It was Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal, who built this grand palace. The modern Travancore founder, King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma, rebuilt the Padmanabhapuram Palace in the year 1750. In the year 1795, Travancore capital was shifted from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram and as a result this palace lost its former glory.

The complex palace is surrounded by an old granite fortress, around 4 kilometers long. This palace is one of the best examples of the Traditional Kerala style of architecture.

The palace consists of several attractive structures which include the Mantrasala (the King’s Council Chamber), Thai Kottaram (the Queen Mother’s palace), the Natakashala (the performance hall), the Thekee Kottaram (the Southern Palace) and the main four-storied mansion that lies at the center of the palace complex.

Some of the other fascinating facts about this place:

 The 300 year old clock in the clock tower still keeps time.

 The main hall is very big and it can accommodate up to 1000 guests for the ceremonial feasts on auspicious occasions.

 In the event of any emergency, the king, his immediate family members and their attendants would escape to Charottu Kottaram, which was located miles away, through the secret passage.

 An entire room of the palace is filled with old Chinese jars, gifted by the Chinese merchants.

 A gallery of paintings depicted incidents from the Travancore history.

 A wooden cot made of 64 wooden pieces taken from the trunks of a variety of medicinal trees.

Visiting hours: 9 am to 17:00 pm on all days except Mondays.