Dutch Palace
March 26, 2010 by admin
Filed under Dutch Palace
Dutch Palace – Cochin
Even though it is stark in its outward appearance, the Mattancherry Palace of Cochin has a quaint charm of its own. This palace was built by the Portuguese in1557 and presented to Veera Kerala Varma, the Maharaja of Cochin. Later, the Dutch renovated it to a large extent, and the name Dutch Palace came into being.
The Dutch palace remains more or less the same in structure and appearance even today. Its frontage is fairly decorated and is made up of plain white walls, slopping roofs and trees around it. It is a double-storied, quadrangular building, with a small temple dedicated to the deity Palayannur Bhagwati in the central courtyard. On either side of it are smaller shrines dedicated to Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva. The central hall on the upper storey was once used as venue for crowning the Raja of Cochin and has an artistically carved wooden ceiling.
The center of attraction is not the ceilings but the splendid murals on the walls of the rooms. Depicting scenes from Hindu mythologies like the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas, and legends about the Hindu gods especially Guruvayoorappan. Some murals depict scenes from “Kumarasambhavam” and other works of the great Sanskrit poet Kalidasa. There is an entire gallery which displays the royal equipments like weapons, furniture, swings, dresses, turbans and palanquins used by the rulers of Cochin, which offer a glimpse of the lifestyle of the royal family. These murals are counted as amongst the best in India. The Dutch Palace of Kerala has many more elements that surprise the visitors.
The Dutch architectural features of thick lime plastered masonry wall, openings spanned by arches and high roofs, in combination with the ethnic- style timber and tiled roof give a monumental scale to the building.