Plans are afoot to give yet another identity to the Rangavilasom Palace, situated on the southern side of the world-famous Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple. The proposal is to open a reference library on Travancore history in the palace complex, which also houses the ‘Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma Chithralayam’, according to its director and noted historian M G Sasibhooshan.
“The plan is make available to the public all available material on the history of Travancore,” Sasibhooshan said. “We will be sourcing material from the palace’s collection and also buying new books. They will also be stored in electronic format.”
The reference library will be of interest to students, academics and other members of the public who are interested in the history of the region, he said.
“It will not be a lending library,” Sasibhooshan clarified. “Instead of lending a book or CD, we are thinking of giving photocopies of the required material or sending it by e-mail for a nominal sum.”
The proposal has been placed before Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the present head of the royal family, for approval. “He has agreed to the idea, but we are waiting for a written sanction,” Sasibhooshan said.
The proposal to set up a library is meant to increase the popularity of the Rangavilasom Palace, which is the rather less-known neighbour of the Kuthira Malika (Mansion of Horses). Part of the fort’s palace complex, Rangavilasom Palace was built by Maharaja Swathi Thirunal in 1839 and served as his residence for a time as well. It now houses Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma Chithralayam, opened last year.
Many old, rare photographs of old Travancore taken by Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma and other photographers such as William D’Cruz, N P Hariharan, S Rajan and B Jayachandran are the major attractions of the Chithralayam.
Initially, when it was opened in 1935, the palace was the Royal Art Gallery which housed state portraits, weapons, carvings, paintings etc, all of which were later shifted to the Sri Chitra Art Gallery.
There is already an informal reading room of sorts, which is open to the public, in the museum’s office building. Around a thousand books, mostly in English and donated from the personal collection of Uthradom Thirunal, line the shelves of the waiting lounge. These include old editions of books from authors like Author Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Richmal Crompton, Rachel Carson and many more.
