Thekkae Theruvu (South Street) in the Fort area is a visual delight for anyone exploring the architectural vestiges of erstwhile Travancore. The Valiya Kottaram complex, a collage of architectural styles depicted through palaces line one side of the road. On the other side is a life-size statue of Chithira Thirunal Bala Rama Varma, the last sovereign of Travancore, located in the newly renovated park in his name.
Just across the street, facing the statue is an old double storied structure, Thekkae Theruvu Malika, with a rather nondescript façade. If you take a closer look at the building, you will find that, despite its massive proportions, it has a simple rectangular plan and a wide veranda on the southern and northern sides. Slender stone pillars support the balcony on the first floor. A dominating roof and intricately carved gables add a traditional look to the building.
This building, displaying a harmonious blend of colonial and traditional Kerala architectural styles, looks surprisingly young for its age. It is interesting that the structure had witnessed some of the landmark events in Travancore history, spanning over a period of two centuries.
The intricately carved gable of the Thekkae Theruvu Malika
Long before the Levee Hall was constructed for durbar ceremonies and for holding meetings with European and native officials, the Thekkae Theruvu Malika served these purposes. According to the history written by Pachu Moothathu (1867), the Malika was constructed during the reign of Avittom Thirunal Bala Rama Varma (1798-1810). According to Moothathu, the structure was constructed under the supervision of Velu Thampi, the Dalawa. The wide roads around the temple were also made during the same period. Shangunny Menon, in his History of Travancore from Earliest Time (1878), provides further information about the structure. According to Menon, the Malika was originally a part of the palace built by Raja Kesava Das at Alappuzha. The structure was later demolished during Velu Thampi's dewanship and transported to Thiruvananthapuram and reassembled inside the fort.
The Huzur records speak of the important position occupied by the structure during the reign of the later rulers. As early as 1815, we find records of European officials being entertained in the Malika. Lieutenants Ward and Conner records (1820s) that the structure, 'an attic floor house where the Rajah holds his levees' , was adorned with costly furniture and paintings. During Swati Tirunal's reign, the open ground in front of the Malika was often used to display the wild animals from the royal menagerie. In 1835, the panthers and wild boars captured from the local forests were put on display in a cage made in front of the Thekkae Theruvu Malika. While the spectators crowded around the cage, the King and the other royal family members and officials witnessed the fight between the animals from the balcony of the Malika.
Later, during the reign of Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the special royal durbars were held in the Malika. In 1858, when Lord Harris, the Governor of Madras, visited Thiruvananthapuram, he was also entertained at the Thekkae Theruvu Malika. The last notable event hosted at Thekkae Theruvu Mālika was the Adoption Durbar of 1900, when two little Princesses from Mavelikara royal house was adopted to the Travancore royal family.
Today, the old durbar hall is barely noticed by the citizens of the city, it exists as a ghost of its once glorious past.
