THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chalai, the market of everything, once used to sell peacocks and elephant tusks. It could be the oldest market in Thiruvananthapuram, but there are few historical records to conclusively prove it. Heritage Walk Trivandrum, a forum for those who love to explore the city’s heritage, conducted a walk through the bazaar on Sunday looking for clues of its past in its faded buildings.
“It is widely believed that Raja Kesavadas, who was the Diwan of Travancore, established the market in the late 18th century. However, there are records about a sale of articles stolen from Padmanabha Swamy Temple in Chalai dated from the 16th century. Whether that Chalai existed in the same area is debatable,” said journalist and historian Malayinkeezh Gopalakrishnan before the walk.
Bina Thomas, an archaeologist who led the walk, said that maybe Chalai was a smaller market, until Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma shifted the capital from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram. “Markets are important amenities in any city. So traders must have been brought from Tamil Nadu and given incentives to start business in Chalai,” she said.
As the walk progressed, one of the curious onlookers volunteered to act as guide. He took the group to ‘Vandippura’, where the bullock carts were parked once. In the relatively peaceful history of Travancore, an uprising called ‘Chalai Lahala’ had broken out in 1910, with bullock cart owners complaining of unfair restrictions imposed by the police. “Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai and other noted journalists were on the side of the bullock cart owners. Perhaps one reason why he was deported,” said Malayinkeezh.
The group, which consisted of teachers, architecture students and archaeologists, passed by the famous shops of Chalai. “At ‘Kasturi Ranga Iyer Son’, the shop-keepers and customers sit on the floor to this day. However, some of the shops have undergone massive renovation. I heard that ‘A Swamy and Bros’ has been handed over to someone and the old shop might be renovated,” said Asha G, a neuroscientist. The renovations are not in tune with the architecture of Chalai. For this reason Asha is running an online campaign seeking Chalai and Attakulangara School to be included in the Fort heritage zone.
Karuppattikkada Jama Masjid in Chalai, which has no domes and minarets, as well as the godowns on Sabhapathy Lane were of great interest to the architecture students. A warehouse, currently owned by S P Subramaniam, was visited. “The long verandah and a series of doors on either side reminds one of the Chawl typology in Mumbai. This could have been a boarding place of some kind. However, that is only a hypothesis,” said Ganga, who teaches at Bishop Jerome Institute- School of Architecture, Kollam. That’s where the walk ended.