Category Archives: Travel

A historical canvas at Kannur station

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Artists with their relief mural works at the Kannur railway station on Tuesday. S.K. MOHAN   | Photo Credit: S K Mohan N

Payyannur-based organisation offers a glimpse of Railways’ history

Railway passengers can now experience the local history of Kannur and railway history now etched on the parapets of the entry and exit approaches of the Kannur railway station’s main concourse under a beautification project initiated by a Payyannur-based organisation promoting cultural conservation.

The relief murals sculpted on the parapet walls by a group of 14 artists, headed by K.R. Babu and curated by V. Jayaraj of Folkland, an organisation promoting conservation, reflect the tradition of the region and offer a glimpse of the history of Railways as expressed artistically.

Art works

The art works done by the artists occupy an area of 5,000 square feet depicting cultural landmarks, village life, activities inside the railway station and evolution of trains.

“This artistic and cultural initiative is meant to serve as an art gallery that can be a cultural experience to people reaching the railway station,” Mr. Jayaraj told The Hindu. The work depicting the heritage was done in collaboration with the corporate social responsibility fund of the Mumbai-based Dorf Ketal company, he added.

The cultural history visually narrated by the relief murals captures the Theyyam, Kalaripayattu, circus and bakery traditions of the district, as also art forms such as Oppana and Margamkali.

The works that deck the walls also include rural activities such as weaving, pottery, oil expeller work, goldsmiths and blacksmiths at work, among others. Railway vendors and porters, railway platforms, steam engines, diesel engines and electric engines are among the mural relief images done on the walls of the entry approach to the station.

Work in six stages

“The relief mural works have been done in six stages, the first stage being drawing on paper the ideas prepared by artist K.K. Marar, Mr. Jayaraj and myself,” said Mr. Babu, who had also done relief mural works in the Kannur international airport.

Golden paint

Those drawings were converted into 3D forms on the walls using cement and they were finally coated with golden paint, he said.

The relief murals, completed in less than two months, were opened to the public by Southern Railway General Manager R.K. Kulshrestha during his visit to the Kannur railway station on Tuesday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Mohamed Nazeer / Kannur – February 19th, 2019

124th Maramon Convention begins at Pampa

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The Metropolitan announced that the evening session at Maramon Convention was rescheduled to 5 pm to 6.30 pm instead of 6 pm to 7.30 pm with the participation of all the faithful.

Pathanamthitta :

The eight-day Maramon Convention, billed as the largest Christian gathering in Asia, began on the sand bed of the Pampa at Maramon near Kozhenchery on Sunday. Delivering the inaugural address, Mar Thoma Church supremo Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan called on the faithful to see Christ as the human face of God.

Joseph Mar Thoma urged the faithful to follow the path of God with the principle of compassion and unconditional love for fellow-beings.“True love and compassion to the needy should be without any pre-condition and vested interests,” the Metropolitan said, adding people should try to see others through the eyes of Christ.

The Metropolitan announced that the evening session at Maramon Convention was rescheduled to 5 pm to 6.30 pm instead of 6 pm to 7.30 pm with the participation of all the faithful. Joseph Mar Thoma said environment protection and conservation are needed for the very survival of human being and other living creatures. Development programmes should be implemented scientifically, with an eye on the environment, he said.

Euyakim Mar Coorlios, president of the Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association, which is organising the convention, presided over the meeting. York Archbishop John Tukker Mugabe Sentamu of the UK delivered the main speech.

Man-made flood

The Metropolitan said the mid-August flood was not natural. The disaster was due to the lapse on the part of the authorities concerned. He said the deluge caused destruction on all fronts and the river water-level even went up to six feet.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / February 11th, 2019

Experts visit excavation site at Edayaranmula

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Heritage: Noted curator M. L. Johny, inspecting a terracotta figurine unearthed from the Pampa river banks at Edayaranmula during his visit to the temporary museum set up by the Archaeology Department at Aranmula on Friday.  

Inspect terracotta pieces, including male and female figurines

Noted curator M. L. Johny, accompanied by Antony Kaaral from the Government Fine Arts College in Thiruvananthapuram, visited the excavation site of the Archaeology Department on the banks of river Pampa at Edayaranmula on Friday.

They also visited the temporary museum set up by the Kerala State Archaeology Department at Aranmula where the terracotta figurines unearthed from Edyaranmula have been kept.

Excavation

The Archaeology Department had launched excavation on the banks of river Pampa at Edayaranmula near Aranmula in December last, exploring traces of a vibrant ancient Pampa Valley civilization in the area following the sighting of a few terracotta artefacts there, earlier, in September.

Rajeev Puliyoor, Malayalam teacher at the Mahatma Gandhi University B.Ed Centre at Elanthoor who has been doing research on the ‘Pampa Valley Civilization,’ and K.P. Sreeranganathan, photographer turned historian, also accompanied the two artistes.

The unearthed terracotta pieces include male and female figurines, snake heads, bust of a man and a twin female terracotta statue.

Mr. Puliyoor said renowned historians M.R.Raghava Warrier and M.G.S.Narayanan, were of the view that the terracotta artefacts unearthed from the banks of river Pampa appeared to be centuries old. Prof Warrier had visited the site twice, earlier, he said.

Mr Puliyoor stressed the need for an exhaustive study and excavation in the Pampa river basin in the wake of the unearthing of ancient terracotta artefacts from the river banks.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Pathanathitta – February 08th, 2019

Manjanikkara church festival begins with flag hoisting

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CEREMONIAL START : The ceremonial flag being hoisted at the Omalloor Cross, near Manjanikkara, marking the beginning of the 87h feast of St. Elias-III, popularly known as Manjanikkara Perunaal, on Sunday.  

Archbishop of Sweden will be the Patriarchal delegate

The annual Manajanikkara church festival (Perunaal) and 87th feast of Syrian Patriarch St Elias-III began with the Kodiyettu ceremony at the Mor Ignatius Diara Church at Manjanikkara and at the Omalloor Cross at Omalloor, near here, on Sunday.

The Patriarchal Flag was hoisted on the diara premises and at all the churches attached to the Jacobite Syrian Church on Sunday.

Kuriakose Mar Savarios, Knanaya Archbishop, hoisted the Patriarchal Flag at the diara cathedral in the presence of diara chief Geevarghese Mar Athanaseus.

Archbishop of Sweden Mor Diascorus Benyamin Athas will be the Patriarchal delegate to this year’s Manjanikkara Perunal. The Patriarchal delegate and Catholicos Baselius Thomas-I will be the chief guests at the annual Church festival.

Mathews Mar Theodoseus Metropolitan of the Kollam diocese of the Jacobite Syrian Church will inaugurate the religious convention at 7 p.m. on Monday.

Public reception

A rousing reception would be accorded to all Manjanikkara-bound pilgrimage processions coming from different parts of the State on their arrival at Omalloor Cross on Friday afternoon.

The Patriarchal delegate will inaugurate a public meeting to be held on the diara premises in connection with the public reception to various pilgrimage processions to the saint’s tomb, later, at 6 p.m.

The Catholicos will preside over the meeting. All bishops attached to the Jacobite Syrian Church and various socio-political leaders will also address the meet.

The Patriarchal delegate will lead the holy Tri-mass to be held at the diara cathedral at 8.30 a.m. on Saturday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Pathanamthitta – February 04th, 2019

World’s oldest running steam loco to make heritage runs

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Soon Keralites will get to see the world’s oldest running steam engine.


The 164-year-old EIR 21 steam loco will begin its herit age runs in the Thiruvananthapuram division from Thursday. The first runs will be from Nagercoil Junction to Kanyakumari and later on from Ernakulam Junction to Cochin Harbour Terminus

Kochi :

Soon Keralites will get to see the world’s oldest running steam engine. A sequence of heritage runs will be organised in the Thiruvananthapuram division from Thursday. The 164-year-old Express EIR 21 has been brought in from the Madurai division. According to Shirish Kumar Sinha, Divisional Railway Manager, Thiruvananthapuram Division, the inaugural run is charted from Nagercoil junction to Kanyakumari.

“It will make a few runs on the route and later on will be brought to Ernakulam. The runs will be made on Saturdays and Sundays. For the inaugural run, the train will chug out of Nagercoil Junction at 5 pm,” he said.

“The heritage runs in Ernakulam will happen from Ernakulam Junction to Cochin Harbour Terminus. However, only a few runs have been charted on this route. The timings are yet to be finalised but the days will be Saturday and Sunday,” he said.

According to him, the runs are being conducted as a part of the Southern Railway’s policy to acquaint people with the heritage of railways in India. “EIR 21 has only one coach and has been refurbished. The train will provide people with a chance to ride on it. The ticket rates are yet to be decided,” he said.

The name ‘EIR 21 Express’ was given to the loco by its creators, Kitson, Thompson & Hewitson of England, who built it in 1855. The loco was shipped to the Indian subcontinent to span high and low lands. It carried people and heavy cargo for over 55 years. It was refurbished in 2010. 

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Express News Service / February 07th, 2019

CMFRI opens doors to marine wonders for public

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Institute celebrating its 72nd Foundation Day; exhibition from tomorrow

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) will throw open its doors to the public on Tuesday as part of its 72nd Foundation Day celebrations. The public can view splendours of the marine world like precious pearls in the deep sea and the process of extracting them from farmed pearl oysters.

The exhibition will be a display of diverse marine aquatic species as well as a platform to understand the latest developments in marine research. The National Marine Biodiversity Museum at the CMFRI is rich with collections from a wide spectrum of niches ranging from estuaries to coastal and deeper waters of the Indian seas, various laboratories, newly-designed marine research aquarium, hatcheries and other facilities. The exhibition will be open between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., said a press release here.

Whale shark, the largest fish, horse shoe crab, sea snakes, sea birds, pearl oyster, sea cow, dolphins, and sharks can be viewed. Antarctic krills, a favourite food of penguins and blue whales, is also available at the museum. The marine research aquarium showcases different marine ornamental varieties including bat fish and lion fish.

Those curious about the latest research developments in marine fisheries may visit various laboratories dedicated to bioprospecting, ocean acidification, fishery biology, environmental research, climate change and cell culture. The fish ageing laboratory will help uncover the secrets behind estimation of fish age which is a revolutionary step in marine fisheries research. Visitors can also acquire knowledge in the area of developing medicines from marine organisms for various diseases.


Among the research facilities of the CMFRI, the scanning electron microscope that produces images of a sample in higher resolution that is 10-lakh fold is expected to draw the attention of visitors.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – February 04th, 2019

A woman bids to conquer the Agasthyarkoodam hill for the first time

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The first batch of trekkers about to climb the Agasthyarkoodam peak on Monday. The first woman ever to undertake the trek can be seen.  

K. Dhanya Sanal, 38, a spokesperson of the Defence Ministry in Thiruvananthapuram, created a record of sorts on Monday when she became the first woman trekker to commence a testing hike up the 1,868-metre Agasthyarkoodam hill, following the recent lifting of a ban that prevented women from trekking beyond Athirumala.

Ms. Dhanya, an avid trekker, said it was her dream to go on the 26-km steep trek up the forest. “I’ve gone on treks across the country, but this remained an unfulfilled wish. When the court lifted the ban, I decided to apply for a pass,” she told mediapersons, adding that she respected the custom of the Kani tribe and did not intend to disturb their practices.

It was after a three-year-long legal battle that the High Court ruled in favour of women’s groups campaigning for gender equality. In its order, the court observed that the rights of the tribes or the traditional forest dwellers cannot work against the fundamental rights of the petitioners and other women to participate in the trek.

Earlier attempt

An attempt made by 51 women and transgenders to scale the peak with the permission of the Forest Department in 2017 proved futile since the Adivasi Mahasabha, an umbrella organisation of tribal groups, moved the High Court and obtained a stay order. In the wake of the recent verdict, 100 women are among the 4,700 people who have registered to undertake the trek during the 47-day season that will culminate on March 1.

The second highest peak in Kerala ,  Agasthyarkoodam is believed to be the resting abode of sage Agasthya Muni, a celibate, as the legend goes. While the Kani tribe has proclaimed that they will adhere to the court verdict, over 100 people who represent the 27 settlements in the region staged a protest near the forest picket station at Bonacaud, from where the trekkers commenced their journey on Monday. They sang folk songs and offered prayers during the ‘Agasthyarkooda Gothra Achara Samrakshana Yajnam’ to preserve tribal custom.

Tribes’ version

Adivasi Mahasabha State president Mohanan Triveni, also the president of the Agasthyarkoodam Temple Kanikkar Trust, which has been spearheading the cause of the tribespeople in the region, said they would seek a legal recourse. “We have documents to prove that the erstwhile royal family had given possession over the land that has come to be known as the Agasthyamala reserve to the Kani tribe,” he said.

He also lamented that opening up the region to trekkers would harm the ecologically fragile region, a part of the UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Sarath Babu George / Thiruvananthapuram – January 15th, 2019

History to chug into Kochi at full steam

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The locomotive EIR-21 used to transport troops during the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857.  

Country’s oldest working locomotive to ferry tourists via country’s second-largest overbridge

The country’s oldest working steam locomotive, one which was used to transport troops during the Great Indian Mutiny of 1857, is all set to chug into Kochi, to ferry heritage enthusiasts and tourists to Vallarpadam island.

EIR-21, the steam locomotive, dates back to 1855 and in Kochi it will, in all likelihood, traverse the country’s second-longest railway overbridge.

“A movement plan will be finalised within a week. The vintage loco is most likely to operate in the Edappally-Vallarpadam route, providing passengers a scenic view of the Vembanad backwaters. The view will especially be spectacular when the train passes through the 4.62-km bridge,” said Harikrishnan, Ernakulam station director and area manager of Southern Railway.

The bridge and the entire 9-km rail route to Vallarpadam are grossly underutilised and only two container-laden trains use the corridor every month.

The steam loco rake is currently operating in the Madurai Railway Division.

In 10 days

The rake will arrive in Kochi in about 10 days. A proposal to enter into tie-ups with operators of cruise ships that call at Kochi to enable high-end globetrotters to travel on the train is yet to materialise.

Railway sources said that a skilled loco pilot would accompany the locomotive and be based here till the rake left for another railway division in a few months.

The fare for the train is yet to be finalised.

“An alternative route for the heritage train is between the Cochin Harbour terminus, a heritage railway station on Wellington Island, and Ernakulam Junction, through the newly built Venduruthy railway overbridge, which too overlooks the backwaters. Though it will not halt at any station in either route, passengers can relish every moment of the journey,” Mr. Harikrishnan said.

Built by Kitson Thompson and Hewitson Leeds in London, the EIR 21 loco was shipped to India in 1855 for use by the erstwhile East Indian Railway.

EIR 21, along with her sister train Fairy Queen (EIR 22), was used for troop movement in 1857.

Back from museum

After over five decades in service, it was withdrawn from regular service and displayed at railway museums. It was later overhauled and retrofitted with modern gadgets at Perambur Loco Works in Chennai.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by John L. Paul / Kochi – January 07th, 2019

Now, Noolpuzha health centre reaches out to elderly patients

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The lithium-powered e-rickshaw procured by the Noolpuzha Family Health Centre.

To operate electric rickshaw for senior citizens, women, tribespeople

After setting a benchmark in the rural healthcare sector of the country by securing the first position in the National Quality Assurance Certification (NQAC) process a few weeks ago, the Noolpuzha Family Health Centre (FHC) in Wayanad is preparing to launch an innovative project to lend a helping hand to elderly patients in the grama panchayat.

The FHC plans to arrange free transportation facilities for senior citizens, women and tribespeople residing within 5-km radius of the hospital using a lithium-powered electric rickshaw, a first such project in the public health care sector of the State.

The hospital authorities have procured the e-rickshaw at a cost of ₹2 lakh and all work including customisation and registration of the vehicle has been completed.

“As Noolpuzha grama panchayat is the second largest tribal populated grama panchayat in the State, we hope the project will be of great help to the poor people in the grama panchayat,” V.P. Dahar Mohammed, medical officer at the hospital, told The Hindu. The panchayat has provided ₹1.75 crore from its plan fund for the all-round development of the hospital over the past three years, including the cost of the e-rickshaw.

“We are planning to utilize the service of the hospital driver to operate the vehicle till we find an alternative. During an emergency, the vehicle will be provided to the public also. The vehicle will run 85 km with a single charge and it will start operation by November-end,” said the medical officer.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by E.M. Manoj / Kalpetta – November 18th, 2018

Burial urn of Megalithic era unearthed

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A burial urn unearthed at Hydermettu, near Nedumkandam in Idukki district, is believed to be the largest one found in the region.

Largest urn unearthed so far is indicator of a culturally-oriented society

A huge burial urn dating back to the Megalithic era that was unearthed while clearing a private road to a house at Hydermettu, near Nedumkandam, recently is believed to be one of the major findings that would shed light on life in the pre-historic era on the western side of the Western Ghats.

The urn is said to be the largest one unearthed from the region so far. It is 3-ft wide at its mouth and its shape is a variant of other ones explorated in the district. Moreover, there are art works on it — a pointer to the cultural awareness of a society that belonged to the pre-historic period.

A large number of burial urns have been unearthed from Ramakkalmedu, Mundieruma and Puzhpakandam nearby in the recent past. However, they were comparatively small in size and do not have notable decorative works, said V.M. Safeer, Head, Department of History, MES College, Nedumkandam.

Mr. Safeer said the burial urns unearthed from the region belonged to 1,00 BCE and 500 BCE. Some of the urns have remains of iron weapons and pieces of bones. “Their period can be known only through carbon dating,” he said adding that some might be aged only a few hundred years.

Valuable evidence

The importance is that the findings in the hinterland of the erstwhile Muziris port is valuable evidence of a culturally-oriented society. The new finding is on the hill area bordering Tamil Nadu and believed to be linked to a settled life there. Burial urns, dolmen and hero stones are spread over a large area on the western side of the Western Ghats

Though individual studies were conducted in the past, specific studies and research are needed to throw light on the importance of these historical remains, he added.

Kerala Council for Historical Research chairman P.K. Michael Tharakan told The Hindu on Sunday that small-sized burial urns were unearthed from different areas in the State. However, it needed a study connected to the other ones unearthed in the region. It pointed to the need for a surface exploration there. On the basis of the evidence, further explorations could be taken up and it may lead to valuable conclusions with regard to the lengthy history of human habitation in the district. The Archaeological Department was undertaking excavations at historically important sites, he said adding that the district, especially the Anchunadu valley, was a treasure trove for historical studies.

At present, the KCHR was on a project to explore the historic importance of Kottappuram, he said adding that the High Range area on the Western Ghats needs a comprehensive exploration of its past. It was also the hinterland for moving hill produce to Muziris port and had a civilised society from the early period.

source:  http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Giji K. Raman / Idukki – November 11th, 2018