Trivandrum

Capital of the Indian state of Kerala, Trivandrum. Today also known as Thiruvananthapuram. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland and is the head quarters of Thiruvananthapuram district. Mahatma Gandhi, India's Father of Nation had referred this lovely city as the "Ever Green City of India". The city of Thiruvananthapuram is the largest and most populour city in Kerala.

Demographics
According to 2001 census, this city had a population of 889,191. The city crossed 1 million on Jan 2006.

Climate in Trivandrum
The climate of Thiruvananthapuram is an equatorial type of climate like the rest of Kerala. It is hot and humid but the ocean makes the climate quite pleasant. It experiences rains brought by the monsoon clouds from June to September. The climate remains relatively dry and cool from October to February and this is the best period to visit the city. The mean maximum temperature is around 34°C and the mean minimum temperature is around 21 °C. The humidity is high and rises to about 90% during the monsoon season.

How to visit Trivandrum?
Thiruvananthapuram is well connected by air, rail and road.

• Air : Besides being well connected to the rest of India, there are air links to almost all the countries in the Gulf and South East Asia. The Airport is by the beach and only 6 kms from the city.
  
  
• Road : Thiruvananthapuram is a Railway Division office and an important Railway Station. There are daily trains to Delhi, Bombay, Chennai and Bangalore and local train services to all points in Kerala.
  
  
• Roads : There is the NH 47 which covers a distance of 80 Km within the district. The intracity public transport is dominated by the state-owned KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Corporation). There are also private bus services. Long distance buses go from Kochi, Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore and Kanyakumari via Nagercoil to Thiruvananthapuram.

Tourist Attractions in Trivandrum

• Shree Padhmanabhaswamy temple
• Kovalam
• Vizhinjam
• Ponmudi
• Veli lagoon
• The Kowdiar palace
• The Kanakakunnu Palace
• The Science and Technology museum

Education in Trivandrum
Thiruvananthapuram is a major educational center. The University of Kerala is located here. The city also has several professional education colleges like Engineering colleges, Medical colleges, Ayurveda colleges, law colleges, Homeopathic college and Agricultural college. Trivandrum is a Research and Development hub in the fields of space science, information technology, biotechnology, medicine and so on. Some notable institutions which are famous worldwide are :

• Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC)
• Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, LPSC
• Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station, TERLS
• Technopark
• Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Bio Technology
• TBGRI (Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute)
• ER&DC - CDAC
• CSIR - Regional Research Laboratory (RRL)
• FSF (Free Software Foundation)
• Regional Cancer Centre, (RCC)
• Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST)
• Centre for Earth Science Studies, CESS
• Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, CTCRI
• Priyadarsini Planetarium
• Centre for Development Studies
• The Oriental Research Institute & Manuscripts Library
• Kerala Highway Research Institute
• Kerala Fisheries Research Institute, etc.

Economy of Trivandrum

• Apart from being the capital of India's most literate and socially developed state, Trivandrum is a strategically important city in Southern India. It is the headquarters of the Southern Air Command of the Indian Air Force.
• The economy of Thiruvananthapuram was earlier based on the tertiary sector. About 60% of the workforce are employed as government servants.
• There are around 20 government owned and 60 privately owned medium and large scale industrial units in Thiruvanathapuram. The major employers are the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC)
• The economy is also growing with the contributions from more professionals in the fields of IT and Medical and Bio-Technology.
• The opening of many private Television channels in the state has made Thiruvananthapuram the home of several studios and related industries.
• With the establishment of Technopark in 1995, Thiruvananthapuram has steadily grown into a competitive IT centre.
• Technopark houses global majors like
  • Infosys
  • TCS
  • McKinsey & Co.
  • Ernst & Young
  • Allianz Cornhill
  • Toonz
  • US Technologies etc.
• Tourism has also contributed heavily to the economy of Trivandrum.
• Foreign tourists are flocking to Thiruvananthapuram for Medical tourism, as Trivandrum has more than fifty recognised Ayurveda centres in and around the city.
• Other major organizations of economic interest are
  • Chithranjali Film Complex
  • Kinfra Apparel Park " Kinfra Film and Video Park
  • Kerala High-tech Industries (KELTECH)
  • Kerala Automobiles and
  • English Indian Clays Ltd.