Hill Palace Museum, located near Tripunithura in Kochi, was opened for public in 1986. Formerly, this museum served as an administrative office of Maharaja of Kochi, who built this palace in 1865. In 1980, Department of Archaeology took over the palace and transformed it into a museum. Spread over an area of about 22, 00, 00 sq. metre, this museum is the largest archaeological museum in Kerala. The palace complex houses an archaeological museum, a heritage museum, a deer park, a pre-historic park and children's park. This museum houses the Centre for Heritage Studies (CHS), which is an autonomous research and training institute. The CHS has been designated as the 'Manuscript Conservation Centre' (MCC) and Manuscript Resource Centre' (MRC) by the National Mission for Manuscripts. Hill Palace Museum holds 14 categories of exhibits, which include murals, paintings and manuscripts. The sculptures displayed at the museum are in stone and Plaster of Paris. Most of the collections displayed in the museum belong to the Cochin Royal Family. Collection from Travancore Royal House, Paliam Devaswom and from the Department of Archaeology is also displayed in the museum. The main highlight of this museum is a gold crown, which is embedded with precious stones. Several valuable coins, ornaments, majestic beds and samples of epigraphy are also displayed in the museum.