Kerala - Kannur   

On a history trip with books, models

KANNUR: A history exhibition held here from Saturday to Tuesday had been a big draw. Children queued up to see the books and exhibits at the Indoor Stadium of Kannur University on all three days of the main event, the Indian History Congress, which started on Sunday on the same Mangattuparamba campus.

At least 5,000 school students up to the higher secondary level visited till Tuesday afternoon, an organiser said.

Books and journals, mostly history-related, were on display. The Indian Council of Historical Research exhibited 170 books in various languages, 310 journals in English and 33 journals in Hindi.

“We have done sales of up to Rs.20,000 by Tuesday afternoon,” said a spokesperson.

The Bangalore-based Southern Regional Centre of the council arranged a pictorial representation of the 1857 uprising.

DC Books, TBS, Athulya and Cosmos Books, publishers, displayed books, most of them concerning history. A DC Books spokesperson said A Survey of Kerala History (English) and Kerala History (Malayalam) by A. Sreedhara Menon had many takers. Kannur Kotta by Balakrishnan also became a popular title.

A few books on vegetable cultivation by the State Institute of Languages were an instant hit. The Travancore Archaeological Series by T.A. Gopinatha Rao was another fast-moving title.

The books of the Kerala Council of Historical Research such as Cultural Formation, A Descriptive Memoir of Malabar and William Logan’s Malabar Manual were much sought after. The sales ran to more than Rs.25,000, said a spokesman of the council.

K.K. Chandran from Vadakara brought alive nation-builders, spiritual leaders and former Presidents and Prime Ministers on black velvet, etching out the figures with deftly twisted aluminium wires.

Among the other displays was one giving facts about the recent Pattanam excavations. Jenson P. Thomas of Payyannur came up with his collections of coins and currencies of various countries.

The Government College, Kasaragod, exhibited a piece of wood found to be 50,000 years old through carbon-dating.

T. Pavithran came up with a photo exhibition titled “North Kerala: A look into its past.” M.C. Vasisht, faculty member of Malabar Christian College, exhibited documents on north Kerala and its leaders.

A major attraction of the exhibition was a display of models that reflected the changing dress styles in the State. The Archives Department displayed photographs of heritage buildings and historical records.

Farah Khan, a Ph.D. student in fine arts from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, is sad that her eight paintings did not arrive for the exhibition. She had arranged to send a parcel of her paintings by train from New Delhi. When she went to enquire about it on December 24, railway authorities at New Delhi said the parcel would arrive on another train. She had been making enquiries at the Kannur Railway Station for days together, but did not get her paintings back. She had lodged a complaint with the railway authorities here.

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