Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Sights & Activities
Zoological Gardens & Museums
Yann Martel famously based the animals in his
Life of Pi
on those he observed in
9am-5.15pm Tue-Sun)
. Shaded paths meander through woodland and lakes, where animals,
such as tigers, macaques and birds, frolic in large open enclosures. There's a
reptile house
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
where cobras frequently flare their hoods - just don't ask what the cute
guinea pigs are for.
The surrounding park contains a gallery and two museums. Housed in an 1880 wooden
building designed by Robert Chisholm, a British architect whose Fair Isle-style version of
bronzes, Buddhist sculptures, temple carts and ivory carvings. The carnivalesque interior
animals and birds, and a fine skeleton collection. Just inside the eastern gate, the
Shri Chitra
the Rajput, Mughal and Tanjore schools, and works by Ravi Varma. Next door, the
aquari-
um
ZOO, MUSEUM
9am-5pm)
contains a series of uninspiring fish tanks.
GOOGLE MAP
(adult/child ?5/2;
MAP
Museum of History & Heritage
MAP
MUSEUM
GOOGLE MAP
( 9567019037;
www.museumkeralam.org
;
Park View; Indian adult/child ?20/10, foreigner adult/child ?200/50, cam-
era ?25; 10am-5.30pm Tue-Sun)
In a lovely heritage building within the Kerala Tourism com-
plex, this spacious new museum traces Keralan history and culture through superb static
displays and interactive audiovisual presentations. Exhibits range from Iron Age imple-
ments to bronze and terracotta sculptures, murals,
dhulichitra
(floor paintings) and recre-
ations of traditional Keralan homes. Admission is steep but it's all beautifully presented.
Shri Padmanabhaswamy Temple
( Hindus only 4am-7.30pm)
This 260-year-old temple is Trivandrum's spiritual heart. Its main
entrance is the 30m-tall, seven-tier eastern
gopuram
(gateway tower). In the inner sanc-
HINDU TEMPLE
