TALES FROM THE CAPITAL CITY – 164

Rediscovering the Lost Gateway of the Travancore Fort Palace

The entrance gate leading to the Palace of his Highness the Maharajah of Travancore,1868
Albumen print | 17.6 x 24.5 cm (image) | Royal Collection Trust: RCIN 2701522.

            

This photograph, depicting a ceremonial entrance to the Travancore Maharajah’s palace, sparked considerable discussion and debate when it was first made available by the Royal Collection Trust on their website. Dated 1868, it relates to the visit of Lord Napier, the then Governor of Madras, and Lady Napier to the kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin. The image forms part of a set of photographs documenting the gubernatorial visit. Interestingly, this photograph is preserved in an album presented to Queen Victoria by Lady Napier following the tour.

The initial debate among local historians centred on the identification of the location depicted in the photograph. I strongly maintained that the image showed an arch that once stood on the southern side of the Valiyakottaram (Fort Palace) complex, adjacent to the Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. Others, however, associated it with the Thevalli Palace in Kollam. Subsequent research, along with the emergence of previously unseen photographs of the fort area from the 1870s, has now put the matter to rest. We can confidently state that the photograph depicts the arch entrance to the Maharajah’s Fort Palace.

What remains puzzling, however, is that this arch — with its unapologetic Neo-Baroque attributes — is nowhere to be found in the fort area today. Considering that the Neo-Baroque style was in vogue from the mid-19th to the early 20th century, and given the 1868 date of the photograph, it is reasonable to suggest that the gateway was constructed in the early 1860s, during the reign of Maharajah Ayilyam Tirunal Rama Varma (r.1860-1880).

The 1868 photograph also reveals a fence lined with a few shrubs, beyond which stands a two-storeyed building — identifiable as the southern wing of the Levee Hall (the old audience hall), which still survives with minor alterations. The vacant plot with vegetation seen in the photograph later became the site where Maharajah Mulam Tirunal Rama Varma, a nephew of Ayilyam Tirunal, constructed the Krishna Vilasam Palace. This image therefore clearly indicates that the Krishna Vilasam Palace, on the southern side of the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, was built at a later date, most likely after Mulam Tirunal ascended the throne in 1885.

Krishna Vilasam palace, c.1900. Photographed by D'Cruz, the Govt. Photographer.
British Library collection.

Photograph showing the two-storeyed southern wing of the Levee Hall and the
northern portion of Krishna Vilasam, which now occupies the vacant plot seen in the 1868 photograph.

The archway that replaced this rather flamboyant Neo-Baroque structure is, unfortunately, a plain Neo-Classical gateway, characterised by a pronounced cornice and a pedimented crown. It was most likely commissioned by Mulam Tirunal and reflects the comparatively restrained artistic sensibilities of the ruler.

The Neo-Classical gateway that replaced the one seen in the 1868 photograph. Photographed by Sailal. S, 2014.

Note: The Neo-Baroque arch features in the backdrop of an early painting by Ravi Varma. The painting will appear in my forthcoming book The Forgotten Atelier.