A 100 years old school sustains the memory of Sree Moolam Thirunal Maharaja

Sixty-three years have passed since India attained Independence and the Native States and the Maharajas faded into history. But some of them are still remembered. One such king is Sree Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma, the second last Maharaja of the former Travancore State.

This is a painting of the Maharaja by the world famous painter

Raja Ravi Varma.

Travancore Flag.

Sree Moolam Thirunal succeeded his uncle Visakham Thirunal in 1885. He ruled Travancore from 1885 till his death in 1924. During his reign he introduced many reforms that benefited his people. These included even bus services (the first in any Native State) and insurance.  

But the most remarkable development during the Sree Moolam regime was the establishment of the Travancore Legislative Council, in 1888. In fact Travancore was the first Indian State to take this progressive step. Later the name of the Legislature was changed to Sree Moolam Popular Assembly, with elected members also from 1905.

 

One of the members of the Popular Assembly was Ayanat Parayil Kunjavira Tharakan of Thycattussarry on the Pallippuram Island near Cherthala. He was a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory (KSG), a Papal honour which the British Protocol and therefore the Native States accepted.

Tharakan was a remarkable person, one of the most outstanding members in the long history of the Parayil Family. The family background, social status, visionary qualities, popular support and financial eminence automatically made him a leader in any venture that he involved himself.

And there were many noble projects that he took on. Each one was meticulously worked out and meant to benefit the people of Thycattussarry and nearby areas. These include the Poochakkal Canal, Cooperate Society, hospital, famine relief measures and so on.

But the most important achievement of Kunjavira Tharakan, in my opinion, was establishing an English School. It was accomplished during the 25^th year of the rule of Sree Moolam Thirunal and was appropriately named Sree Moolam Silver Jubilee English School.

But Tharakan’s dream of converting it into a High School had to wait for a few decades. After his death in 1938 his son PK Hormis Tharakan took over the management of SMSJ School. The necessary permission was obtained in due course and the people of Thycattussarry could boast of a new achievement when the institution was elevated to a High School in 1949. The first Headmaster was Sree Rajaraja Varma Thampan.

This photo of one of the buildings in the school complex is by Ebby Tharakan. For a well marked comprehensive view of the school and surroundings please see

http://wikimapia.org/1531018/S-M-S-J-HIGH-SCHOOL

PK Hormis Tharakan effectively managed the school for about 50 years. In his old age he handed over the responsibility to the St. Antony’s Church Thycattussarry. But that was not meant to affect the secular character which had been the hallmark of SMSJ School.

As far back as 1925 the Vatican wanted to check what the Catholic managed school in a far off corner of India was doing for the Church. A questionnaire was sent to Kunjavira Tharakan through the Archbishop of Ernakulam. Tharakan’s reply makes interesting reading: out of 139 students, only 36 were Catholics, and there was only one Catholic among the nine teachers.

The other questions and answers:

Q: “What is being done to announce our Lord to non-Christians?”

A: “Nothing.”

Q: “Are prayers said before and after classes?”

A: “No.”

Q: “Is there the image of the Crucifix or other religious symbols in the school rooms?”

A: “No.”

Q: “How many conversions among pagans, Protestants or schismatics have taken place in the ten last years?”

A: “None.”

These details are quoted from PROFILES OF PARAYIL THARAKANS (pp.143) by Dr. PK Mathew Tharakan, Professor Emeritus, University of Antwerp. He was in the first High School batch from SMSJ School.

Remarkably, all along SMSJ has been and is a people’s school where caste and creed do not matter. Rich boys and poor boys have passed through the portals of this great institution. Many of them have done well in life. You can see them in different parts of the world.

I came across a blog titled Koottunkal obviously owned by a former student of SMSJ. His article about the Mid-day Meal Programme of the 1970s is touching. Please read it at http://www.koottunkal.com/2007/10/mid-day-meal-programme-of-1970s.html There were so many students who could not afford lunch.

This takes me back to the book mentioned above. Page 145 quotes a letter dated 14^th July, 1919 from Asst. Inspector of Rural Schools to Kunjavira Tharakan “… the attendance on the day of inspection was only 4…. One chief reason for this low attendance is the extreme poverty of the pupils who are unable to satisfy their stomach even once a day. Even out of the 4 pupils present, 2 had complete starvation for the day.”

Tharakan did not offer to feed the starving students. Instead, he provided them light part time jobs outside school hours so that they could buy food with the pay. We know that in the modern times countless Indian students have been managing to study abroad with income from part time work.

I passed out from SMSJ School before it was elevated to the higher level. The teachers during my time were committed people. The same I believe is true of those who followed. But I must specially mention Mr. CJ Sebastian who was the last Headmaster of the Middle School.   

Once I heard him ask  ‘One can take the horse to the pond but how to make him drink?’ That was about me. Actually I was not too bad in school. But Mr. Sebastian wanted more out of me, particularly in English. Whatever capabilities I have in that language have come from this gentleman teacher. Sir, thank you.

Big plans are on for the centenary celebrations which would start with a meeting today (February 20), and last for one year. It would be a people’s affair though there is a committee to coordinate the activities. Fr. Sebastian Palatti is the Chairman and the present Headmaster Mr. K Paul Joseph the General Convener.

His Excellency Thomas Chakyath, Bishop of Angamally-Ernakulam will be presiding over today’s meeting. Central Ministers Sri Vayalar Ravi and Sri KC Venugopal, Vice Chancellor of the Kannur University Dr. PK Michael Tharakan (a former student), Mr. Zacharias Keezhanjili and others are expected to address the gathering.

Quite appropriately, PH Paul Tharakan, grandson of the founder of the school, Kunjavira Tharakan, had informed the Travancore Royal Family about the event. The response received, signed by ‘Sree Padmanabhadasa Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma', the current Head of the Royal Family, will be read out at the meeting.

Related posts:

The last of the Travancore Maharajas

A Princess leaves her land

Be Clannish, have Family Meets

You might be aware of the clans of Scotland. I shall deal with that briefly elsewhere in this post. But what prompted me to write this is receiving recently a memento from the Parayil Family to which I belong. The inscription on it says that I am “an inspiration to the Parayil Meets”. It was a very touching occasion for me.

A photo of the souvenir is given below:

All that I did was to suggest ten years back that all family members should try and meet together once a year. The others took it up and have been organizing the Parayil Meet (Kudumbayogam) on a grand scale all these years. The event is normally held in one of our heritage homes on the second Saturday of the month of May. This year I could not attend the function. Therefore the souvenir was delivered to me in Chennai by a family member.

What made me propose such a meet was that with nuclear families living separately and people moving to far away places for work, members of the larger family hardly get a chance to meet each other. In my family unit for instance all the six of us (4 children) meeting together is a rare event.

This is far different from the time when the male members put up houses near the tharavad (ancestral home) and the married off girls came home for at least a part of the major holidays.

That was how it was when I was young. On Saturdays and Sundays the cousins would come home or we go to their houses. Later on, when I was in the boarding houses or hostels, the weekend meetings were only possible during long holidays.

In the last fifty years so much has changed. I was the first person from the Parayil Family to go for a job. That was in 1958, after six month management training in Bombay (Mumbai). Some people were shocked that a family member was to start working for someone. To them, the fact that my uncle Jose Kallivayalil was the Chairman of Ruby Rubber Works Ltd where I started my career did not make any difference.

But Appan.(my father) was a man of foresight. He knew that land limitation laws which would curtail the size of the holdings were on the anvil. He encouraged me to take up the job. My brothers followed suit and so did several cousins, in different fields. In the next generation, a job is almost compulsory. By God’s Grace, all of them have done well in their careers.

But the family became scattered. The members are in different parts of India, Singapore, Australia, Gulf, Europe, North America, and South America. That is all fine. But think of the children. Many of them lack proper awareness of their roots, can’t recognize even close relations, don’t realize that they have people who would stand by them, and are ignorant of their traditions and culture. During the short trips to Kerala once a year or so, it is not practical to meet everyone.

In our case we find that since the date of the family meet is pre-fixed, the members plan their holiday trips to coincide with it. And the meets are really fun, with kids to old people involving actively and enjoying themselves. Also, meaningful discussions take place.

I know of some other families too who have family meets. It would be good if more families organize such get together.

Scotland is the best example of the clan spirit. The world’s largest clan meeting was held in Edinburgh on July 25, 2009. One hundred of Scotland’s clan chiefs and representatives of clans from around the world attended.

Opening the convention the Duke of Rothesay said, "It seems to me that today's event represents the stirring meeting of Scotland's history and its living heritage." The Scottish First Minister’s comment was "Obviously the Homecoming year has a visitor aspect to it. But all of these people are celebrating their heritage and roots. These are deep roots and affinities that stretch back centuries. To mobilise that wonderful diaspora to make a contribution to the future of our country is a massive thing." (From BBC report.)

India can benefit too if family attachments are sustained. No politics, no religious exploitation. Just people of the same ancestry assembling and enjoying, and making plans to help each other and others outside the family who need assistance.

Heritage: Kerala High Court saves historic churches

Whichever religion one might belong to, nobody would deny that the many centuries old Twin Churches of Ramapuram, Kerala, are beautiful. And there is so much of history behind them.

The Church wanted to demolish them and build a new church. There were widespread protests including from this blog (Churches on demolition line.). Finally the Kerala Government declared them to be heritage structures and brought them under the control of Archaeology Department, thereby preventing demolition.

The Church appealed against this order to the Kerala High Court. Earlier this week the HC ruled in favour of the Government and all those believe that heritage monuments should be preserved. It is not known whether the Church will go for further appeals.

It is difficult to understand the Church policy of demolishing old structures. I don’t recall hearing about an ancient temple or mosque being razed to ground to build a new one. The money spent on new churches to replace old ones could be utilized more meaningfully.

Nearer my home, the 1791Thycattussarry Church (A historic church is no more.) has been renovated. See photos below:

Old structure.

After renovation.

A saving grace here is that the architect has managed to retain some of the ethos. But lost in the process are the ‘Mondalam’ (picture below),

and more sadly, the beautiful frescoes that adorned the inside of the old building.

The next structure in line for the Church bulldozers is the Parayil Family’s 1861private oratory at Velliara (picture below).

Naturally, we have objected.

Kerala architecture: Mansion of the Marquises

Padippura malika (gatehouse) front view.

Gatehouse side view.

Main house front view.

Main house side view.
Photos taken by me on October 18, 2008. Copyright reserved.
Click to enlarge.

Into this ettukettu were born the two Marquises, both brothers, of the Parayil Family - Avira Varkey Tharakan (1836-1905) K.C.S.S, K.C.S.G. and Hormis Tharakan (1842-1904) K.C.S.S., K.C.S.G.

It is Puthenveettil Parayil, the first of the Parayil Family houses at Ezhupunna. Even though nearly two centuries have passed since it was built, the house is still known as Puthenveettil (New House).

Another ettukettu was built for the younger brother, Hormis. Between the two mansions is the St. Raphael’s Church (1859).

This building is almost identical to the Velliara Parayil house shown in

A Kerala Tharavad.

Also see:

Kerala Architecture: Another Parayil heritage home

Appan.

PA Kochupappu Tharakan.

1903-1959.
Thekkanattu Parayil.

Appan was studying for the intermediate at The Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam (Cochin), and being groomed to write the Indian Civil Service examination in London, when his father, PM Avira Tharakan died. He was an only son and had to takeover the family responsibilities. We were landed gentry owning large areas of coconut plantations and paddy fields. He was also involved in business activities and along with my maternal uncle Jose A. Kallivayalil, was director of several companies.

Among the public Appan was known as ‘Gentleman’ Parayil (not that the other Parayils were un-gentlemanly). He was a voracious reader. He had fifteen children – eleven sons and four daughters. The first three, all boys, died early. I am the eldest surviving son.

Appan used to discuss with us many subjects including world affairs. It was from him that I first learned the concept of Provident Fund. While I was in high school, our workers were being paid 14 ‘chakrams’ per day while the outside rate was 15. (28 chakrams made 1 Travancore rupee; British rupee exchange was 28.5 chakrams.) I felt that we were being unfair to our workers and took up the matter with Appan.

He explained to me that when we held back one chakram of the worker, we were undertaking a great obligation. Whenever the man had a genuine need, like food, medical treatment, marriage of children etc. we were obligated to take care of it irrespective of whether his money held back by us would cover the expenses; there were no limits.

A couple of days before Appan died, we were discussing about progress. Great changes were taking place. A Communist government had been voted into power in the State. The land limitation programme that was being pushed by the leftists was sure to result in families like ours losing large areas.

Appan gave me a near perfect statement on progress: ‘Progress means a series of changes and adjustments.’ He had constantly imbibed into us the need to study well and obtain jobs. If he had gone through with the pursuit of ICS, he would have been the first in the Parayil Family to break away from the land bound tradition. As it happened, that honour came to me.

Appan lies buried in the family crypt in the cemetery chapel of St. Anthony’s Church, Thycattussarry, which was built by the Parayil Tharakans in 1791.

Ends.

Also see:

Oru Desathinte Amma.

The House That Grandfather Built.