Items noted from the “City Express” section of “The New Indian Express”,
Kochi Edition, Dated 21 July 2014
by Dr. R. Narayanaswami on January 26, 2015
(With courtesy and kind permission of the “New Indian Express” management for re-production of this news item about Tripunithura from its 21 July 2014 Kochi Edition into the writer’s blog, for the sole benefit of readers of the blog without any monetary benefit to the blog-developer.)
Tripunithura is known by various names – the Temple Town because there are many temples with frescoes (paintings executed on plaster) on Hindu mythology; Known as the Princely Town because the seat of the Kochi Maharaja’s Palace, known as the Hill Palace, was located about 3 km from the center of Tripunithura; Known as the Cultural town because it has a rich Cultural Heritage of Kerala. The RLV College of Music (devoted to teaching of classical Carnatic Music and other artistic pursuits), The Sanskrit College, established in 1914, and the Ayurveda College are located in Tripunithura, a rare combination of arts, language and health traditions original to the Dharmic Traditions. The Sanskrit College is a treasure house of manuscripts on various topics including some of the rare and classical works. It has various versions of classics like Mahabharatha and Ramayana and the famous literary works of Kalidasa, Bhasa and Adi Sankaracharya and Kulasekhara. The Ayurveda College is one of two State Colleges (the other college is in Trivandrum) that cater to degrees in Ayurvedic ways of healing. The only ‘women’s Kathakali club’ is located here and conducts performances. The State’s first International Centre for Koodiyattom (a form of dance on similar lines but with distinct differences with, Mohin Attom and Kathakali) is located here. The Mahatma Gandhi Reading Room and Library takes its roots to pre-independence time. It has held landmark events including welcoming Mahatma Gandhi and Rajendra Prasad. The library is linked to the development of intellectual fraternity in the area. Protests against the British were organized here. The largest archaeological museum of the State is the Tripunithura Hill Palace, which was the seat of the former Kochi Maharaja. The 900-year old Poornathrayeesha temple was once the nerve centre of cultural, art and social movements in Tripunithura. The famous ‘Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple’ is located about 5 kilometers from Tripunithura.
(Dr. R. Narayanaswami is a native of Tripunithura, studied at the Tripunithura Girl’s High School (for grades 1 and 2), and at the Tripunithura Boys’ High School (from grade 3 to S. S. L. C), at the Ernakulam Maharaja’s College for Intermediate and at the College of Engineering, Trivandrum for his Engineering Degree. With M. Tech degree from I. I. T. Chennai and Ph. D. from Texas tech University, he presently lives in USA but has a home in Tripunithura where he spends few weeks every year).