KOCHI: While the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) gathers pace, Krishnabalan Paliath, manager of Paliam Devaswom Trust, which manages the historic Paliam Museums in North Paravur, has come out with a scathing attack on the government for confining the event to Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, and not attracting tourists to the ‘original Muziris’ area.
“This is the fifth edition of the Biennale. Neither the government nor the organisers have thought it fit to bring tourists coming for the art festival to our museums and other historic places nearby,” he told TNIE. Furthermore, despite having two boat jetties in the area the Muziris boat jetty and the Paliam boat jetty, which are a two-hour ride from Fort Kochi , the facilities have not been utilised.
Paliath said he had made several representations with the tourism department and the chief minister, and hundreds of letters exchanged between Paliam Trust and officials at all levels of the tourism department and Muziris project regarding pending works at the Paliam Museums, considered as one of the best heritage museums in the state. “The restoration work of Paliam Museums began in 2009, and 70% of the work is completed, while 30% is still pending. There is a clear case of negligence on the part of implementation officers,” he said.
Both the Paliam Kovilakam and the Nalukettu are more than 400 years old and after the initial major protection and conservation works, no maintenance works have been carried out, said Paliath. Some of the urgent action required include repairing the permanent leakage and landscaping works at Paliam Nalukettu, fixing audios in both the museums, fixing signage and information panels on the museums and other important landmarks, construction of Kokkarani (step well) near Oottupura, among others.
“The audio system is supposed to be implemented in all museums under Muziris Projects. But it has not been done yet,” Paliath said, adding that he had met Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on January 6, 2022, at the Ernakulam Guest House. “The CM had promised to look into the issues but we have not seen any progress yet,” he said.
Paliam Kovilakam was the traditional home of the Paliathu Achans (prime ministers to the kings of Kochi), it came to be called ‘kovilakam’ or palace after the then Paliath Achan hid the king in his home when the royal house was threatened by the Portuguese. In appreciation of the Paliath Achan’s services, the Dutch renovated the home in Chendamangalam. He used it as his official residence, where a lot of major decisions were made and put into action. The architecture of Paliam Kovilakam is an amalgam of Kerala and Dutch styles.