History
Thiruvananthapuram city and several other places in the district loom large in ancient tradition, folklore and literature.
In 1684, during the regency of Umayamma Rani, the English East India Company obtained a sandy spit of land at Anchuthengu near Varkala on the sea coast about 32 kilometres (20 mi) north of Thiruvananthapuram city, with a view to erecting a factory and fortifying it. The place had earlier been frequented by the Portuguese and later by the Dutch. It was from here that the English gradually extended their domain to other parts of Travancore.
Modern history begins with Marthanda Varma, 1729 CE – 1758 CE, who is generally regarded as the Father of modern Travancore. Thiruvananthapuram was known as a great center of intellectual and artistic activities in those days.
"Thiruvananthapuram" literally means "City of Lord Anantha". The name derives from the deity of the Hindu temple at the center of the Thiruvananthapuram city. Anantha is the mythical thousand hooded serpent- Shesha on whom Padmanabhan or Vishnu reclines. The temple of Vishnu reclining on Anantha, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple, which dates back to the 16th century, is the most-recognizable iconic landmark of the city as well as the district. Along with the presiding deity of Sri Padmanabha, this temple also has temples inside it, dedicated to Lord Krishna and Lord Narasimha, Lord Ganesha, and Lord Ayyappa. The temple was built by King Marthanda Varma of the Travancore Royal family when, in 1745, he shifted the Travancore capital from Padmanabhapuram, which is now in Tamil Nadu. King Marthanda Varma started reigning as 'Padmanabha Dasa', the servant and representative of Lord Padmanabha, as perhaps a nobler variant of the 'Divine Right Theory' with which the West is familiar. The vast temple complex, with its tall Gopuram decorated with detailed carvings reflected in the huge temple tank, is today a center of attraction for the pious, the tourist, and the merely curious.
The city was the capital of the Travancore state before India's independence. Consequent to the recommendations of the state Reorganization Commission, the Vilavancode taluk from Thiruvananthapuram was merged with Tamil Nadu, along with three other southern taluks of Thovala, Agastheewaram and Kalkulam from Travancore which eventually formed the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. The state of Kerala came into being on 1 November 1956.
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