Lakshmipuram Palace, Changanassery

Lakshmipuram Palace, at Puzhavathu in Changanassery near the Sree Vaikunteswara Santhana Gopala Moorthi Temple, is the seat of the Parappanad royal family. After Hyder Ali's invasion of Malabar in the late 18th century, Kunjikutty Thampuratty of this line fled with her five daughters to Travancore, where the youngest, Injaniamma, settled at the Neerazhi Palace in Changanassery. Her grandson, Raja Raja Varma Koil Thampuran, married Maharani Gouri Lakshmi Bayi, and in 1811 the queen had this new palace built for his family, who moved here from Neerazhi. Their son was Maharaja Swathi Thirunal, ruler of Travancore from 1828 to 1846 and a noted musician and lyricist.

The palace became the home of the Koil Thampurans, the princely consorts of Travancore, and has produced a line of writers and artists, among them the poet and Sanskrit scholar Kerala Varma Valiya Koil Thampuran, A. R. Raja Raja Varma, and the singer and composer L. P. R. Varma.