Thiruvananthapuram formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Kerala. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland. Referred to by Mahatma Gandhi as the "Evergreen city of India", it is classified as a Tier-II city by the Government of India. Thiruvananthapuram was a trading post for spices, sandalwood and ivory. The city was ruled by the Ays and was captured by the rulers of Venad in tenth century A.D. In 1729, Marthanda Varma founded the princely state of Thiruvithamkoor and made Thiruvananthapuram the capital in 1745. It remained as a princely state ruled by Travancore under the loose governance of the British before joining the Indian Union in 1948. With nearly 80% of the state's software exports, Thiruvananthapuram is a major IT hub with the Technopark and the Technocity. It is an academic and research focal point in the country with an array of institutions like Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Central Tuber Crops Research Institute, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, National Institute For Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Centre for Development Studies, Kerala Technical University, Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, Regional Cancer Centre and the National Centre for Earth Science Studies. Being India's largest city in the deep south, it is strategically prominent and has the Southern Air Command headquarters of the Indian Air Force, the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station and the upcoming Vizhinjam International Deepwater Motherport Thiruvananthapuram is a major tourist centre, known for the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, the famous beaches of Kovalam and Varkala, the backwaters of Poovar and Anchuthengu and its Western Ghats tracts of Ponmudi and the Agastyamala. It is consistently ranked among the best cities to live in Kerala as well as India.
