Kerala - Kozhikode   

A show that details the monuments of Malabar

— Photo: S. Ramesh Kurup

Informative: At the exhibition on conservation of monuments in Malabar which concluded in Kozhikode on Sunday.

Kozhikode: A two-day exhibition throwing light on places of worship and historical monuments in Malabar concluded here on Sunday.

The exhibition and a seminar on Saturday was organised by a host of organisations, such as the Malabar Chamber of Commerce; the Department of Architecture, National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NIT-C); the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Thrissur Circle; the Department of Tourism; the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC); the Department of History, University of Calicut; and the Kerala Builders’ Forum Kozhikode centre.

The Department of Architecture came up with details of the Mishkal mosque and its layout and the Tali temple, history of Kozhikode and a study on the Kuttichira mosque and medieval Kerala temple architecture.

“The elevation (of Mishkal Mosque) has a close resemblance with the temples in its form. It has been proved that Hindu carpenters and other workers who were involved in the construction were not familiar with the Indo-Islamic architecture which prevailed in other parts of the country,” the department says.

The ASI Thrissur Circle exhibited photographs of umbrella stones found in the State, which had its origins in the first and second centuries BC. Photographs of temples exhibited included the Siva temples at Thiruvanchikulam and Peruvanam in Cherpu, Vadakkumnathan Temple and Sri Rama Temple, Triprayar, all in Thrissur district; and the Jain Temple in Sulthan Bathery. Others were of St. Angelo Fort in Kannur; Bekal Fort in Kasaragod district, the Mattancherry palace, Kochi, and Thalassery Fort, Kannur.

The photographs of the findings of an excavation near Bekal Fort and megalithic potteries from Ummichipoyil, also in Kasaragod district, were exhibited. The conservation efforts of the ASI and its results on Vadakkumnathan Temple, the Jain Temple and Palakkad Fort, with photographs of the situation before conservation and after, were highlighted.

There were sketches of the venue of Revathi Pattathanam (a scholars’ meeting), the Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Thrissur, and other buildings by Madanan, artist. Delivering the keynote address at the seminar on Saturday, M.G.S. Narayanan, historian and president of Calicut Heritage Initiative, said the State government’s move to renovate S.M. Street here would destroy its heritage.

The renovation should ensure that the heritage value of the street was retained. Kozhikode was not an ancient city, but a medieval city. Religious harmony was the strength and pride of Kozhikode.

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