On the morning of August 15, 1947, the rest of India erupted in celebration, marking the nation’s long-fought freedom from colonial rule. But in Travancore, the atmosphere was different.
The streets were not filled with joyous processions. Instead, there was an unusual stillness, laced with anxiety. Three days before the historic day, dewan C P Ramaswami Iyer issued an order that the Indian Tricolour was not to be hoisted anywhere in Travancore. Only the flag bearing the conch shell emblem of the princely state would be permitted.
“Initially, the maharaja and dewan had taken the stand that Travancore could remain independent,” notes historian M G Sasibhooshan. “Cochin had already decided to join the Indian Union, and there was a feeling that Travancore could not stand alone in such a situation. Yet, unlike other princely states, there were no official celebrations here.”
Some, however, chose to defy the official silence. “Individuals did celebrate. People hoisted the Tricolour at their homes. There was a sense of joy among the public that they were finally gaining the independence they had long awaited,” Sasibhooshan adds.
“Also, with independence approaching, the ban on processions was lifted. A government order was issued allowing public celebrations between August 14 and 17. Yet, it is true that the celebrations could not be held on a grand scale.”
One memorable celebration took place on the YMCA premises. At 7.30am on August 15, 1947, Travancore State Congress President Pattom Thanu Pillai hoisted the national flag as a symbolic gesture of defiance.
The political landscape shifted quickly in the months that followed. “By September 1947, the decision to merge with the Indian Union was made. On September 4, the maharaja issued the order permitting responsible governance. Soon afterwards, he released all political prisoners, including Mannathu Padmanabhan, Kumbalathu Sanku Pillai and Sankara Narayana Thampi,” says Sasibhooshan.
“By January 1948, the merger was complete. Travancore and Cochin were united, and maharaja Chithira Thirunal was appointed as the ‘rajpramukh;, a role similar to today’s governor. He continued in office until the formation of Kerala on November 1, 1956.”
But the months before the merger were not without turmoil. On July 25, 1947, just weeks before independence, there was a dramatic attempt on the life of C P Ramaswami Iyer. K C S Mani, a young socialist, attacked the dewan during a music recital by Carnatic legend Semmangudi Sreenivasa Iyer at the Music College in Thiruvananthapuram.
Concealing a machete beneath his mundu and khaki shorts, Mani struck as the dewan exited the hall, inflicting seven wounds. From his hospital bed two days later, the dewan wrote to the maharaja, warning that Travancore had only two options — join India or declare independence. He cautioned that refusing accession could trigger civil war, widespread bloodshed, and even endanger the royal family.
Historian Malayinkeezh Gopalakrishnan says political uncertainty weighed on the public mood. “People were scared to celebrate on the day of independence. At that time, radios were rare, and at midnight, people gathered in many places to hear Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech. But nothing much happened on that day. But the next day saw more celebrations because people started to feel freer,” he says.
He adds that the first anniversary of independence in 1948 was marked in Thiruvananthapuram with the ‘real’ spirit of celebration. Today, more than seven decades later, the memory of that hushed August morning is still in the capital — not as the end of the struggle, but as the beginning of Travancore’s journey into the idea of India.