TRIVANDRUM 4 PATTOM AND KESAVA DASA PURAM
Dear friends, On those days we could see thebeginning of Trivandrum city from Kesavadapuram, Pattom, PMG ,Palayam, statue and Thampanoor. Now the citydevelopments are from Mannathala itself. I think Alwaye is the only otherplace where the Railway station and Bus stand are so close like Trivandrum.Even at Bangalore it is little more away. My nostalgic memories of Trivandrumcontinue in this posting. Sincerely, Gopala Krishnan 23-4-2012 Reposted after editing and updating on 4-6-2021.R.Gopala Krishnan 1. Kesava dasa puram. The MG college of NSS where Icould not join for post graduation is first nostalgic memory. In spite of assurance of a scholarship fromTravancore Devaswam board due to other financial constraints at that time Icould not join . Later only thinking of Diwan Keasavadascoming to me. He was called RajaKesavadas and Diwan withDharmaraja. Another nostalgic memory is ofthe State bank of India, with credit card section associated because, I knewpersonal banking first time there. Before that personal banking concept in bankwas not known to me. Really such staff, and very sincere and personal behaviourfrom the state bank staff- really worth praising. The credit cards were justgetting introduced, not having swiping facility with most establishments andthe credit card was used to GETMONEY. Varification was done through service centre at Bangalore,bank staff and client. Today I cannot imagine such a system with plastic. Itwas some where in 1998. Kesavadasa puram was having theservice centre for SONY. Still I recollect taking my VCR for servicing there inautos. Today almost the cassette and VCR are phased out. Kesavadasa puram is the junction of the statehighway to Kottayam and National highway to Quilon. Before leaving Kesavadasapuram,let me include information about Rasichakaram in soorya TV. It is presented bySri Krishna Kumar, Asst professor in MGCollege. This information I could get from a recent program in Asianet TVchannel. For those interested I have addeda bit of information on Raja Kesavadas in the end which was quite new to me onreading . 2.Pattom In fact the first time the KSRTC bus stopped at Pattom during myvisit to Trivandrum in 1960’s- Then only I knew Pattom is a place near to Trivandrum and the famous Chief Minister Thanu pillai belongedto the Pattom. 3. Kowdiar The royal residence is at Kowdiarand always kowdiar and surrounds gave an aristocratic look. The first time I found a shopping complex wasat Kowdiar. Many shops in a building with three floors. 4. Poojappura The poojappura is having a bigcompound and a temple in the back. SARASAWTHI pooja was conducted there by thekings and hence the name. This place was once used as theworship place during the Navaratri festival season. The name Poojappura comesfrom the fact that it was here that the King of Travancore used to arriveduring Mahanavami celebrations for the pooja(worship). There is biggest KavadiProcession on Vijayadeshami day with over 700 Kavadis, Paravakavadi,Suryakavadi, Mayilkavadi, Agnikavadi etc. The kavadi procession gives a linkwith Tamilnadu. 5. Karamana and Kaimanam Before going over to Trivandrum,I was never knowing a place by name Kaimanam, I used to think instead ofkaramana, people say kaimanam. One of the crowded habitations ofBrahmins is at Karamana, we are having agraharam type of homes. Though I have been in Kaimanam, Iwould come to Karamana and performedupakarmama in the Karamana river offeringarghyam. I have not taken bath in the river, even though I was getting karamanariver water pumped to our flats throughwater taps!! Now too we have some sort ofarrangements for obsequities at Karamana, though they are not all to standards.But something is better than nothing. In one of my earlier postings Ihad mentioned I would write about late Viswanatha vadhyar. He was my familyvadhyar for 13 years a reasonable, understanding and knowledgeable person. Ihave much regards to him. He was an appreciator of my knowledge insamskaras and astrology. 6. Kaimanam At kaimanam we are having apretty old Mahavishnutemple by the karamana river side. I am not sure whether itcomes in the divya desam list. Though thetemple complex was slightly smaller, it was a crowded temple specially onfestive days. On auspicious and important days I used to visit this temple. 6a Residential complex BSNL The speciality with theresidential complex was, it was a fully known each other complex. No body was notfamiliar to any other and there was all round friendship and cooperation. In fact the hostel helped us more-whenever emergency was there we could get food and tiffin taking token andintimating in time. Having lesser good hotels near, it helped much. I had been a member of Pappanamcode Brahmanasamajam. In fact an evening walk to Pappanamcode, purchases and return was myhabit during my tenure in training centre on holidays. Many of my writings on samskaras including Gaya srardha waspublished in Brahma desam Kaimanam telecom quarters was myresidence for long 13 years and rather than quarters it was felt own house,since all deductions were automatically done by the department. 7 Attukal and Tiruvallam No posting on Trivandrum iscomplete with out mentioning of Attukal Bhagavathi. The idol is made of jackwood. Pongala is famous and it is told sabarimalai for women. Tiruvallam is the temple forParasurama and famous for karkitaka vavu Balitharpanam by Hindu communitiesother than Brahmins. 8 Appam mootal Ganapathi Behind the Padmanabha swamytemple there is a road going to airport. On the opposite side there is a famousGanapathi temple. Appam mootal is an offering there for accomplishing things done. 8a Vikas Bhavan anjaneyar A famous anjaneyar temple at PMG Junction 9. Raja kesavados Raja Kesavadas (1745-1799 was theDewan of Travancore during the reign of Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal RamaVarma . 9a Early years He was born Raman Kesavan Pillai,nephew of Raman Pillai, in a small hamlet called Kunnattoor, at theKeertimangalam House on March 17, 1745 A.D. in Travancore. Amongst the Nair community whofollowed matrilineal system, it was the uncle's name which was used a prefix.Although he did not get receive a formal education, through his formidabletalent, he was employed by a local merchant Poku Moosa Marackar as a tallyclerk. 7b in Royal Service He impressed the King with hisbehaviour during a visit of the Marackar to the Palace. The king gave him a jobin his administrative staff. Kesava Pillai climbed the lower rungs of the official ladder and in1789 he was appointed as the Dewan of Travancore. He was given the title Rajah bythe British Governor Mornington, in appreciation of his administrative talents. It is said that out of humilityhe linked his name with the word Dasan (servant) and liked to be called RajahDasan (servant of the King), but the name Raja Kesavadas stuck. 9c Victory over Tipu Sultan It was under Rajah Keshavadas'sdirect command a comparatively small army humbled and defeated the invadingarmy of Tipu Sultan near the Nedumkotta. 9d Contribution to trade and Commerce He is considered as the chiefarchitect of Alapuzha town. The area which Alapuzha now occupies was once acoastal area which was uninhabited and filled with large weeded plants. Hefound Alapuzha to be a good location for a port. He constructed two parallelcanals for bringing goods to the port. Raja Kesavadas offeredinfrastructural facilities to merchants and traders from Surat, Mumbai andKachchh to start industrial enterprises, trading and cargo centres. Alappuzhaattained progress and became the financial nerve centre of Travancore duringhis time. He also constructed the MainCentral Road (now State Highway No.1) from Thiruvananthapuram to Karukutty,near Angamaly which is still the main road in the hinterland areas of Kerala.This SH1 passes through my native. The originating junction of thisroad - Kesavadasapuram - is derived from his name. 9e Last years The continuous threat of attackfrom the Tipu Sultan had made him request the King to request for British help.This request for help finally allowed the British to have control on thekingdom and later led to installation of a Resident under British rule(although this happened after his death). His tenure of Diwan ended withdemise of Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal in 1798. Balarama Varma, his successoraged sixteen became the crown prince. Rajah Kesavadas was proclaimed as a traitor and kept under house arrest. Laterhis family assets were confiscated and he was poisoned to death on 21 April1799. 10 KSRTC The KSRIC building newlyconstructed would make everybody wonder- Such a building for transport station.The information on 3-6-2021 is the regional offices working there would beshifted to another place and a supermarket is coming there. 11 Railway station Earlier only few platforms werethere. A co passenger came with me wondered in 1991 looking at Trivandrumcentral- So small. Now with more platforms and a back gate, with escalators inplatforms it has become very large. The vegetarian restaurant at Trivandrum centralwould always crowded. Nostalgic memories of Trivandrum I am concluding here, though much more arethere to write. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Thatha_Patty" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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