thiruvananthapuram the city corporation has entrusted artist and chairman of the society for protection of cultural heritage j sashikumar with the job of preparing a project report to gain central grant for converting thekke kottaram south palace at shanghumugham into a museum exploring the history of travancore and thiruvananthapuram municipal corporation down the ages we are looking to get some sort of assistance from the ministry of culture restoration and painting of more than a centuryold palace has been completed only minor works remain we chose sashikumar to prepare the project report he understands the centres requirements as he has done similar projects in the past for various other organiztations said mayor k chandrika the only directive given by the corporation who is the owner of the building is that it should document the history of travancore and the corporation sashikumar is presently doing a study on the history of the corporation and its definitive moments in thiruvananthapurams history ideally i would like to develop the palace as a cultural research society that showcases the history of travancore through works of great masters it should include a cultural library and an auditorium to screen short films said sashikumar who has directed a few documentaries on endangered art forms of kerala shashikumar said the project report would be ready in two months and would contain everything from scaleddown versions of paintings to miniature sculptures the corporation could also ask the tourism department for funding and the dptc for around two cents of land adjacent to the palace to set up an open air auditorium where cultural shows could be held on a daily basis