page_title: Hill Palace, Tripunithura
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Hill Palace, Tripunithura / History
caption_attribution_description: Hill palace horse cart room (back of palace)
context_page_description: Hill Palace is an archaeological museum and palace located in the Tripunithura neighbourhood of Kochi city in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the largest archeological museum in the sate and was the imperial administrative office and official residence of the Cochin Maharaja. Built in 1865, the palace complex consists of 49 buildings in the traditional architectural style, spreading across 54 acres. The complex has an archaeological museum, a heritage museum, a deer park, a pre-historic park and a children’s park. The campus of the museum is home to several rare species of medicinal plants.
  Presently the palace has been converted into a museum by The Kerala State Archaeology Department and is open to public. The palace is about 10 kilometres from the city centre and is approachable by road and rail.
  The Centre for Heritage Studies, an autonomous research and training institute set up by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala also functions at the site. CHS is designated as the 'Manuscript Conservation Centre' and Manuscript Resource Centre by the National Mission for Manuscripts.
context_section_description: Hill Palace was built in 1865 by the Maharaja Of Cochin and is now the largest archaeological museum in Kerala.
  The official capital of Kingdom of Kochi was located previously in Thrissur and the royal office of Maharaja as well as the court was all located in the city. However, as per ritualistic customs, the seat of Queen of Kochi (Penvazhithampuran) was seen as Royal capital as Kochi royal family had matrilineal traditions and the queen was regarded as sovereign of the state under whose authority the King ruled. Since 1755, the Queen and her retinue lived in Tripunithura, thereby making the city as official capital. Also the Prince Rama Varma was raised in Tripunithura, thereby preferred to live in the city even after coronation as King, rather moving to Thrissur. Thus for his benefit, a royal office was constructed in 1865. Initially it started off as royal office, court building and offices of royal secretaries and nobles of the court, soon more and more structures were added to main structure to various purposes. Soon, an imperial residence building was also constructed for the residence of the King and his immediate family though other members of Cochin Royal family had their own allocated bungalows and official residences.
  The palace was handed over to the Government of Kerala by the Cochin Royal Family and in 1980, the palace was taken over by the Department of Archaeology and later converted into a museum. It was opened to the public in 1986. The museum and its campus is one among the popular shooting sites for the Malayalam film industry. The Horse cart gallery and Weapons gallery houses a lot of historical artifacts.
  The museum gardens are also some of the last green refuge of the town. A checklist of fauna found within the gardens, prepared by Sandeep Varma and Gokul Vinayan, has been published under the title 'The Fauna of Hill Palace'
caption: South Block, Hill Palace Museum
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