The Thrissur State Museum and Zoo

A brief look at the history of one of India’s oldest museums

Site: Thrissur district

Notable aspects of heritage: Museum, historical monument, archaeology, cultural artifacts, anthropology, Imperial monuments, colonialism and colonial legacy

Challenges: Lack of institutional support, demographics and interests, cultural sustainability, lack of institutional and thematic reform

Researcher and author: Devaki Vadakepat Menon, University of Oxford

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Disclaimer: this entry presents a slice from ongoing ethnographic and museological research at the site by the author. Information willl be updated as research further develops.

The Thrissur State Museum and Zoo is located in the Chembukavu region of Kerala’s Thrissur District. Since its inception, this site remains to be one of the region’s most popular attractions. The history of this establishment dates to colonial India, where prior to the formation of the state of Kerala, the region comprised Malabar, and the Princely states of Travancore and Cochin. The museum is divided into three major sections: the art museum, the mutltipurpose museum, and the zoo. The contents of both the art and multipurpose museum exhibit specimens of Kerala’s natural history as well as items that reflect the state’s colonial and agrarian history.

Having seen generations of Malayalis since its establishment, the museum and zoo are often regarded by local elderly Keralites as a familiar site of interest and nostalgia. Today, the museum is filled with younger visitors, children, and parents who see the museum not only for its original purpose of establishment, but for the new social roles it fulfils: as entertainment, selfie-spots, a leisurely hang out spot, and a themepark.

While it is the Napier Museum in the Trivandrum district of Kerala which holds the title of the oldest institution in the state, the Thrissur Museum’s peculiarity arises from the traces of a colonial legacy that can still be observed in its construction and contents, despite the heavy involvement of local Malayali kings in its conception and development. The museum, which originally began as a park, was established in 1915 to represent a museum in the Princely state of Cochin, as a sister site to the Napier Museum in the neighbouring Princely state of Travancore (in present day Trivandrum).

The first iteration of the Thrissur State Museum was in the “Art Museum”, originally a residential building which belonged to an elite whose desire to showcase an extensive private collection of archaeological material resulted in the museum. The Art and Multipurpose museums were established under royal patronage with the explicit aim of conserving and protecting archaeological specimen from deterioration. In its early days, the museum was also involved in encouraging local craft and trade through hosting workshops and training within its grounds. However, the provenance of many of the museum’s items remains enigmatic. It is plausible that while many were crafted by local artisans, the rest were acquired through colonial archaeological expeditions, which were prevalent across India during the late 19th and early 20th century.

The museum has been affiliated with notable persons, such as Kerala’s most renowned anthropologist of the time, L.K. Anantha Krishna Iyer, who was appointed Keeper of the Zoo and concurrently served as curator of the museum. Iyer was instrumental in managing donations from various regional monarchs of Kerala, and many of these contributions constitute the core of the museum’s current collection. Beyond his curatorial responsibilities, Iyer was a prolific scholar, known for his seminal works on the castes and tribes of Kerala. His training in early colonial anthropology underscores the influence of (now) outdated methodologies on his practices and the museum’s development. The decisions regarding the museum’s structure, organization, and presentation of collections—many of which remain largely unchanged since its inception—are deeply rooted in colonial frameworks of knowledge production and cultural preservation.

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History of the Thrissur State Museum: key events and dates

1885

Museum begins as a park in the Viyoor region of Thrissur, established by the Diwan Peskhar of Cochin, Sankarayya. Thrissur was then considered as the capital of the Kingdom of Cochin

1898

Museum and park close due to a scarcity in visitorship

1912

Museum re-opens in the coastal city of Cochin as “Cochin State Museum” by Diwan K. Narayana Marar in the Krishna Vilasam Palace, Ernakulam region.

Museum packs up and re-established in Thrissur to protect artifacts from sea water damage

Museum housed in the present day Art Museum, a previously residential proprety owned by a local elite

1913

Zoo established and consists of animals donated by the King of Cochin

Anthropologist L. K Iyyer appointed as keeper of both the zoo and museum

Multipurpose museum built between 1913 and 1936

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(Left) The Multipurpose Museum. (Right) The Art Museum, which lies adjacent to the Zoo. Both museums lie a short distance from each other. Images taken in 2024.

(Left) The Multipurpose Museum. (Right) The Art Museum. Images taken in 1936.

(Left) The left wing of the Multipurpose Museum exhibits a variety of geological specimens and items. Collections comprise of donations from various Malayali kings, including weapons and clothing; and replicas or models of agrarian tools used throughout early and present-day Kerala, created as commissions from local craftsmen. (Right) The right wing, known as the herbarium, consists of wood, animal, and plant specimens.

(Left) An extension of the left wing displays sculptures from artisans depicting Hindu mythology, the performance art Kathakali, and musical instruments.

The Art Museum contains mostly excavated or commissioned artworks, such as bell metal and wooden sculptures, religious and mythological iconography, paintings, and ivory wares.

While the dates of construction of the Multipurpose museum is obscure, the first mentions of it appear in in the 1936 publication Museums of India by S.F. Markham & H. Hargreaves. The report, which documents 105 museums in India at time of publication, commends the Thrissur Museum and Zoo for its large collection of archaeological material, high visitation numbers, collection of animals and involvement in the development of Kerala’s cottage industries through workshops. The report states that of the 105 Indian museums, 27 including the Thrissur State Museum and Zoo were administered by and maintained by Indian states rather than the Imperital of Provincial Governments (Markhan & Harmgreaves, pg. 29).

Updates incoming