The Padmanabhapuram Palace located at Padmanabhapuram, former capital city of the Travancore kingdom, in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu has been included in UNESCO’s draft list of World Heritage Sites, Cultural Affairs Minister K C Joseph said on Wednesday.
The minister said that the palace, that was constructed in 1601, was included in the list after the World Heritage Committee that met at New Delhi on May 15. The palace, though located in Tamil Nadu, is being administered by the Government of Kerala. The over 500-year-old palace is considered as a prime example of the Kerala architecture.
Joseph also said that the committee will consider including the Edakkal Caves in Wayanad in the next draft list. The Kerala Government had earlier sent a special report to the committee demanding the inclusion of both the sites in the list.
The caves located 25 km from Kalpetta in Wayanad has pictorial stone-age carvings believed to date back to BC 6000. The minister said that the government had already submitted project report on the two sites and has appointed archaeologist Elizabeth Thomas as a special officer for the mission.