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Heritage forum to be inaugurated today

Kozhikode: Zamorin of Calicut P.K. Sreemanavedan Raja will inaugurate the newly-formed Calicut Heritage Forum at a function at the Chavara Cultural Centre here on Tuesday.

Historians and former bureaucrats came together to constitute this forum aimed at protecting and preserving the heritage of Kozhikode. The Zamorin of Calicut and the District Collector of Kozhikode have been named patrons.

Kozhikode had a unique place not only in the history of the State, but also in Indian and even world histories, according to retired IAS officer C.K. Ramachandran, who is the convener of the forum.

Historian M.G.S. Narayanan is the president of the forum and M. Radhakrishnan Nair is the joint convener. K. Madhavan Kutty, M. R. Chandrasekharan, S.M. Mohammed Koya, and Fr. Anil Puthuparambil are among the 18 founder members.

The objectives of the forum are manifold. It aims to preserve and protect the objects and symbols that embody the history and culture of Kozhikode. The forum will identify, evaluate, and document such objects and symbols like buildings, monuments, artefacts, documents, photographs and oral traditions.

Mr. Ramachandran said that the forum would seek professional advice and assistance in its endeavours. It would promote digitisation of manuscripts and other written material for better preservation as well as to create awareness and a sense of belonging for the city’s heritage among the local community — students in particular — and thereby generate social responsibility for their preservation.

The forum will also help in impact assessment of new building activities on heritage buildings and sites, canvas support for adopting heritage regulations, prepare a heritage manual, and design and promote heritage tours of the city and its environs.

It has already put up its materials on googlepages —calicutheritageforum. Apart from providing a slice of the history of Kozhikode, the pages have links to further readings such as Malabar Days — Nick Balmer’s blog; Calicut: City of Truth Revisited, book by Dr. Narayanan; Zamorins of Calicut - from the earliest times to AD 1806, by K.V. Krishna Ayyar; N.M. Nampoothiris’ home page; and the Columbia University webpage with paintings and manuscripts about Calicut.

The forum will meet once a month. A meeting held recently decided to take up the cause of the library which belonged to Bikshu Dharmaskandha at the old Buddha vihara that is in a state of neglect.

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