The royal house at Choottayil,
Kilimanoor has a history stretching back more than 300 years, although the oldest buildings are from a much earlier period.
Association with the Travancore royal house In 1705, the son and two daughters of Ittammar Raja of
Beypore Thattarikovilakam, a
Kolathunadu royal house, were adopted into the royal house of
Venad. The Ittammar Raja's sister and her sons, Rama Varma and Raghava Varma, settled in Kilimanoor and married the now-adopted sisters. The lands around the present-day palace were a part of an estate which originally belonged to a
Pillai ruling chief. The estate comprised several villages and was handed over to the family of Raghava Varma.
Maharaja Marthanda Varma, the founder of the
Kingdom of Travancore, was the son of Raghava Varma. In 1739, after Marthanda Varma ascended the throne, an alliance led by the
Dutch Captain Hockert, was formed between
Kochi,
Thekkumkoor,
Desinganadu and
Purakkad, due to their shared enmity towards Marthanda Varma. In 1740, this
allied force attacked Venad and an army from Kilimanoor resisted and subsequently defeated them in the
Battle of Colachel. Although a small victory, this was the first time an Indian army had defeated a European power. In 1753, in recognition of this feat, Marthanda Varma exempted the areas controlled by the Kilimanoor Palace, as well as most of the area under the present Kilimanoor and
Pazhayakunnummel panchayats from taxes, and granted them autonomous status. Although the estate had been under his rule earlier, the present palace complex was built in 1753, together with the Ayyappa temple. The original temple was at Nerumkaithakotta, near Kozhikode for the family deity, Sastha or Ayyapan. In the early 19th century,
Velu Thampi Dalawa held meetings at Kilimanoor Palace while planning uprisings against the British. In 1809, he handed over his sword at the Palace before going into his final battle against the British. India's first President,
Dr Rajendra Prasad received this sword from the palace and it was kept in the
National Museum in
Delhi. Afterwards the sword was moved to the
Napier Museum in Thiruvananthapuram. with his studio in the foreground ==Personalities==