[Revival] Kottayam Oh Kottayam
Nostalgic ACKer
Following up on this one, Harry Anchan wrote (and I quote):
: Thank you, thank you, thank you for one of the most evocative
: articles I have ever read on the Net. Thanks for the wonderful
: memories. I did not live in Kottayam, but I share those
: wonderful, bittersweet memories with you. I am sure everyone who
: lived in kerala, regardless of where, would certainly have
: similar memories.
I hope you 'll enjoy it too.
Btw, the links given in the article don't work any more (I think).
The author's homepage is at http://go.to/ve3ogz.com (and has more
of his articles).
sasneham,
na.
------- repost follows -------------------------
:
: From: "Dr. P.K. John" <ve3...@sympatico.ca>
: Subject: KERALA--KOTTAYAM, OH KOTTAYAM
: Date: 1997/12/01
:
:
:
: *KOTTAYAM OH KOTTAYAM
:
:
:
: * Kottayam is the capital of Kottayam district in Kerala.
: *One of a series on people and places in Kerala
:
: Dr.P.K.John
: Toronto
: Ontario
: Canada
: e mail:- ve3...@sympatico.ca
:
: December 1, 1997
:
:
: KOTTAYAM is the biggest city I had ever seen until I was about
: 18 years old. Naturally I have a soft spot in my heart for
: Kottayam, especially that cradle civilization , Thirunakkara
: which formed the core part of Kottayam. My own village home was
: in Thottakad about twelve miles from Kottayam on the Kottayam
: -Karukachal road. My Mother's Home was in Aymenum on the shores
: of river Meenachil ,now made famous by Susimol's ' God of small
: things' telling the story. Palai, Bharananganam Kanjirappalli and
: other important centers of Tea, Rubber and black pepper are
: close by , but my favorite town is Erattupetta a small town noted
: for the harmony amongst it's Christians, Moslems and Hindus and
: the famous Aruvithura church. I loved my long bus trips from
: Kottayam to Erattupetta every weekend , passing through some of
: the places mentioned earlier.I was in charge of the Government
: hospital in Erattupetta.
:
:
: D.C. Kizakkemuri, writing in Malayala Manorama remembers
: Kottayam as a small town which did not have even a two story
: building at one time. Cars were infrequently seen on the roads.
: bullock carts and bicycles were plentiful . The only public
: meeting place was a wood-floor hall at the Kottayam public
: library which could accommodate about 50 people.
:
: As a primary school student I remember 'Thirunakkara Maithanam'
: and a public well on the South- east corner of it. It was one of
: the deepest wells I have ever seen. I used to watch people fetch
: water using the bucket and pulley technique. There was a mobil
: petrol station and private bus stand close by. I remember the
: open body ' carbon gas' ? (kari gas) powered buses which had
: such boards as KOTTAYAM- MALLAPPALI , KOTTAYAM- RANNI and so on.
: I even remember some of the drivers -Pillaachan, Philip chettan
: and so on.
:
: Talking about meeting places to day, Kottayam has an abundance
: of them. Among them are K.P.S. Menon auditorium on Public
: library grounds, Darshana auditorium, Shri Rangam, Yuhanon
: Marthoma hall, Trade center, Mattithra hall, Padinjarekkara
: auditorium, Y.M.C.A.,Jawahar BalaBhavan, Kottarathil Shankunni
: memorial hall, and Sumangali at Kodimatha.
:
: My late uncle who was a dentist who practiced out of an office
: at the south east corner of the intersection of M.C.Road and
: K.K.Road. He worked out of the second floor of a two story
: building. It was a stopover whenever we were in transit to
: Aymanam from Thottakkad. Among the many memories was a cubicle
: precariously balanced on the side of one of his rooms and
: supported on the roof of the next building. It was an unusual
: urinal with a single pipe going down all the way to the ground
: for plumbing. I was always afraid off falling over the side, or
: of the urinal itself collapsing on me. In later years my uncle
: moved to a more posh location at the north east corner of the
: same intersection on top of a drugstore.
:
: My years at Kottayam bring back memories of 'Rossariose'
: bakery where my uncle treated me to my first 'biriyani' ever.
: Later 'Best Bakery' came. I think that the building was
: previously 'Ceter theater' owned by 'Maliekkal Cheriichayan' a
: relative of mine. Best hotel or bestotal as they call themselves
: served excellent tea. They also had half decent wash rooms. My
: uncle frequented these two early hangouts till 'Swagath' came
: along. Today Rossariose and Swagath are no longer in existence.
:
: According to D.C.Kizakkemuri two important people in the history
: of Kottayam are Rama Rao, a diwan of erstwhile Travancore state
: and an Englih man named Benchamin Bailey who established the
: first printing press in Kottayam.
:
: T. Rama Rao started his career in the secretariat at
: Thiruvanthapuram as a clerk with a monthly salary of Rs.10.00 in
: 1851. He rose to the position of Dewan by 1887. Just previous to
: that he was 'diwan peshkar' of the northern division of
: Travancore. The northern division's capital was Cherthalai. Rama
: Rao tried to move the capital of northern division of Travancore
: to Kottayam but ran in to opposition from Cherthalites and the
: Maharaja himself (Ayillyam thirunal Rama Varma). In the mean time
: Ayilyam Thirunal passed away and Another Maharaja who was devoted
: to literature took the helms of the government in Travancore.
: With his support Dewan Rama Rao succeeded in shifting the capital
: of northern division of Travancore to Kottayam in 1880. The other
: divisions in the state of Travancore then were Padmanabhapuram,
: Thiruvanthapuram, and Kollam.
:
: Kottayam was just a village at that time. At the top of
: Thirunakkara hill a parade ground took shape. To day it is the
: well-known Thirunakkara Maidanam. Rama Rao's other contributions
: included construction of a canal to Aleppy (Puthan thodu ),
: giving importance to K.K.road and Kottayam Ettumannur road, and
: establishment of the Kottayam public library. Rama Rao also
: started the famous Thazathangadi Vallamkali (boat race
: ).Agricultural exhibitions and the establishment of a jilla
: hospital were also his accomplishments.
:
: Benchamin Bailey who established a printing press is credited
: with the publication of a translation of the Bible and
: English-Malayalam and Malayalam-English dictionaries. He is also
: credited with the first printed newspaper -njananishepam.
:
: To day Kottayam ranks first amongst some 500 jillas in India.
: Hundred percent literacy was declared in this ancient town on
: June 12, 1989. But Kottayam has changed and I am not even sure
: whether I like it as much as the Kottayam in my heart.
:
: It is two years ago that I last visited Kottayam. I stopped at
: some of my old favorite places. The electronic and appliance
: store near Thirunakkara temple ("swamiyude Kada") was one of
: them. I bought a 'Sumith kitchen machine' for my elderly mother.
: I remembered how my aunt bought me my first wrist watch from the
: same store in 1954 . The attendant remembered me buying a radio
: cassette player from him during my previous trip. He had trusted
: me to send the payment that afternoon by special delivery
: through' Pachan' a helper we relied on a lot.
:
: No, I did not go to bestotel. But I checked out a beer parlor run
: by the Kerala Government tourism department as my driver was busy
: doing the shopping and collecting for me. I also checked out the
: Kumarakam Taj resort (Kari Sayippu's old home) and had nice meal
: with fried Karimeen. Later we went for a ride in to Vembanattu
: Kayal in the hotel's boat.
:
: I kept thinking that the face of Kottayam has changed. A thousand
: memories flashed through my mind as I stood near Seemati to buy
: some 'lunkees'. I remembered how we boycotted our classes one
: day and marched down M.C.Road towards the transport bus stand.
: We were shouting "CHALLO CHALLO GOA CHALLO" and forcing all the
: shops to close. This was during the brief confrontation India
: had with Portugal over the fate of Goa. I remembered the great
: reception for the newly ordained bishops of Syrian Jacobite
: bishops and the ceremonial procession along KK road that we
: watched from my uncle's second story office veranda. My mother's
: uncle and my fathers uncle were amongst the bishops in the
: ceremonial procession. below. I remembered the Billigraham
: crusade at CMS College grounds. I remembered C.K.Thomas hall, The
: Great Hall and Grammer school at C.M.S.college. I remembered
: Askwith hostel .I remembered the old Kottayam park before they
: built a hall there.
:
: Oh, how I long to be in one of the overloaded buses driven by
: Philipu Chettan carrying not only passengers ,but 'vazakkulas '
: , bundles of rubber sheets , 'kachils' , 'chenas' and live
: chicken on the roof for the Thirunakkara market . I want to step
: down from the bus one more time at the corner of MC Road and KK
: Road and walk towards CMS College worrying about the chemistry
: final examination. I will pass by 'Vidyarthi mithram' and other
: book stores including Pappichettan's farther down (Pappichettan
: was a neighbor of my mother and from Aymanam) and the great wall
: Kottayam beyond which were the gates to C.M.S.College.
:
: Finally , I will be less than honest if I don't admit my longing
: to stand one more time in front of the 'Kerala Bhooshanam' news
: paper to know the results of the intermediate examination -my
: finest hour of academic achievement in Kottayam .
: ==================================================================
: ------------------------------------------------------------------
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:
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:
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:
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K.Kunju
things a bit too far.
> : D.C. Kizakkemuri, writing in Malayala Manorama remembers
> : Kottayam as a small town which did not have even a two story
> : building at one time. Cars were infrequently seen on the roads.
> : bullock carts and bicycles were plentiful . The only public
> : meeting place was a wood-floor hall at the Kottayam public
> : library which could accommodate about 50 people.
That description may apply to most of Kerala of that time.
> : As a primary school student I remember 'Thirunakkara Maithanam'
> : and a public well on the South- east corner of it. It was one of
> : the deepest wells I have ever seen. I used to watch people fetch
> : water using the bucket and pulley technique. There was a mobil
> : petrol station and private bus stand close by. I remember the
> : open body ' carbon gas' ? (kari gas) powered buses which had
> : such boards as KOTTAYAM- MALLAPPALI , KOTTAYAM- RANNI and so on.
> : I even remember some of the drivers -Pillaachan, Philip chettan
> : and so on.
> :
> : Talking about meeting places to day, Kottayam has an abundance
> : of them. Among them are K.P.S. Menon auditorium on Public
> : library grounds, Darshana auditorium, Shri Rangam, Yuhanon
> : Marthoma hall, Trade center, Mattithra hall, Padinjarekkara
> : auditorium, Y.M.C.A.,Jawahar BalaBhavan, Kottarathil Shankunni
> : memorial hall, and Sumangali at Kodimatha.
Somehow KPS Menon did not like Kottayam very much and chose to live at
Ottapalam after retirement.
Who was that king who succeeded Ayillyam thirunal? Was it Visakham
thirunal?
Excuse my ignorance?
> : Kottayam was just a village at that time. At the top of
> : Thirunakkara hill a parade ground took shape. To day it is the
> : well-known Thirunakkara Maidanam. Rama Rao's other contributions
> : included construction of a canal to Aleppy (Puthan thodu ),
> : giving importance to K.K.road and Kottayam Ettumannur road, and
> : establishment of the Kottayam public library. Rama Rao also
> : started the famous Thazathangadi Vallamkali (boat race
> : ).Agricultural exhibitions and the establishment of a jilla
> : hospital were also his accomplishments.
> :
> : Benchamin Bailey who established a printing press is credited
> : with the publication of a translation of the Bible and
> : English-Malayalam and Malayalam-English dictionaries. He is also
> : credited with the first printed newspaper -njananishepam.
Somehow the name Benchamin Bailey rings a bell, but I didn't know
what his contribution was. Thanks for the info.
I am interested to know more about this CMS college. I heard that it
was the first college in the kingdom of Tranvancore, and may be in the
entire kerala.
Nostalgic ACKer
> > : and the great wall
> > : Kottayam beyond which were the gates to C.M.S.College.
>
> I am interested to know more about this CMS college. I heard that it
> was the first college in the kingdom of Tranvancore, and may be in the
> entire kerala.
hth,
na