On the event of the 79th 12 months of India’s independence, here’s a take a look at how the liberty motion swept by Thiruvananthapuram, then a component of Travancore and the monuments constructed in reminiscence of freedom fighters as a reminder of their sacrifice. These are residing tales of braveness and resilience.
“The fight was spearheaded by Travancore State Congress formed in February 1938 to work towards responsible governance. The Congress was up against not just the British but also the then Dewan, CP Ramaswamy Iyer, who resorted to brutal measures to crush the agitations,” says historian Malayinkil Gopalakrishnan.
Remembering the bloodshed
Veeraraghava Smarakam at Neyyattinkara in reminiscence of the firing on August 31, 1938
| Photo Credit:
VJ Abey
Neyyattinkara witnessed the dying of eight individuals, together with a homemaker, when the British military opened hearth on a march protesting the arrest of a number of Congress leaders, together with the then Congress head, NK Padmanabhan Pillai on August 31, 1938. Leaders who had been killed had been Athazhamangalam Raghavan (Veeraraghavan), Kalluvila Podiyan, Nadoorkolla Kuttan Pillai, Varuvilakom Muthan Pilla, Maruthur Vasudevan, Kanchampazhinji Kuttappan Nair, and Varuvilakom Padmanabhan Pillai, in addition to a girl, Kali. In 2020 a memorial was unveiled at Athazhamangalam, the native place of Veeraraghavan. Funded by the Municipal Corporation, it’s a reduction sculpture depicting the police firing. It has been made by an artists’ collective Neyyar Varamozhi.
The city can also be dwelling to Madhava Mandiram, the home the place Mahatma Gandhi stayed on January 1, 1937, on his method to Kanyakumari. Located at Ooruttukala, it’s now a museum. The cot Gandhiji used, a charkha and brass urn that contained his ashes are saved right here.
Historic venue
Freedom memorial at Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram
| Photo Credit:
ARUN KUMAR VN
At Vattiyoorkkavu stands the memorial remembering the primary convention of the Travancore State Congress held on December 22, 1938. In spite of a ban on public conferences by the Dewan, tons of marched to the venue to take heed to their leaders. Designed by Rajasthan-based Malayali artist Thomas John Kovoor, it’s a mountain-shaped construction standing on 25 cents. “The structure has three layers, representing the states of Travancore, Kochi and Malabar, with the map of Kerala on top of it. Special bricks made from the sand collected from regions where major struggles for freedom took place were used to construct it,” says a former official with the Department of Archives, which manages the memorial. Drawings of landmark agitations are finished on the construction.
Four bronze figures are put in round it. “Metaphorically they stand for freedom, nationality, fraternity and women’s role in the fight for independence,” he provides. Plans for a mural across the memorial hit a roadblock attributable to paucity of funds. However, the landscaped area across the memorial is now place for individuals to unwind.
Rising up in arms
Kallara Pangode martyrs’ memorial in Thiruvananthapuram
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
In September, 1938, Kallara and Pangode villages, round 45 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram, witnessed protests that have made it to the record of 39 agitations listed by the Government of India because the actions that paved the way in which for India’s independence. A police outpost preserved as a heritage construction at Pangode and the martyrs’ memorial at Kallara look again on the outbreak of sturdy protests by farmers over exorbitant taxes levied by the authorities on spices and different commodities. They had the help of these protesting the Dewan’s rule, which ultimately led to tumultuous scenes at Kallara market. When Kochappi Pillai, one of the leaders, was arrested and tortured on the Pangode Police Outpost, individuals confronted the police with arms and ammunition and blocked the path to Thiruvananthapuram. Even although he was launched the subsequent day, a mob lynched a policeman on the identical day. They marched to the outpost and began firing. In the crossfire that adopted, two protestors, Plankeezhil Krishna Pillai and Cheruvalam Kochu Narayanan Achary, had been killed. The incident got here shut on the heels of the riots in close by Kadakkal over unlawful toll assortment.
For the martyrs
Martyrs Column at Palayam is a big landmark. It was constructed by the primary elected authorities of Kerala led by Chief Minister EMS Namboothiripad in reminiscence of those that laid down their lives in India’s first warfare of independence in 1857. The construction is alleged to be designed by Prof JC Alexander, who designed a number of different distinguished buildings in Thiruvananthapuram, and was unveiled by President Dr Rajendra Prasad on August 14, 1957.
‘Balikudeerangale’, the favored revolutionary track written by Vayalar and composed by Devarajan has a reference to the memorial. The spirited track that celebrated the revolutionaries was the opening track of the perform held at VJT Hall (now Ayyankali Hall) in reference to the one centesimal anniversary of the revolt of 1857. It was initially written for a gathering of the AITUC however was later chosen to be performed on the perform.
On hearth
Rajendra Maidan at Pettah is called after a boy who obtained shot when the military opened hearth at a gathering on June 13, 1947. They had been protesting towards the Dewan’s choice that Travancore would grow to be an impartial state with out becoming a member of the Indian Union. “While some say that he was killed in the firing along with two others, it is also heard that he sustained a head injury and succumbed to it a few years later,” Gopalakrishnan says.
