The Fort area still evokes nostalgia for 96-year-old Krishna Iyer, who lives on Tippu Street, inside the Fort. The lofty Eastern gopuram of Sree Padmanabha Swamy temple, Padmatheertham tank, and ornate gateways to the Valiya Kottaram complex are still etched in his mind. “The fort area, during my younger days, had a serene ambience and lot of open space and groves. As soon as I returned from school, I would race to the nearby orchards with my friends. One of our favourite haunts during those days was the Iron Villa Park, the major open space associated with the Fort area,” recalls Iyer.
Iron Villa Park owes its name to the ‘Iron Bungalow’, which once stood on the grounds. The Iron Bungalow or Iron Villa, as it was called, was unique in many respects. It was a small structure, probably built sometime in the mid-19th century. As the name suggests, the structure was constructed using iron components, quite contrary to the timber constructions of those times. The Villa served as a stage for talented musicians and dance performers who came seeking royal patronage.
The ground in which the structure stood was also important, as it was the forecourt of the palace complex. We have records from the period of Swati Tirunal Rama Varma, stating that the King’s collection of wild animals was exhibited, for the amusement of the public, in the open ground in front of the palace complex. The Kuthira Malika Palace Museum collection holds an interesting painting, attributed to Alagiri Naidu, the court artist, which shows a huge circular enclosure set up in the open ground, in front of the Thekkae Theruvu Malika. Among the teeming crowd, one can see European officers and women. Armed men stand around the cage. Inside, there are tigers and leopards and jackals. The royals and the officials maintain a safe distance and occupy the verandah and balcony of the durbar hall located across the South Street. Later, Swati Tirunal established the Cutcherry (office) buildings on the Eastern periphery of the ground.
A popular Durbar painting by F.C. Lewis, executed in 1851, provides a glimpse of the open space, and the animals from the royal collection. In 1858, the ground was expanded and properly laid out, when the Governor of Madras, Lord Harris, visited Thiruvananthapuram; it was probably when the Iron Bungalow was also constructed. In the early quarter of 20th century, the important Durbar parades and celebrations associated with royal weddings were held in the Iron Villa Park.
A sketch of the 1851 royal durbar, based on the painting by F.C. Lewis, from Illustrated London News Photo courtesy: Sharat Sunder Rajeev
“During the early decades of 20 century, the bungalow was seldom used for State receptions and eventually it was occupied by the palace guards,” recalls Iyer. In 1930s, the Iron Bungalow was dismantled from the ground and was reconstructed at Poojappura, where it still stands.
In 1940, after the legendary Temple Entry Proclamation, a grand statue of Chithira Tirunal Balarama Varma, the then Maharaja, was installed in the park. Thereafter, ‘Iron Villa Park’ came to be known as ‘Sree Chitra Park’. Today, the extent of the open ground has shrunk considerably; Pattom Thanu Pillai Memorial Children’s Library, Priyadarshini Hall, and the tourist bus park claim a large portion of the once sprawling ground. An unfortunate transformation for an important urban square with historic significance.
(The author is a conservation architect and history buff)
