This museum displays the erstwhile wealth and
prosperity of the royal family of Cochin, including the king's throne and crown.
Also on display are the other things of royalty like the majestic beds, which
the kings and the queens used, paintings, carving and samples of epigraphy.
Location : 10 km from Ernakulam town,central Kerala.
Visiting hours : 9.00 to 12.30 hrs. and 14.00 to 16.30 hrs.
on all days except Mondays.
Highlights:Kerala's first heritage museum. Royal
collections of the erstwhile Maharaja of Kochi.
The Hill Palace, the official residence of the Kochi royal family, is today
the largest archaeological museum in Kerala.
Built in 1865, the palace complex consists of 49 buildings in the trational
architectural style of Kerala, sprawled over 52 acres of beautifully landscaped
terraced land which houses a deer park and facilities for horse riding. Numerous
species of flora including rare medicinal plants grow here.
On display in the full-fledged Ethno-archaeological museum are oil-paintings,
murals, sculptures in stone and manuscripts, inscriptions, coins, belongings
of the Kochi royal family and royal furniture including the simhasana (throne).
Also exhibited are over 200 antique pieces of pottery and ceramic vases from
Japan and China, Kudakkallu (tomb stone), Thoppikkallu (hood stone), menhirs,
granite, laterite memorials, rock cut weapons from the stone ages, wooden temple
models, plaster cast models of objects from Mohanjodaro and Harappa of the Indus
Valley Civilisation.
The museum also houses a gallery of contemporary art.
Getting there:
Nearest railway station : Ernakulam, about 10 km
Nearest airport : Cochin International Airport, about 30 km
Hill Palace Museum
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