Padmanabhapuram Palace, also known as Kalkulam Palace, is a Travancore era palace located in Padmanabhapuram in the Kanyakumari district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The palace is owned, controlled and maintained by the government of the neighbouring state of Kerala.
Padmanabhapuram is the former capital city of the erstwhile Hindu kingdom of Travancore. It is around 20km from Nagercoil, 39km from Kanyakumari town and 52 km from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala.[1] The palace is complex inside with an old granite fortress around four kilometers long. The palace is located at the foot of the Veli Hills, which forms a part of the Western Ghats. The river Valli flows nearby. Another palace known as Kuttalam Palace is situated in Kuttalam in Tenkasi, Thirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu which is also under the ownership of Kerala government. It is situated in the Tenkasi, Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu (before state reorganisation, Kanyakumari District, Chenkottah Taluk, Tenkasi Taluk including the areas of Kuttalam are in the control of Travancore Kingdom in Kerala). It is owned, controlled and maintained by the Kerala Government.
The Padamnabhapuram Palace complex has several other interesting features:
- The palace is located near Thuckalay, Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu state but administered by the Government of Kerala state.
- The clock tower in the palace complex has a 300-year-old clock, which still keeps time.
- A big hall now bare, which can accommodate around 1000 guests, and where ceremonial feasts were held, on auspicious occasions.
- A secret passage, now blocked, through which the king, his immediate family members, and their entourage could escape to another palace, located several kilometers away in the event of any emergency. Name of this palace is Charottu Kottaram.
- A flight of steps leads to a bathing pond, which has lost its freshness due to neglect and years of disuse.
- The palace complex also has a section of curios and several interesting objects:An entire room filled with old Chinese jars, all gifts by Chinese merchants.A variety of weapons (which were actually used in warfare), including swords and daggers.Brass lamps, wood and stone sculpture, a variety of furniture and large mirrors made of polished metal.A gallery of paintings depicting incidents from the history of Travancore.A wooden cot made of up to 64 wooden pieces of a variety of medicinal tree trunksPolished stone cot, meant for cool effectToilet and well.
The palace was constructed around 1601 CE by Iravi Varma Kulasekhara Perumal who ruled Venad between 1592 and 1609. The founder of modern Travancore, King Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (1706–1758) who ruled Travancore from 1729 to 1758, rebuilt the palace in around 1750. King Marthaanda Varma dedicated the kingdom to his family deity Sree Padmanabha, a form 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 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 Palace though surrounded entirely by the State of Tamil Nadu is still part of Kerala and the land and Palace belongs to the Government of Kerala. This Palace is maintained by the Govt.of Kerala Archaeology Department. 
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