About Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram) City, Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) city is the capital of one of the most beautiful states in India, Kerala. It is situated on the southern tip of Malabar coast in Peninsular India. ‘Thiru-anantha-puram’ means the town of the sacred snake-god Ananthan. It stretches along the shores of the Arabian sea for a distance of 78 kms and an area of 2192 sq kms. Trivandrum, is famous for its enchanting tourist spots including internationally renowned beaches like Kovalam, historic monuments with Gothic architecture, lakes and backwaters, unexplored mountain ranges etc. The city enjoys a notable position in the tourist map of India

Location
Trivandrum is the southern most district of the 14 districts in Kerala. It stretches along the shores of the Arabian sea for a distance of 78 kms and an area of 2192 sq kms. It also possess a handful of naturalistic and magnificent beaches, backwaters, mountains, wild life sancturies, historic monuments etc. The surrounding taluks include Chirayinkeezhu, Nedumangad and Neyyatinkara

Geographical location
North latitudes 8° 17' and 8° 54' east
longitudes 76° 41' and 77° 17'.

Name
Thiruvananthapuram is named after the holy serpent, the thousand-headed Anantha. Thiruvananthapuram means 'The town of Lord Anantha' is believed to be originated due the presence of the temple of Lord Anantha in the heart of the city. Another view is that the name originated from 'Aananthapuram'.

History
The city once formed a part of the kingdom of Travancore, which had its capital at Padmanabhapuram. Even now most of the buildings in the city possess the royal heritage of the Travancore Kings. It was earlier part of the Travancore-Cochin state and was formed as a district on November 1, 1956. more


Physiography
The district can be divided into three geographical regions-highlands, midlands and lowlands. Chirayinkeezhu and Thiruvananthapuram taluks lie in midland and low land regions, while Nedumangad taluk lies in midland and highland regions and Neyyattinkara taluk stretch over all the three regions. The Agastyarkoodam, the southern most peak in the Ghats, is 1869 meters above sea level is the largest peak in the district

Climate
The climate is pleasant and mild all the year along though the June - November months are quite wet. The March-May months are the hottest. Average temperature ranges from 28-33 in summer and 27-30 in other seasons.

Cuisine
Traditional food is dominated by rice and related dishes. Coconut, spices etc form an integral part of the food. Fish, meat, vegetables are abundantly available

Formation
The trivandrum district was formed in July 1, 1949.

Religion
Hindus, Christians, Muslims

Timezone + 5.30 GMT
STD Code 0471
ISD Code +91