After lying neglected on the premises of the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) office in Palakkad for over three years, 140 granite pieces, on which six renowned sculptors meticulously carved characters from writer O.V. Vijayan’s magnum opus Khasakhinte Ithihasam (The Legend of Khasak), are being resurrected.
They will soon adorn the archway leading to the Vijayan Memorial at Thasrak near here. A joint meeting of Vijayan Memorial Committee and the DTPC held here on Thursday evening has decided to install the statues at Thasrak itself. District Collector P. Marikutty presided over the meeting. A move by the DTPC to install them on the premises of Palakkad Fort to add attraction to the historic monument had invited mixed reactions. Vijayan’s admirers had demanded the installation at Thasrak itself as the agricultural village inspired Vijayan to write the novel. A multi-storeyed memorial building is coming up at Thasrak close to the Njattupura, the rustic building for keeping rice seeds and agricultural implements where the lead character in the novel, Ravi, taught children.
“The installations will definitely add charm to the village which has turned into a centre of literary pilgrimage in recent years. We are fulfilling a long-cherished dream of Vijayan readers,” said K. Abdul Azeez, secretary of the memorial committee. The sculptures were done by eminent artists V.K. Rajan, Jones Mathew, Hochimin, Joseph M. Varghese and Venu in 2013.
The memorial will house a literary museum apart from an auditorium and library. Local people say Thasrak formed the setting for Vijayan’s novel when he stayed there after his sister was appointed at the single-teacher school there in 1956. Unlike the enthusiastic ‘pilgrims,’ the residents here have very little to say about the magical realism skilfully used by the writer in the novel.
The memorial will house a literary museum, auditorium and library
