THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It must be strangest chain on earth. All of 112 feet long, it is crafted from a single block of teak, has 208 links and took its maker 14 years of relentless effort to create. The ‘Chain of World Peace,’ as it is named, which has made it to record books, is now on display at the Banquet Hall of the Kerala Assembly. Its creator K M Rajendran of Vaipur, Mallappally, is a diminutive man who says with pride that his creation has made friends in 92 countries thanks to the website www.longestpeacechain.com.
‘’Of the 208 links, 192 represent countries of the world. Each link represents a country and the countries are placed according to their geographical contiguity. I’ve also included themes such as Cricket, Olympics and Football, which bring together people across the world. At the centre is UN,’’ Rajendran said.
The chain starts off with Japan accompanied by a warning to humanity - ‘’Don’t Repeat Hiroshima and Nagasaki.’’ When he was 16, Rajendran carved a small chain out of wood. The idea struck him that although every living thing on earth existed independently, each was also part of the whole. Thus the idea of the ‘Peace Chain’ was born. The original, smaller chain also is on display at the Banquet Hall. ‘’There were days when I spent 18 hours on the chain,’’ Rajendran recalls. ‘’It was not crafting the chain itself that proved difficult, but working out the concept and marking the links according to real boundaries of the countries,’’ he said.
Rajendran uses his chain to warn the world against nuclear holocausts, deforestation, wars and global warming. Antarctica also finds a place on his chain. The making of the chain cost Rajendran about ` 10 lakh. He even sold two plots to finance his project.
This is the second time that the chain is being exhibited in the capital city, according to J M Rahim, the Centre for Gandhian Studies, Kerala University. The chain has already made it to many record books, including the Limca Book of World Records.
Speaker G Karthikeyan, who inaugurated the exhibition at the Banquet Hall of the Assembly, said that in a world that is becoming smaller, absence of peace anywhere would affect us also. ‘’There is need to create awareness about the need for peace,’’ he said. The exhibition will end on Wednesday.