An incomplete replica of the historic Sanchi Stupa welcomes visitors at Thasrak, the scenic village in the district that formed the setting of O.V. Vijayan’s magnum opus Khasakinte Ithihasam (Legends of Khasak). Four years ago, work on the welcome arch came to a halt, due to paucity of funds. Now the arch looks more like an eyesore than a tribute to the iconic writer.
In the village, the famed Njattupura, a building that was used to store paddy and agricultural implements, where the novel’s protagonist Ravi taught children, has turned a victim of the much-hyped renovation works.
Renovation has done more harm than good to the more-than-a-century-old building, which was a temporary shelter for the writer during the later half of the 1950s and early 1960s. He later made it an integral part of the novel. “Thasrak inspired the literary genius in Vijayan when he stayed here along with his sister. Many people reach the village every day to see the Njattupura. The renovation that splurged several lakh from State exchequer has only helped the building lose its original character,” said N. Muhammed, a local resident.
Rs.52.7 lakh spent
The Department of Culture, during the tenure of the previous UDF government, had spent Rs.52.7 lakh for work on the Njattupura alone. It had also initiated a Rs.97-lakh project to set up a cultural complex comprising a community hall, library, and reading room, behind the Njattupura. The then Culture Minister K.C. Joseph inaugurated the cultural complex on March 5 this year despite the building remaining incomplete. Now cattle graze on the premises of the half-finished building.
Arabikulam, a pond that finds a mention in the novel, retains its original character as its renovation was planned only in the second phase. “Painful is the way the State is treating the 140 granite pieces on which six sculptors had carved the characters of Khasakhinte Ithihasam . They are lying scattered inside the building complex,” says writer V.H. Nishad.
