Naan ippol Keralail aanu

Colorful lights hung from trees in the Napier Museum Rd

The group had arrived in the early morning. I woke up to have a savory South Indian breakfast with idli, sambhar and coconut chutney. With happy tummies we left the hotel for our orientation program. Nichole introduced us to the unique cultures and social norms of Kerala. She is the India Programs Coordinator at CET Academic Programs and has lived in parts of India for a few years now. Mrs. Bindu, one of our instructors gave us a Malayalam language crash course. She wore a silk saree and was very patient with us; reminded me much of my mother. We also met Riby Mathew, an urban planner and an architect, and Alif Dinar, a young architect from Kerala. After the orientation session Alif guided us through the urban parts of the city.

We had a heritage walk through Mahatma Gandhi Rd till Napier Museum Rd. The area is very similar to the central part of Kathmandu with administrative buildings, sports stadium, public educational institutions, heritage and religious buildings, local shops, open grounds and public parks. In fact, even the downtown of Iowa City is composed of the same elements, but the ambience is very different from that of Thiruvananthapuram’s and Kathmandu’s core areas. Firstly, the population density in Iowa City is very less when compared to Thiruvananthapuram’s and the settlement in Iowa City is spread out while here it is compact with mixed use buildings. Secondly, the streets in Iowa City are cleaner without dangling wires, banners and traffic horns, contrasting those of Thiruvananthapuram’s. Thirdly, the religious institutions in Iowa City don’t have a diversity while Thiruvananthapuram has much diverse religious structures – temples, churches and mosques; they are more diverse than Kathmandu as well. Kathmandu has a mix of religious structures, but number of temples are more than that of churches or mosques. The temples in Kathmandu can be bigger than the temples here though, which might have been because of the Hindu majority population.

A beautiful cityscape with a temple, a church and a mosque from the premise of Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium

St. Joseph;s Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral Palayam with a religious column, unique to a church

Palayam Juma Masjid

Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium

EMS Park

A beautiful mural on the walls of Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium

We went to the Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium, which was open to the public as there were no events going on at the time. It’s a small stadium and there’s a bigger one right across the street. We got a very nice view of the city landscape, with Palayam Juma Masjid, St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral Palayam and a temple in the frame, showing the beautiful amalgamated diversity of the city. The stadium served as a much needed public space, and lot of youngsters could be seen in groups in the steps of the buildings chitchatting and sharing laughter. Although there’s EMS Park right beside the stadium, people were roaming through the insides of the stadiums and not in the park. It seemed like small pockets of public spaces that people actually preferred were missing in the city.

The old building of College of Fine Arts Kerala

A concrete sculpture in the premise of College of Fine Arts Kerala

Interior of the new building of College of Fine Arts Kerala

Museum Radio Mandapam in Napier Museum Complex

Napier Museum Building

Stone sculpture of a crying lion at Napier Museum

We went to visit the College of Fine Arts Kerala, which has beautiful metal, wooden, clay and even concrete sculptures by students throughout it’s outdoor and indoor premises. After this we strolled towards Napier Museum and got to see the beautiful Museum Radio Mandapam and the museum building itself. There were beautiful stone sculptures in the museum. In fact, I noticed beautiful stone sculptures in very typical streets on residences’ gateways in this city.

We ended our walk for the day right outside the museum, where beautiful colorful vibrant lights hanging from the tropical trees welcomed us to the city. Walking through the closely-knitted community of Trivandrum, experiencing the uniqueness was the best I could ask for today. Here’s a video of the musical city of Trivandrum.

Thank you Alif!

Namaskaaram!