Padmanabhapuram Palace

Padmanabhapuram Palace is located in at Padmanabhapuram Fort, close to the town of Thuckalay in Kanyakumari District, Tamilnadu, in India. It is about 20 km from Nagercoil, and about 50 kilometers from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The palace complex is inside an old granite fortress around four kilometers long. The palace is located at the foot of the Veli Hills, which form a part of the Western Ghats. The river Valli flows nearby.[1] The palace was constructed around 1601 CE by Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal who ruled Travancore between 1592 CE and 1609 CE.It is believed that the Thai Kottaram was built in CE 1550. The maker of modern Travancore Anizham Thirunal Marthandavarma ( CE 1706 -1758 ) who ruled Travancore from CE1729 to 1758 rebuilt the palace in 1n around 1750. King Marthaanda Varma dedicated the kingdom to his family deity Sree Padmanabha, an incarnation of Lord Vishnu and ruled the kingdom as Padmanabha dasa or servant of Lord Padmanabha. Hence the name Padmanabhapuram or City of Lord Padmanabha. In the late 18th century,precisely in 1795 CE the capital of Travancore was shifted from here to Thiruvananthapuram, and the place lost its former glory. However, the palace complex continues to be one of the best examples of traditional Kerala architecture, and some portions of the sprawling complex are also the hallmark of traditional Kerala style architecture.

The Padmanabhapuram Palace complex consists of several structures:

Mantrasala; literal meaning, King's Council Chamber

Thai Kottaram; literal meaning, Mother's Palace(It didn't mean the mother's palace, but the first building or the mother of the buildings over there) – believed to have been constructed before AD 1550

Nataksala; literal meaning, the Hall of Performance, or of Performing Arts

A four-storeyed building at the centre of the Palace complex

Thekee Kottaram; literal meaning, the Southern Palace

Vattakottai Fort (or 'Circular Fort') is a seaside fort near Kanyakumari, TamilNadu the southern tip of India. It was built in the 18th century as a coastal defence-fortification and barracks in the erstwhile Travancore kingdom.

It was constructed under the supervision of Captain Eustachius De Lannoy, an ex-Dutch naval officer of the Dutch East India Company, who became commander of the Travancore Army (the very army that defeated him in the Battle of Colachel) in the 18th century, after he earned the trust of the Travancore King Marthanda Varma. De Lannoy constructed Vattakottai, as part of the defence-fortifications he undertook throughout Travancore.

The fort is made of granite blocks and, today, a part of the fort extends into the sea. It is a protected site under the Indian archaeological department. A major renovation of the fort was undertaken recently by the department, and the site is now a popular tourist spot.

Vattakottai Fort commands a picturesque view of both the sea on the one side, and the hills (Western Ghats) on the other. Another interesting feature near the site is a beach of black sands. It is about 7 km (4.3 mi) from Kanyakumari town.

Mathur Aqueduct or Mathur Hanging Trough, is an Aqueduct in Southern India, in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu state. Built over the Pahrali River (also called Parazhiyar), it takes its name from Mathur, a hamlet near the Aqueduct, which is at a distance of about 3 kilometres from Thiruvattar town and about 60 km from Kanyakumari, the southernmost town of India. It is one of the longest and highest aqueducts in South Asia[citation needed] and is also a popular tourist spot in Kanyakumari District. The nearest railway station is Kullithurai Railway Station which is about 15 kilometres and the nearest airport is the Trivandrum International Airport which is about 70 kilometres.

Pechiparai Reservoir is a reservoir located 43 kilometres (27 mi) from the town of Nagercoil, near the village of Pechiparai in Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India.

The reservoir was formed by the construction of the Pechiparai Dam, which was built across the Kodayar River about 1 mi (1.6 km) below the confluence of the Kallar, Chittar and Kuttiyar tributaries. It was built during the period 1897 - 1906 by the European engineer, Mr. Minchin,(called as mookanthurai by the local people) during the reign of the Travancore Maharaja Moolam Thirunal.

The original cost of construction of the dam was Indian Rupees 26.1 Lakhs (in the late 19th century). The catchment area of the reservoir is 207.19 km2 (80.00 sq mi), and the depth is 14.63 m (48.0 ft). The dam is a straight gravity type masonry dam 425.5 m (1,396 ft) long and 120.7 m (396 ft) high above the deepest foundation. There is no inspection gallery.

Water flowing through the gate of Pechiparai dam

The water from the reservoir is used for both irrigation of crops and for drinking purposes, which has led to conflict between farmers who want to use all the water for their crops, and local authorities, who don't have another place to draw drinking water from, for supply to the urban areas. The dam is surrounded by hills of the Western Ghats

Thirparappu is famous for its waterfalls and is located in Kanyakumari District of TamilNadu in the southern part of India. Thirparappu Falls is located 42 km from Nagercoil (headquarters of Kanyakumari District), 55 km from Thiruvananthapuram (capital of Kerala) and a distance of 5 km from Kulasekaram (nearest town panchayat). This famous falls is in the Kodayar (Kothai River).The Kodayar makes its descend at Thirparappu and the water fall at this place is about 13 km. from Pechiparai dam.

Thirparappu waterfalls is 300 feet long and consists of a rocky riverbed. The water falls from a height of nearly 50 feet and the water flows for about seven months in a year. The whole bed above the falls is one rocky mass which extends up to a distance of about quarter of a kilometer upstream where the famous Thirparappu weir has been constructed for supplying water to the paddy fields. Children's Swimming Pool & Dressing Room are available at Thirparappu.

On either side of the river, on the left bank of the river in between the water falls and the weir, there is a temple dedicated to Siva enclosed by strong fortification. The District Administration has recently constructed a swimming pool which is very popular among the children.

A Mahadever kovil located near this fall, is the third one of the twelve Sivalaya's. The lord after destroying the yagam of dhaxan as virabhadra murthi has taken abode over here. This lord, who is very sweet for the sincere worshippers, is in a fierce form. There are many old inscriptions in this temple including the one of the pandiya king dated ninth century. This temple is built around A.D. 9th Century This is famous for its Kerala Architecture.

And a Cauve Temple near this Temple, is belongs to the age of First Raja Raja Chola 42 k.m. from Nagercoil.

The Thiruvalluvar Statue is a 133 feet (40.6 m) tall stone sculpture of the Tamil poet and saint Tiruvalluvar, author of the Thirukkural. It was opened on January 1, 2000 (Millennium) and is located atop a small island near the town of Kanyakumari, where two seas and an ocean meet; the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, and the Indian Ocean . The statue has a height of 95 feet (29 m) and stands upon a 38 foot (11.5 m) pedestal that represents the 38 chapters of "virtue" in the Thirukkural. The statue standing on the pedestal represents "wealth" and "pleasures", signifying that wealth and love be earned and enjoyed on the foundation of solid virtue.[1]

The combined height of the statue and pedestal is 133 feet (40.5 m), denoting the 133 chapters in the Thirukkural. It has a total weight of 7000 tons.[2][3]

The statue, with its slight bend around the waist is reminiscent of a dancing pose of the ancient Indian deities like Nataraja. It was sculpted by the Indian sculptor Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati, who also created the Iraivan Temple.

This monument was hit by the Indian Ocean Tsunami of December 26, 2004.