Hill Palace Museum, Thripunithura

Location : 10 km from Ernakulam town, central Kerala.
Visiting hours : 9.00 to 12.30 hrs. and 14.00 to 16.30 hrs.
on all days except Mondays.
Highlights : Kerala's first heritage museum. Royal
collections of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kochi

The Hill Palace, the official residence of the Kochi royal family, is today the largest archaeological museum in Kerala. Built in 1865, the palace complex consists of 49 buildings in the tr tional architectural style of Kerala, sprawled over 52 acres of beautifully landscaped terraced land which houses a deer park and facilities for horse riding. Numerous species of flora including rare medicinal plants grow here. On display in the full-fledged Ethno-archaeological museum are oil-paintings, murals, sculptures in stone and manuscripts, inscriptions, coins, belongings of the Kochi royal family and royal furniture including the simhasana (throne).

Also exhibited are over 200 antique pieces of pottery and ceramic vases from Japan and China, Kudakkallu (tomb stone), Thoppikkallu (hood stone), menhirs, granite, laterite memorials, rock cut weapons from the stone ages, wooden temple models, plaster cast models of objects from Mohanjodaro and Harappa of the Indus Valley Civilisation. The museum also houses a gallery of contemporary art.

Getting there:

Nearest railway station : Ernakulam, about 10 km
Nearest airport : Cochin International Airport, about 30 km