Sri Chitralayam was established on the 25th September 1935 and was opened by the Maharaja of Travancore. It is located within the grounds of the extensive zoo and public gardens in the city, adjacent to the Government Museum. Sri Chitralayam in Kerala is an art gallery of the State consisting of Asian paintings and contains the following: Modern Indian Paintings, Indo-European Paintings, Mughal Paintings, Rajput Paintings, Transitional Paintings, Persian Paintings, Chinese Pamtings, Japanese Paintings and Mural Paintings. The Sri Chitra Art Gallery, as it is popularly known, is renowned for housing painting of eminent painters, national & Indian fame. One can see artworks of Raja Ravi Varma, Nicholas Roerich, Jamini Roy, Rabindranath Tagore etc here. The gallery houses 400-year-old Tanjore miniature paintings. Miniature paintings representing reproductions of murals of Ajanta , Bagh etc is worth notice. Every region in India boasts of having unique painting styles. The gallery boasts of having large collection of paintings of Bengal, Rajasthan, Kangra, Madhubani, Bundi etc schools of arts. Located in Thiruvananthapuram , Chitralayam Art Gallery has a rich collection of miniature paintings from China, Japan, Tibet and Bali.
The caretaker in charge of the art gallery acts also as the guide lecturer. There is a small departmental library with large number of books. The paintings are sometimes sent to exhibitions on loan. There are adequate labels, all in English. The students of the local and mofussil colleges andschools frequently visit the gallery. Sri Chitralayam is under the direct control of the government with an officer as the head of the institution. The Museum building is adequate though there is less storage space for reserve collections. There is a painting studio in the building. The main sources of collection are purchase, presentation and loan. The Chitralayam Art Gallery is not recognised for treasure trove finds. Exchange of duplicates is within the purview of the Institution. The integration of the Art Gallery with the Art Museum has already been done.