Napier Museum

Established in 1855, Napier Museum is no less than an icon in the city of Thiruvananthapuram. Admirable for its Indo-Saracenic Architecture, featuring gothic roofs, minarets and outstanding ornamentation, the museum building in itself is an attraction worth exploring. The museum houses rare historical and archaeological collections of artefacts, ornaments, ivory and wood carvings, bronze idols, traditional musical instruments, temple chariot, textiles and a variety of handicrafts. The museum complex is also home to the Natural History Museum which exhibits the galleries of mammals and birds, skeleton galleries and fossil tree trunks. Yet another attraction in the premises is Sree Chitra Art Gallery, which has fine collections of oil paintings by Raja Ravi Verma and work of other eminent painters from China, Japan and other countries. Roerich paintings, murals and miniature paintings are other highlights of the venue. Napier Museum shares the premises with Trivandrum Zoo, another must-visit attraction to watch animals like Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, leopard, Asian elephants, Indian rhinoceros, zebra, giraffe, hippo and many more.

November-July