Padmanabhapuram Palace - An architectural marvel of South India

Hello friends...!! Hope you all had a fantastic Easter!! How was the long weekend ?! Mine was perfect with meeting family and friends, good food and lots of rest... !!

Well, when I started this blog I had intended to feature the palaces,temples and traditional architecture of India .. But somehow due to one reason or the other it has taken a long time to do the first post itself... mmm ... Let's consider this as a start for many more to come out of this blog... ;-) ;-) ... !!

A magnificent wooden palace of the 16th century, Padmanabhapuram Palace is one of the best examples of traditional Kerala architecture. The building displays a simplicity and purity of the style of Kerala architecture - the pointed gables, the dormer windows and long corridors.  One can see a cot built of seven pieces of polished granite,  mural paintings, intricate and exquisite carvings in teak and rose wood, a Chinese chair presented to the king by Chinese merchants etc.,

 The entrance to the palace ... - with doors standing

over 10 feet high..

The heavy wooden door at the entrance ..

The wood work that has been done centuries ago is amazing !!

       

The ornate entrance to the room called 'Poomukkam' - where the king entertained special guests. Built in the indigeneous architectural style of Kerala, the entrance of this building is shaped as a triangle. On the wooden ceiling ninety flowers have been carved - The speciality of these flowers is that each of them is unique.

Marvellous and unique wood work in the ceiling... !!

A hanging brass lamp with a knight on horse-back..

The Mantrasala or council chamber - I wonder how many meetings with the kings trusted ministers and people would have taken place in this chamber ...?!....

A  view  from the carved wooden windows.. - Love the
intricate wood work.. One of my favorite shots... !!

The flooring remains smooth through all these years

 and attracts special attention..

The dining hall that accomodates 1000 persons at a time..

The ornamental bed that is made of 64 types of herbs,

and is a gift from the Dutch merchants.

The artistic wood work in the ceiling of the bedroom ..

Wooden enclosure with peepholes, where the women of the royal household sit and watch the performances at the Hall of performance.

 Ambari Mukhappu - the crowning example of craftmanship of Travancore wood carving. 'Ambari' is actually the seat put on elephants back for safaris. The building has been constructed based on the shape and structure of an 'ambari'. It was built for kings to view chariot races during festivals and to appear before the public on special occasions.

 All Images Taken By Me. Please donot re-use without permission.

DIY : Recycled Easter Eggs

     Have you ever had the lip-smacking kinder JOY chocolate - the one that contains two acorn-shaped coated wafer biscuits in a milky spread with a surprise toy inside.... In that case, have you noticed that the chocolate comes in an egg-shaped case....?!?!.. Won't that be perfect for a recycled Easter Craft... Well., I had a few wrappers, with which I was experimenting during the weekend... which resulted in this...



Guess, if you are impressed with this craft - may be you will think twice next time before throwing away those beautifully shaped wrappers... ;-) ;-) ... !! Now to the procedure....

Materials Needed :
Kinder Joy chocolate wrapper  - 2 (for 1 egg)
Fevicol Easy Flow Adhesive  (I used the one that is available in a squeezy bottle in order to avoid unnecessary mess)
Acrylic Colour ( Any colour of your choice)
Glitter colours or any embellishments

Kinder Joy Chocolate - one half of contains the chocolate

and the other contains small toys ( the ones you see behind the chocolate)

 Apply fevicol on the egg-shaped wrapper's surface ; Spread the fevicol evenly on the surface with the help of a thin stick or skewer. Do the same on both halves of the wrapper. Leave it to dry completely. In the above picture you can see that one half is dried completely ( right side one). 

 Apply a coat of acrylic colour of your choice.

Apply another coat of paint so that the surface

underneath is not visible.

You can apply the same color on both halves or

different shades - it all depends on your choice...

Glue both the halves with the help of fevicol or any adhesive.Thats it... Easy peasy .. Done... It will be all over in 15- 20 mins.Now, all you have to do, is to arrange your eggs in a basket or put it in an egg holder... !! - You can also embellish the eggs with glitter or other designs. or even spray paint it......

TIP : You can also leave little knick-knacks inside if you are planning to give this as a gift.

I am linking this to the Weekend Wrap Up party at Colours Dekor, Spring Summer Fest at the Key Bunch and Get Your Craft On Party .

Harith Tharang - an interesting option for your garden needs ....!!

      With a wide range of both indoor and outdoor plants, attractive pots and planters brought in from various parts of the country Harith Tharang is one of the first and unique garden centres in Chennai. Rashmi Sunil, proprietor of Harith Tharang, says that the concept is inspired by the garden centres abroad. The speciality of the shop is the stunning table top arrangement of plants and the containers used to display them in an artistic manner. In addition to that the centre deals with all types of garden needs - indoor, outdoor plant supplies, fountains, bamboo baskets, artistic terracotta, sandstone and wood containers, plant materials like coco peat, leaf shine sprays etc.,

Harith Tharang means "Green Waves" and yes, they are making waves with their truly ever-lasting "Gift a Plant"  venture to promote the Go-green concept ; With this scheme, one can select  a plant of your choice from their shop or website, and the gift will be directly delivered directly from the showroom.

 The entryway to the store is decked up with

wall mounted planters on both sides ..

Table top fountains - these will be a great

addition to any outdoor decor... !!

 Plants in pickle jars and bamboo baskets..

 

Plant displayed on a driftwood piece...

Hanging pots, plants in bamboo stem holders...

Pots and planters in interesting shapes

with intricate designs...

Plant arranged in a tri-pod bamboo stand...

 

Animal-shaped plant holders...

 Now, how cute is that .!! Old-fashioned oil lamp

put to such an useful idea...!! 

 In short, this is a perfect place in the city  for a gardening enthusiast !!!

I am linking this post to the "Green Thumb Decor"  blog party at Patty's blog.