Trivandrum Observatory

The Raja wrote to the British Resident, Colonel James Stuart Fraser, an amateur scientist proposing the establishment of an astronomical observatory.

This led to John Caldecott who earlier ran a small personal observatory at Alappuzha being appointed as the royal astronomer.

[2] The observatory was located on the highest point in the city and opposite the palace and was considered important as the magnetic equator at that time passed through Thiruvananthapuram.

[3] The British resident William Cullen initially considered the observatory as a bad use of money but the Raja and Caldecott were united in support of it.

[6] Broun and his assistants including J. Kochukunju (Cochoocoonjoo) and E. Kochiravi (Cocheravey) Pillai and several "computers" helped publish the Thiruvananthapuram Magnetic Observations in 1874.