Shoranur municipality’s plans to set up a memorial for Swami Vivekananda at the spot where he began his Kerala sojourn in 1892 has suffered a setback with the Roads Division of the Public Works Department (PWD) deciding not to allot the required land close to the old Cochin Bridge at Cheruthuruthy.
The decision of the PWD was conveyed to the municipal authorities on Thursday. The PWD said the land would be needed for the possible widening of the Shoranur-Thrissur State highway. The municipality was planning to set up the memorial in association with Sri Ramakrishna Math and the State government. Though the PWD had expressed its reluctance to part with the land even when the proposal was mooted two years ago, the final decision came on Thursday.
The proposed memorial, comprising a statue of the seer situated in a small garden near the bridge across the Bharathapuzha, was visualised by the municipality in consultation with the State government and the Sri Ramakrishna Math. The State government had allocated Rs.75 lakh for setting up the memorial and Kolkata-based artist Anil Ghosh had been entrusted with the task of designing the statue.
The municipality had approached the State government for the land saying that the chances of widening the road were remote.
“The memorial is a long-pending dream of the whole of Shoranur. Given the cultural and social awakening created by the visit of Vivekananda to Kerala and the way it contributed to social renaissance, a memorial to the seer is befitting,” says Prasad K. Shornur, a local social activist.
Land needed for Shoranur-Thrissur State highway widening: PWD
State had allocated Rs.75 lakh for memorial
