Heavy turnout at Thunchan Paramba

A little boy being initiated into learning by the Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, at a Vidyarambham ceremony held at Vylopally Samskrithy bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday. Photo: C.Ratheesh kumar

More than 4,100 tiny tots were initiated into the world of letters at one of the largest Vidyarambham functions held in the State at Thunchan Paramba, Tirur, on Thursday.

The organisers said Thunchan Paramba witnessed the largest turnout in recent years.

The Vidyarambham ceremony started around 4 a.m. and continued into the afternoon hours as parents, holding their little children, made a beeline at the vanguard of the Malayalam language to have them script ‘Harisree' in rice.

Vidyarambham at Thunchan Paramba, the home of Thunchath Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, the father of Malayalam poetry, is a prestigious function. Jnanpith laureate M.T. Vasudevan Nair led the Vidyarambham ceremony.

When writers like Alankode Leelakrishnan, P.K. Gopi, Manambur Rajanbabu, Kilimanur Madhu, Isaac Eapen, B.M. Zuhara, K.P. Sankaran, Sreedharanunni, and K.P. Ramanunni introduced the children to the world of letters at the Saraswathi Mandapam, traditional Acharyas did their job at the Krishnasila Mandapam. The writers contributed the offerings or dakshina they got to the Thunchan Memorial Trust.

People formed long queues in front of Saraswati and Krishnasila Mandapams hours before the ceremony started at 4 p.m. All lodgings in and around Tirur had been occupied as people from distant places reached Tirur on Wednesday evening.

The crowd swelled by morning as all roads led to Thunchan Paramba. Elaborate arrangements were made for smooth conduct of the annual ceremony. A large posse of policemen helped control the crowd.

Dozens of poets, established and budding alike, presented their latest poems at Thunchan Paramba at an exclusive Vidyarambham of poets. Alankode Leelakrishnan inaugurated the function.

Among those who recited poems were Manambur Rajanbabu, P.K. Gopi, G.K. Rammohan, Arya Gopi, and Radhamani Ayinkalam.

The poets' Vidyarambham at Thunchan Paramba has a long tradition. Poets like Vyloppilly, N.N. Kakkad and Kunjunni had presented their verses there.

Jnanpith laureate M.T. Vasudevan Nair initiating a child into the world of letters at Thunchan Paramba in Malappuram district on Thursday.