Archaeological Museum, Thrissur - Timings, Entry Fee, History & Artifacts

At a distance of 2.5 km from Thrissur Railway Station, Archaeological Museum is an art and archaeological museum situated in Thrissur, Kerala. Located in the Thrissur Zoo compound, it is one of the prime Thrissur tourist places.

Archaeological Museum at Thrissur was originally started in the balcony of Thrissur Town Hall, as Sree Mulam Chithrasala (Picture Gallery) in 1938 under the patronages of the Government of Cochin. Later an archaeological gallery was attached to the Picture Gallery in 1948. It was shifted to Kollankode house at Chembukkavu in 1975 and named as Archaeological Museum. Later in 2005, it was again shifted to Sakthan Thampuran Palace at Chembukkavu near Vadakkechira Bus Stand of Thrissur.

The palace has been constructed in a unique combination of Dutch and traditional Kerala styles of architecture. The palace is marked by high roofs, thick walls, large rooms, and Italian marble flooring. The Museum is famous for its collection of murals and relics from different parts of Kerala. Most of the objects in the museum were collected by the then Government Archaeologist Sri Anujan Achan.

The Archaeological Museum has a lot of antiquities belonging basically to two divisions, namely pre-historic and proto-historic period and historic period ranging from 9th century BC to 9th century CE. The bronze gallery has a good collection of beautiful bronze sculptures ranging from the 12th century like Nruthaganapathy, Vettakkorumakan, Vishnumaya, Dwarapalaka, etc. The stone sculpture gallery has many unique sculptures like Sri Buddha, Jaina Tirthankara, Parswanatha, Mahavishnu, Ganapathi, Sastha, Soorya, Saraswathi, Saptamatrikkal, Dwarapalakas, different types of Virakkallu (Hero stones), etc. There is a separate gallery to exhibit the household utensils used in the kitchen of the palace of the king of Kochi. One can see a unique treasure box kept in the royal treasury of Kochi here during your Thrissur tour.

The rooms used by Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran are on the first floor of the palace. The other rooms are arranged as Arms gallery, numismatic gallery, and History of Kochi gallery. The exhibits in the history gallery of Kochi are the portraits of the rulers of Kochi and the two small cannons unearthed from the village of Kaliyar near Cherppu. A brief description of the history of Kochi, the genealogy of the rulers of Kochi, and other historical objects are also exhibited in the gallery. An exquisite showpiece in the main building of the palace is the Royal horse wagon used by the Maharajas of Kochi in the 19th century.

The epigraphy section imparts information about the old scripts used in Kerala, stone slab inscription from Kizhthali temple, Kodungallur, an inscription from Thrippunithura Purnathrayisa temple, and an inscription obtained as a result of excavation at Kollankode. The megalithic gallery is the largest of its kind in Kerala. Various artifacts like black and redware, black ware, redware, beads, iron implements, etc. collected from various excavated sites in Thrissur and other adjacent districts are exhibited here.

An Archaeological park is arranged in the northeast corner of the Palace compound with objects belonging to the Megalithic Age (Iron Age). A heritage garden is arranged in on the south of the palace, where the tombs of Samutiri, Ramavarma Saktan Thampuran, and Ramavarma of Kochi, had been preserved for more than two hundred years.

Timings: 10 AM - 5 PM, Closed on Monday & national holidays

Entry: Rs. 25 for Adults, Rs. 5 for Children & Rs. 25 for Camera