Maharaja’s College, a living chapter in nation’s history, says CM; launches one-year-long fete
KOCHI: Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam is not just an institution, it’s an emotion, said Industries Minister P Rajeeve, as Kerala’s legendary campus launched its post-150th-year platinum jubilee celebrations on Tuesday.
At the heart of the celebrations was the inauguration of a grand new auditorium funded by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), a fitting tribute to the legacy and future of one of India’s most iconic colleges.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who formally launched the year-long celebration, hailed the college as a bastion of Kerala’s political, cultural, and intellectual development. “Maharaja’s is not just a college. It is a living chapter in the nation’s history,” Pinarayi said.
“From leading the khadi movement to championing Hindi language propagation, the students and faculty here have always stood at the forefront of national and social transformation.”
The chief minister highlighted the state’s massive push in higher education—introducing four-year undergraduate programmes, creating translational research labs worth over Rs 200 crore, and offering merit-means scholarships to promote equitable learning.
“The synthetic athletics track, advanced research facilities, and modern classrooms being developed at Maharaja’s are part of a broader transformation,” he said, underlining the college’s place in Kerala’s higher education roadmap.
Higher Education and Social Justice Minister R Bindu, who presided over the function, called the college a space where ideas and ideals meet.
“Maharaja’s is where rebellion meets reflection,” she said.
“This campus has witnessed both firebrand politics and literary brilliance. When we speak of empowering Kerala, strengthening institutions like Maharaja’s is our strongest tool. Our goal is to turn such campuses into crucibles of global academic relevance.”
Founded in the 19th century as a humble elementary school by Diwan Sankara Warrier, Maharaja’s has grown into an academic powerhouse with 20 undergraduate and 22 postgraduate programmes, and 18 research departments. With an NAAC ‘A’ grade and a 53rd place in the NIRF rankings, the college continues to lead from the front.
The college also boasts towering literary figures like Jnanpith laureates G Sankara Kurup and O N V Kurup, noted critics like M Krishnan Nair and M Leelavathy, and pioneering thinkers like K V Ramaswamy Iyer, Pandit K P Karuppan, and M K Sanoo. Cultural icons like Changampuzha Krishna Pillai and Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon too are deeply tied to the institution’s heritage.
Its alumni list is as glittering as it is diverse. Apart from former Chief Minister A K Antony, legendary actor Mammootty, and ex-finance minister T M Thomas Isaac, the college has nurtured former chief justice of India K G Balakrishnan, writer N S Madhavan, filmmaker Amal Neerad, and Constituent Assembly member Dakshayani Velayudhan.
As the platinum jubilee year unfolds, Maharaja’s College remains not just a monument to the past but a beacon for Kerala’s future.