Hearitage

One among the 108 divya desams as per the Hindu scriptures this temple is a place of myths, legends, beliefs & reverence. The Lord Parthasarathy temple in Aranmula stands generously along the banks of the holy Pamba river & is one of the ancient temples from the time of Lord Krishna himself. The temple is on a high pedestal accessed by a flight of stairs on its north & east side. The temple apart from its reverence to Lord Krishna also believes in the old legends & so the Vallasadya & vallamkali are the evidence for these age old traditions.   The origin of the temple is attributed to the Pandavas & the year of its consecration can be traced back to the Treta Yuga . The temple is said to be one among the 5 temples built by the Pandavas after the end of the Kurukshetra war which they won with the advice of Lord Krishna. The end of the war made the Pandavas realise that they gained nothing from the war & to wash their sins of killing their own f...

  Museums for all are places which house important artefacts having a certain theme or featuring rare items from history. These are places of good information to understand the many facets of history in a visual avatar. One such museum which is a great place of education is the Museum of History in Ernakulam which according to us is the best way one can understand the heritage of Kerala in a beautifully designed audio visual medium. The museum is a privately owned museum & was opened to the general public in 1987 by the celebrated philanthropist & historian R Madhavan Nayar. His insights & efforts made this museum a reality and has been giving its visitors a unique experience.  The museum is not a place where you can find heritage antiques but it’s a place which has life size replicas of different personalities who have been part of different events along the history of Kerala and tableau. One has to follow a well synchronised light & audio presentation where t...

  There are many forts in South India, some large, some simple, some unique & some quite new but in the town of Palakkad stands a majestic fort which unlike others is quite different in terms of its usage, origin & architecture. The Palakkad fort or Tipu’s fort as it is commonly known stands majestically still at its place for over 3 centuries. The fort though is named after Tipu Sultan, its existence is to be credited to his father; the celebrated ruler of the Mysore Kingdom Hyder Ali. The fort also became the most strategically important center of the Mysore Rule in Kerala. The fort also was the only property held by the Mysore kings for the longest time in Kerala. Apart from the structural strength of the fort one cannot miss the presence of a moat which surrounds the fort on all sides & is said to be the largest for any fort in India. 1 The original structure was built somewhere in the early 17th century with red stones and was just a structure with a grand wall. Th...

  Kerala as a state has been quite fortunate for having a heritage which has been rich with culture & folklore. The part of Kerala called Malabar is a hotspot for some of the most unique folklore & legends. The most famous among them is the temple dance form called Theyyam which is more of depiction of God in the form of the local beliefs & rituals. The deviation of the ideas from the usual stories is only in the colourful depiction, the stories more or less remain the same. But there are also some stories which have been passed on generations by only word of mouth & no authentic document is available. Though many north Kerala temples showcase the different types of Theyyams, one place you can learn more about them is at the Kerala Folklore Akademi at Kannur. The akademi functions within the Chirakkal palace which was the royal house of the Chirakkal kings. The chirakkal chira which is the largest artificial pond in Kerala in front of the palace is also a beautiful ...

  The beautiful land of Kerala as per myth was created by the warrior sage Parasurama who had to please Brahmins by providing them land so that he could repent for having slaughtered weak Kshatriya kings. To undertake this he is said to have travelled from Gokarna to Kanyakumari & based on the direction of Varuna – king of oceans, he threw his axe into the sea which lifted land from the sea till the western Ghats to create Kerala. During Kaliyuga, the land created was from Gokarna to Kanyakumari & was called Parasurama Nadu. This land was a long stretch & it is said that there is a point at the center of this land which divides it equally. This place is where the beautiful temple of Keraladeeshapuram dedicated to lord Sri Krishna stands. The place was actually called Kerala ardhaeshwaram Kshethram (middle land of Kerala) The temple stands in the serene village of Mulakkal in Tanur and one visit to the temple as you travel along the narrow roads surrounded b...

  The Dutch when they took over from the Portuguese believed in creating better infrastructure in Kochi which would help them get better returns from trade. The Dutch were known all over the world as great architects & builders of ports as they took the knowledge from their homeland to all parts of the world where they made colonies. Kochi for the Dutch was similar to the Netherlands which was surrounded by lake, river, sea & land. This identical landscape helped them in building better bridges, houses, jetty’s and ports. The only thing missing for them in Kochi was an elaborate mansion. The need to build such a mansion was to also showcase their opulence of wealth & culture. The first palace the Dutch built outside their country is the Bolgatty Palace & the architects who designed the palace took nothing for chance. W hen the Dutch came to Kochi, the place was a flourishing port indulging in traditional trade & the Kochi Raja was quite hospitable to foreign tra...

  The northern part of Kerala known as Malabar has seen many rulers grace its soil & the beauty of their rule was the coexistence of different kingdoms. Though many battles ensued over the centuries, the loyalty of the people towards each of their rulers made them rule in harmony. The part of Malabar which had its capital in the current place of Perinthalmanna was ruled by the Valluvanadu Raja & he was called Valluvanadukonathiri . Each ruler had a specific family deity & for the Rajas of Valluvanad, one such temple they revered was the Thirumanthamkunnu temple perched on a hillock in Angadipuram. The name of the temple reached far & wide not much for its legend but for the events that happened later.  Each place of worship has a story or legend behind its existence & one such story is related to this temple where the principal deity is Lord Shiva but Goddess Bhagwathy is worshipped by all devotees. This unique belief is based on the legend of Goddess Parva...

  In a land like Kerala the value of an inland water network is of utmost importance. The traditional & natural network made by the backwater, lakes & rivers is utilised in optimum by the people who live here. But one such unique water network was the handiwork of the British who believed in creating artificial canals flowing along the heart of the land. Such a well engineered water network is the Connolly Canal which passes through the heart of Kozhikode. The story of its construction & how it kept being an important part of people in Kozhikode is related to the enterprising collector of British East India Company H.V. Connolly.  Kozhikode & Malabar for centuries before the British was prosperous in trade & the Zamorins facilitated merchants with all the necessary infrastructure. The port of Kozhikode became an important point of trade for ships who travelled east. The prosperity of the region waned by the start of the 19th century & the control of the...

  The heritage of Kerala is related to the unique traditional architecture which has stayed an integral part of all structures built over the centuries. The design of the structures remained common even after the foreign rulers constructed buildings. The usage of wood & terracotta tiles have been the signature of all structures & one such elaborate palace which is considered to be the oldest in India & most well preserved in Asia is the Padmanabhapuram Palace. Known also as the Kalkulam palace, this was the residence of the Travancore King for over two centuries until the capital was shifted to Trivandrum in the 18th century. The palace has many unique features & stories attached with its origin but one which is for all to know is that the palace stands in the state of Tamil Nadu today but is maintained & controlled by the Archaeological department of Kerala.  The palace in its current form was only built in the 18th century but the initial structure was co...