The Hindu : Vignettes of a regal past

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 18, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram

Vignettes of a regal past

By G. Mahadevan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM APRIL 17. They are the vignettes of a regal past, half-hidden from the public eye.

The issues of the monthly `Travancore Information' journal brought out by the State Government of erstwhile Travancore kept in the Kerala Studies Section of the University Library, while not known to many scholars, are being seen as a veritable goldmine of information for those doing research on Travancore history. The Library has the volumes published in the period from 1941 to 1949.

Published by the Department of Information of the Government of Travancore, the journal makes for interesting reading and viewing right from the cover page. If in one issue of the journal dated 1943, the cover page sports a picture of the Aruvikkara dam, another issue has on its cover a picture of fisherfolk at Kovalam beach. Inside each issue there are pictures showing important landmarks such as the Secretariat, the Kowdiar palace, the Vallakadavu boat jetty and the Aluva canal as they were in the 1940s. One issue even has an advertisement exhorting tourists to visit Travancore to enjoy the pristine beauty of the Kovalam beach.

Each issue of the Journal contains articles pertaining to the social, cultural, economic and religious aspects of life in Travancore. Invariably every issue of the journal starts off with either an article of the reproduction of a speech on an issue of current importance by the then Dewan, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer. Each of the articles written have the bylines of top experts of the day on those subjects. For instance, it is the then Agricultural Production Commissioner of `India' who has written on rubber cultivation, in one issue.

The rise of tapioca cultivation to counter shortfalls in paddy, the then debates on the role of higher education and the role of the Travancore University in particular, the entry made by Bajra crop into Travancore, fine points of trade between Travancore and other princely States, little known aspects of the hoary past of Travancore... all these find a place in issue after issue of the Travancore Information.

There have been suggestions that books in the Kerala Studies section such as `Travancore Information' which are reportedly a unique collection of the University Library be preserved in a better fashion so they can be taken out of the present `closed reference' and be made available for circulation.

Some scholars have even requested the Library to convert these priceless volumes into microfilm so that the hard copies are not degraded further by repeated usage.

However the Library, hard pressed as it is for funds, has no plans for any major preservation drive now.

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