ALAPPUZHA: In the decades it served people who were once abandoned by society, the Leprosy Sanatorium at Nooranad in Alappuzha’s Thamarakulam panchayat has been witness to a lot of new things, key among them being the positive change in the public perception of those afflicted with the ailment.
And as it completes 90 years in 2024, the facility, housing 85 inmates at present, continues to stand shoulder to shoulder with top health institutions in Kerala.
It was in 1934 that the sanatorium began functioning at Nooranad village under the Kingdom of Travancore. Starting with more than 200 inmates, the sanatorium expanded into an asylum of over 2,000 inmates who were sidelined in society due to their illness.
“The taboo associated with leprosy was extremely severe at the time,” says John, one of the inmates of the sanatorium. “None allowed us to enter their homes or even go to public places. Everyone despised the sight of bruises and wounds caused by the disease. People kept away from us, and we too did not like venturing out and would instead stay inside the asylum. Now, education has led to widespread awareness on the disease and people have a very pleasant approach towards us,” says John, a native of Tamil Nadu.
The sanatorium at Nooranad was established by Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.
N Kumara Das, the state council member of Gandhi Darshan Vedhi, says a sanatorium functioned at Oolampara near Thiruvananthapuram earlier.
During the kingly rule, a major portion of Tamil Nadu’s Kanyakumari district was under Travancore. A large number of people were infected with the disease and were sheltered by the king at the hospital. However, when the number of patients rose and a remote place to establish the asylum was needed, the king shifted the asylum to around 155 acres of land in Nooranad and established facilities on the compound,” says Das, who hails from Nooranad. He says the king allotted a portion of his ancestral property to set up the sanatorium.
“The sanatorium was a village at the time. There were around 1,800 inmates on the compound and people lived in different houses. There was a film theatre, church, temple, mosque, big auditoriums, employment training centre, library, jail and many other facilities on the compound. The inmates grew different crops on the compound for their daily need,” Das says.
The sanatorium also served as the main centre for renaissance in the state in the 1935-1950 period. Thoppil Bhasi’s dramas ‘Aswamedham’ and ‘Sarasayya’ were based on the life of the people of the sanatorium.
“Bhasi developed the stories during the time he spent hiding at the Leprosy Sanatorium in the 1948-52 period after the government started suppressing the communist movement in the state,” Das recalls.
The sanatorium also served as a prison for many communist leaders from TN who were diagnosed with leprosy, he says. “Leaders from Kerala too spent years in the sanatorium hiding from the police, as the latter would not search inside the compound fearing the disease. Only doctors, nurses and medical staff came here, and none knew who all were staying in the sanatorium,” says Das, whose father Krishan Pillai and mother Bhavani Amma worked at the sanatorium for years.
Over time, the old buildings and compound walls of the sanatorium were partially destroyed. The government recently constructed a new building, which is now ready for operations.
“We have 85 inmates in the sanatorium,” says superintendent Dr P V Vidhya. “The government built a full-fledged 100-bed capacity hospital on the compound. While the IP facility is for inmates, the OP department is open to all,” says Vidhya. The OP wing sees hundreds of footfall every day.
“The government has planned various programmes to mark the facility’s 90th anniversary,” says Vidhya.
SINCE 1934
The sanatorium at Nooranad village was established by Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma under the Kingdom of Travancore in 1934. Starting with more than 200 inmates, the sanatorium expanded into an asylum of over 2,000 inmates who were sidelined in society due to their illness. Over time, the old buildings and compound walls of the sanatorium were partially destroyed