The Historical Kollengode Palace in Trissur

It was the Venganad swaroops who in the later years came to be known as known as Kollengode dynasty. These rulers were known as ‘Venganattudayavar’ or Venganad Nambidi’. The Venganad Nambidi Swaroopadhikari adorned the title ‘Viranniravi’. The coronation ceremony was similar to that of the king. It is said that The Vadakumnatha Temple was built by Virannaravi.
Later in the 17th century, when Kozhikode Samoothiris became strong rukers, Venganad was annexed by them. Earlier it was the Mysore king Haider Ali who ordained the Venganad family as king of the Eastern regions of Palakkad including the Thenmala valley. After the fall of Tipu, Malabar came under the rule of East India Company and the Venganad rulers lost their powers. The Kollengode royal family however took a stand in favour of the British and as a result the last king Vasudeva was bestowed with the title ‘Raja’ in 1901.