Napier Museum

This nineteenth-century museum in Thiruvananthapuram is instantly recognisable for its polychrome Indo-Saracenic architecture with steeply gabled roofs and striped walls. Designed to stay cool through natural ventilation, the building is a landmark of Kerala's colonial-era design. Its galleries display bronze idols, temple chariots, ivory carvings and a rare musical instrument collection. Set within a public garden that also holds a zoo and art gallery, it anchors a leafy cultural precinct in the state capital.