Tuesday

Trivandrum, Kerala.






 Kerala is the only democratically elected communist leadership in the world as well as the most successful state in India with 98% literacy.

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) became the capital of Travancore in 1750. The city gets its name from the word, Thiru-anantha-puram, meaning the city of Anantha or "the town of Lord ANANTHA", the abode of the sacred Serpent Anantha on which Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the Hindu trinity, reclines. Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the state of Kerala is a beautiful seaside city built on seven hills. The city is characterized by its undulating terrain of low coastal hills with narrow winding lanes and busy commercial alleys.




Kovalam is this beautiful compact crescent shaped beach, lined with a small number of restaurants, yet not filled with backpackers or tourists Dotting this long stretch of crescent shaped beach is the Lighthouse beach, Eve's beach and Samudra beach. Very popular with foreigners for tanning, swimming in the early hours and through the day, however, by evening this beach is mostly frequented by Indians who come to see the beautiful sunset. Every 5am we would see at least 40-50 men pulling in trawlers/nets by hand which had been laid some time earlier. And by 8am all the haul is distributed, fishing activity ceases. You do witness a lot many boats plying at all times during the day, it’s a working beach indeed.


Stepping into the city, you witness it's splendid past in it's old buildings, most of them built in wood in the Kerala style, with tiled roofs and carved gables, in it's botanical garden and zoo with it's quaint museum; in it's wide roads and public buildings; and in it's lively intellectual life. Some of Kerala's leading filmmakers, poets and writers live here.

The historical heart of the city is in the Fort area and if you want to have a peek at the dance drama scene then behind the temple (in the Fort area) is Margi school of Kathakali –the place to ask about authentic Kathakali performances. To see arts and crafts including 12th century Chola bronzes, 15th century woodcarvings and minutely detailed ivory work check out the Napier Museum


Trivandrum is not a typical capital city, more like a small town. Tho rapidly growing into a techpark city, the topography retains old quarter clusters around the temple, the colonial mansions, and churches alongside modern high-rises. Trivandrum has managed to retain some of the ambience characteristics of Kerala such as red tiled roofs, narrow winding lanes and intimate corner cafes.


 High quality highways are not yet in place, but we could see a lot of work underway on roads. I do not remember the name of the interior roads we travelled on to reach the airport, but those roads were something else. At 4am in the morning those roads were like the runway of the airport with central LED strips for kms at a stretch! Super awesome!


Perhaps one needs more than 2 days to get to know the pulse of the city, perhaps my stark impressions may deepen.

My summary - A sleepy town, soon, an emerging city…  

19 comments:

Aijaz Pitafi said...

Whenever I come across a serene place, God whispers into my ear; look, this is how I made the world for you and how messy you have turned it into.

Anon said...

Brilliant!!! The blog looks so good! The photographs interspersed
between bits of copy - they make it so much more interesting! : )

Great post! As always!

And why this hiatus? Were you busy or was I missing out on your posts?

Regards
Ajoy Vakil

Jim said...

Never been to Trivandrum. But have heard it will zoom the 'big' city way soon, that's true. But is that a good thing?

sheila said...

Informative and pretty too! Never been there and no plans either. But glad to know development in full swing

R Niranjan Das said...

Nice post on Thiruvananthapuram.

http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2013/03/baba-and-bullets.html

travel ufo said...

will be go some day .

Mystuff said...

Glad to hear that there are still places where we can enjoy authentic Kathakali performances. Its good that the city is growing but would have been better if we were able to leave the old ambience untouched. A City with its roots intact always stands tall like the trees for sure. So on my visit to Varkala i need to take out 2 days to explore this city too, cool.
Nice observations and a wonderful collection of pics.
As someone said 'a traveler without observations is a bird without wings.' suits your post well :)

Neeraj said...

I've been saving Kerala for "when I get old" days but I may have to rethink that. I've always been attracted to charming, low-key places and Trivandrum seems perfect. It will be a shame if it has "emerged" already by the time I make it there.

Anyway, interesting write up and good pictures!

Neeraj said...

I've been saving Kerala for "when I get old" days but I may have to rethink that. I've always been attracted to charming, low-key places and Trivandrum seems perfect. It will be a shame if it has "emerged" already by the time I make it there.

Anyway, interesting write up and good pictures!

Anon said...

Hi M

Verrrry Nice, but i thought you would have included the tiruvandapuram, padmanaba swamy temple and its hidden (recently explored) treasure!

Hope all is well.

Uma

Mee said...

Thanx to @Uma who sent me these links on the mother of all treasures discovered in the Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple making it the country's richest, with reports claiming that the value of recoveries may have touched close to Rs 1 lakh crore, more than Kerala public debt of Rs 70,969 crore.

For more reading on this:

Hi Meenakshi

Pl check this out:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-04/thiruvananthapuram/29735333_1_kg-of-gold-coins-chief-priest-temple

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=padmanabha+temple+tiruvanandapuram%2c+tressure&qpvt=padmanabha+temple+tiruvanandapuram%2c+tressure&FORM=VDRE

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=padmanabha+temple+tiruvanandapuram%2c+tressure&qpvt=padmanabha+temple+tiruvanandapuram%2c+tressure&FORM=IGRE

http://www.hindudevotionalblog.com/2011/07/20000-crores-treasure-in-sree.html

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-03/thiruvananthapuram/29732939_1_sree-padmanabha-swamy-temple-shrine-royal-family

Posting Load and Truck said...

Pretty awesome picture.

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Unknown said...
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Nisha said...

I liked Trivandrum very much. Sleepy and yet lively at places.

BTW, any idea why are those trees colored in that manner in the first photo?

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