Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala’s capital, has a history anchored in Padmanabhaswamy Temple and the old kingdom of Travancore. The region was once part of the ancient Ays and later the Venad kingdom, a coastal strip engaged in spice trade with Romans, Arabs and other Indian Ocean merchants. For centuries, the core was more a temple–port region than a big city, with the shrine of Lord Padmanabha (Vishnu) as its spiritual centre.

A major turning point came in the 18th century, when Marthanda Varma transformed Venad into the powerful Travancore state. He shifted focus to Thiruvananthapuram, reorganised administration and famously “dedicated” his kingdom to Lord Padmanabha, ruling as the deity’s servant (Padmanabha Dasa). The city developed with palaces, roads and institutions around the temple and fort area.

Under the British, Travancore remained a princely state with its capital at Thiruvananthapuram, gaining modern schools, hospitals and public works while preserving a strong royal–temple tradition. After Independence, Travancore merged into Travancore–Cochin, and with the linguistic reorganisation of states in 1956, Thiruvananthapuram became the capital of the new state of Kerala. In recent decades it has grown into an administrative, educational and IT hub (with Technopark), while still defined symbolically by the ancient Padmanabhaswamy Temple at its heart.