Lush Exteriors of Napier Museum Thiruvananthapuram is Half a Hangout

I feel a lack of good hangouts within the city of Thiruvananthapuram. When looking to spend some time idly, there are quite a few places to look for. The sprawling exterior of Napier Museum Thiruvananthapuram is one among them.

On all sides of the famous building is a beautiful garden. The proficiently managed beautiful turf, always receive visitors of all ages. Seeing it over and over again, I have really lost the attraction to the garden and the breeze there. However, when I like to spend some time doing nothing, I reach this place.



The 19th century Indo-Saracenic building wears a magnificent look, especially in the night, with neon lights bathing this building in golden light. The water work before the entry of the building recently saw a revival, probably in response to the Onam celebrations that had consumed the whole city.

Inside the building are rare collections of historic artifacts, curious ivory carvings, a majestic temple chariot, etc. The interior of the building is also naturally cool, even as the exteriors bask under sun. The architecture has a peculiar feature of air circulation that supplies cold air throughout the interiors, while not using any electrical or mechanical systems.

Plastic is strictly prohibited in the premises. A sign board at the entry point warns visitors against bringing plastic carry bags or packages to the premises. It is only nice to stick to the rules to keep the place beautiful.

Onam Celebrations Over, Thiruvananthapuram Back to Realities

Onam celebrations are officially over in Thiruvananthapuram City and the city dwellers now choose to go back the bustles of their careers and professions. School kids have time till Sunday for their celebrations.

It was a great Onam season at Thiruvananthapuram City that comes to a close. I can clearly tell this is the most hassle-free, trouble free, incident-free celebration in the city. Authorities have made all the necessary preparations to manage the mass event a great success.


I could see policemen and women, literally all over the city extending helping hands to the gatherers. There were also teams of firefighters ready near venues of mass attendance like the Nishagandhi, Poojappura ground, etc.

It was just a wandering through the city on the last day of the celebrations, but was not in the mood to watch Magician Samraj in action at Nishagandhi, although I have visited the ground and made some purchases, especially the sweet halwa from Kozhikode.

Curtains Down for Onam Celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram City

Kerala state capital Thiruvananthapuram is about to come off its festival mood, with the week-long celebrations coming to a close. Sixteen official stages of Onam celebrations within the city amused the city folk to no end. Ganamela (music programs), dance programs, Kalaripayattu (martial art form of Kerala), competitions of various kinds, all added to the festivities.

The ghazals at the Press Club hall and the Ganamela at Poojappura ground were the two items I preferred for the day. I was with my friend Suma Kumar while enjoying ghazals by Raghuram, where the audience could be counted to less than 35. My friend had to leave for home at 8.00 pm and I had to leave too.

Then I am all alone and free to wander on my own and I headed over to Poojappura, where Jassi Gift, Sayanora, Vidhu Pratap, Devanand, etc were amusing the crowd that stayed there inspite of a quick lash of rain. Dancing away in merry, the guys were enjoying the music to end.



Today, there is Magic Show by Prof Samraj at Suryakanti Auditorium.

Thiruvonam Day Celebrations in Thiruvananthapuram City

Thiruvonam day is relatively low-note affair in Thiruvananthapuram city, with people still in the mood of hanging out at their homes after the sadya.

I push myself out of my home, into the city, exploring the festivities. After a usual rounds through the Kanakakkunnu and Nishagandhi, I reached the stage before Government Secretariate, where a team of Kalaripayattu experts perform the acrobatics of the martial art. It was real nice to watch 7-8 year old lads performing the different steps of Kalaraippayattu.

One could feel a chill passing through their spine, as he or she watches the performers using the double-edged belt-sword that creates sparks when it come into contact with another sword or with the road.

There was a big audience, including many foreigners vigilantly watching the performance.

I also love Ghazals and a friend of mine passed me message over phone there is Ghazal performance going on at Press Club hall. I quickly reached there. The audience, as expected was very few and I could count the whole audience up to 32. Twenty of them seem to form a closed loop with the singer and her team. There are not many takers for Ghazals in Thiruvananthapuram I guess.

I stayed there for an hour, listening to the simple sound of Ghazals. I think today is another performance of Ghazals in the same venue, but I plan to head over to Vellayani Lake, to witness the country boat race.

Food Festival Thiruvananthapuram Kerala

This onam is going great. Real feasts of dance, music and some yummy five star food items, on the festival grounds of Kerala capital.

Acrobat Preparing Chapatti at Food Festival Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Walking into the food festival ground Thiruvananthapuram, everyone gets stuck at the acrobatic skills of this chef from North India. I found myself, just as many onlookers, watching this guy in action, with wide opened eyes and dropped jaws.

If you are not happy with my photography, I am with you. I started photography five days back only (on Wednesday –Aug 22 to be precise).


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Elephant in Thiruvananthapuram City

An elephant in the city, bearing advertisement of Khazana jewellery showroom, in Thiruvananthapuram city.