The Hindu : 20 buildings to be notified

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 07, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

20 buildings to be notified

By T. Nandakumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Feb. 6. The Government is preparing to notify 20 heritage buildings within the Fort area in the city as protected monuments, under a major initiative to preserve the remnants of a rich cultural history.

Late last year, the Cultural Affairs Department had prepared a list of the heritage structures to be taken up for preservation. The department is in the last stage of approving the final notification, it is learnt.

Most of the listed monuments are century-old structures representing the characteristic architecture of different periods and the history of the Travancore era. A couple of buildings are over 200 years old.

These include the Kuthira Malika with massive pillars reflecting the Ionic and Corinthean styles of architecture and the Vadakke Nambi Madhom, residence of the priests at the Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple.

The documented buildings include the Rengavilasam, Sundaravilasam, Krishnavilasom and Anandavilasam palaces. The 150- year-old Rengavilasom Palace, now on lease to the KSRTC, is a two-storied mansion with an exquisite wooden ceiling while the Sundaravilasom Palace was the residence of women of the Travancore royal family.

A number of buildings in the list are steeped in history. The Chellamvaka building which housed the Royal Treasury, the Nityachelavu Bungalow where palace accounts were maintained, the Koppupura once used for storing the dress and materials used by cultural performers, the Ramana Madom named after Ramanamadathil Pillai, one of the Ettuveettilpillais, the Thevarapuram which was the residence of the seniormost Rani and the Pushpanjali Swamiyar Madom, which was the residence of the chief priest of the Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple, are among the other buildings to be notified.

The notification will be a follow-up to the Fort renovation project taken up by the Archaeology Department.

The unprecedented construction boom in the city had resulted in the mindless destruction of a large number of ancestral buildings in the city. Several families were forced to sell off their traditional houses while the lure of big money offered by real estate developers and builders tempted many others to trade ancestral property.

In 2000, the Government identified the Fort area and the Agraharam at Karamana as heritage zones in the capital city, but the decision had little impact in the absence of any legislation for long-term conservation and the failure to commit local bodies to the effort.

The Archaeology Director, V. Manmadhan Nair, said the notification would not prevent the owners from residing in the buildings.

"They will be exempted from house tax, but any modification or repair will need prior permission from the Government. The department will undertake all the preservation works'', he added.

The Government is simultaneously working on a proposal to enforce building regulations in heritage zones. The Art and Heritage Commission will prepare a State-wide inventory of heritage zones in the State and evolve a model plan with strict regulations to ensure architectural harmony within these areas.

The priority works in the city identified for the commission include the renovation of the Golf Club pavilion and construction of a heritage village at Kovalam.

The preservation of the M.M. Church near the Museum is another major work to be taken up.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

Stories in this Section

GH cardiology block project hangs fire

Building worker killed in mud collapse

20 buildings to be notified

Attukal Pongala festival begins on Feb. 9