Trivandrum Travel – Beaches, History and Ayurveda
A version of this story was published in Vara, the inflight magazine of Maldivian Airline.
I went to Trivandrum with an open mind to discover the city. I saw under the urban masquerade, the essence of what Kerala is known for – long beaches, coconut groves, unlimited Ayurveda and heritage buildings with a touch of history.
Besides the ubiquitous state-sponsored signs that welcome every visitor to the “God’s Own Country,” it would be hard to set Trivandram apart from any other city at its first sight. The signs of a true country of God, however, begins showing up on getting away from the wide arterial roads, when the city reveals itself as a leafy and charming seaside town disguised under the hood of an urban expanse.
Padmanabhaswamy Temple
Trivandrum’s large buildings and busy traffic is limited to the main MG Road that runs through its commercial center. Slip into the smaller streets leading out from here and it morphs into a quiet old place, more like a village where houses with spacious gardens, tall coconut trees and shaded empty roads replace the rush hour of the main street.