In a statement issued by Samuga Pothunala Iyakkam (TNSPI) General Secretary A.S. Sankarapandian, he said:
The historically significant palace located in the Iraniyal area, about 12 km from Nagercoil, is also known as Iraniyal Kottaram and Thekkethdevan Koyikkal. Iraniyal served as a seasonal capital of the rulers of Venad and Travancore. It remained an area of political and commercial importance until the 16th century. Its importance declined after Padmanabhapuram became the capital. It is said that Udaya Marthanda Varma was the last ruler to govern from here.
The Iraniyal Palace complex covers 2.5 acres. It has a large entrance gateway called Padippura, a two-storey main palace known as the horse palace, a courtyard-style building in the Travancore architectural tradition and a Durbar Hall at the front. In the Vasantha Mandapam on the western side is a king’s bed carved from a single black stone, measuring about 8.5 feet long and 4.5 feet wide. There was also a small pond in the complex. The hall is said to have had woodwork and plant-based paintings on its walls.
Most of the palace, which had remained in a dilapidated condition without maintenance for a long time, was damaged. After Kanyakumari district was merged with Tamil Nadu in 1956, the area came under the control of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. It was also used as a rice warehouse for some time, causing further deterioration. In 2014, then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa allocated Rs. 3.85 crore to renovate the palace without altering its heritage character. Despite this, the work could not be completed due to various obstacles, and eventually work began in 2022. Construction was carried out using traditional methods, with a mixture of lime, kadukkai and karuppukatti, along with Rajapalayam bricks.
The palace has teakwood doors. Aluminium sheets have been installed on the upper roofs, and 85,000 tiles were purchased from Thrissur in Kerala and laid over them. With the woodwork and tile-laying completed, several works remain, including constructing a 6-foot-wide pathway around the palace with roofing over it, roofing over the small pond inside the palace, restoring the rear area where the kings rested, constructing a roof over the entrance at the front and painting the palace walls.
As the remaining works need to be completed with artistic character and intricate workmanship, the work has stalled because adequate funds have not been allocated. There is no doubt that once restoration of Iraniyal Palace, an important historical record of Kanyakumari district, is completed, it can become a destination for tourism and heritage research. Therefore, the Tamil Nadu government should allocate the required funds for the restoration work and take appropriate action to complete it quickly.
Headquarters,
Samuga Pothunala Iyakkam.
