after education system ensures that we are least aware of our heritage or ensures that after studying our history we should not ever get a glimpse of our glorious past!!! How many of us are aware that when the British government refused to build a railway line from Shornur to Kochi it was the Cochin Royal Family who were instrumental in building the Shoranur Junction–Cochin Harbour Terminus railway line. Yes this was built by Sir Sri Rama Varma XV(1852–1932). Since there was not enough funds available, the King decided to sell 14 gold elephant caparisons that belonged to the Sree Poornathrayesa temple and other valuables to build this railway line, which was complete in 3 years(1899 - 1902).

To step back before July 1, 1949, the current state of Kerala was ruled by two major kingdoms, "The Kingdom of Cochin" and "The Kingdom of Travancore".

The Tripunithura - Royal Heritage Walks was organised by Sahapedia the online encyclopedia of Indian arts and culture, and YES Culture.

For folks who may be interested in a similar walk can contact Balagopal who is also the founder of Tripunithura Royal Heritage Walks and organises regular walking tours. He can be reached at @TripunithuraHeritageWalks on Facebook.