Information on Hill Palace Museum (Ernakulam, Kerala) - History & Architecture

Hill Palace Museum is located at, Karingachira Village, Mulanthuruthy Taluk, Tripunithura, Ernakulum District, Kerala State in peninsular India. It is the largest Palace and museum in Kerala. This museum is an arts and cultural heritage place to be visited, if you are in Cochin. It was also the Royal Palace of the Kochi Maharajas. To reach here on must come to the Cochin City. To reach here one must travel towards south India. Ernakulum is the center part of Kerala State, which can be easily accessed from Mangalore, Shimoga, Bangalore, Trivandrum, Theni and Madurai. It has an International air port, connecting all major cities in India and abroad.

Hill Palace Museum Architecture

Hill Palace Museum is a largest palace and museum built on traditional Kerala architectural pattern. It is placed in a higher elevation on Mulamthurathi. This palace was the official and residential complex for the Kochi Clans. It had 49 edifices built on remarkable designs in an area of 22 hectare of land surrounded by lovely gardens and gorgeous woods. The building materials used her are large clay bricks and granite rocks. The entire roofing is done with clay tiles which add a special looks like a typical village structure. There are corridors grilled with wooden spillers. It also has many pillars on the entrance and on the main buildings. Its rooms are very spacious. The steps inside the palace are built of woods which are still long lasting. The main building consists of three stories. It has many archways to access various portions of the palace. Its kitchen and dining rooms are very large to accommodate the entire royal families residing there. It has a central court room where the King used to sit on his throne. It has remarkable wooden windows framed with glasses. The entire palace was built on luxury and comforts.

Hill Palace Museum History

Hill Palace Museum was built on 1865 AD. It is now a cultural museum administered by the archeological department. It is also a heritage site in Cochin. This is the largest palace and museum for having the royal collection of the Kochi royal clans of yester years. It consists of many old oil paintings, coins collections from ancient times, valuable sculptures, weapons, historic manuscripts and inscriptions. It has a unique collection of royal ornaments and jewelries including the Crown of the King which is made of pure gold and precious stone fixed on it. There is a special gallery depicting contemporary arts. It has pottery section, Stone Age sections and wooden crafts sections. The palace is as such left as it were, which has the royal antiquities and furniture's as it were. This makes you feel you are in real palace. It also got a very good epigraphy section for history scholars. This palace can be seen in many of the Malayalam films and documentaries taken from here.

Hill Palace Museum Tourism Importance

Hill Palace Museum is a heritage place to be visited if you are at Cochin. This is a hill top palace with unique landscape surrounded by vast pastures and greenery around it. It is open to public from Tuesday to Sunday; its timings are from morning 09:00 AM to Evening 04:30. It is closed on Monday and all government holidays. The entry fee is just Rs.20 only. It is just 10 Km travel from Cochin City. Locally there are good transport services available. Tourists can come here on any seasons.