KODUNGALLUR (THRISSUR): As part of its plans to revive the 2,000-year-old spice route that links the southwestern coast of India up to Europe, the Kerala government is launching a slew of activities around the historical town of Kodungallur. The new initiatives include the opening of Cheraman Parambu museum, an Islamic history museum, a Maritime history museum and a Muziris app to assist global travellers.
Though it began as a heritage conservation project surrounding Muziris, the ancient port city near Kodungallur, officials said the project has now become a larger canvas to be part of the spice route extending to Alappuzha, Thalassery, Beypore, Ponnani, and Kollam. Significantly, the Dutch government is assisting Kerala in the ambitious project.
“In three months, all the new projects will be unveiled,” said Manoj Kumar Kini, the managing director of Muziris Heritage Project (MHP). Though first announced in 2013 and has been crawling for the past several years, the MHP work gathered pace under Kumar, an expert in urban planning, who assumed charge as MD in April. “The minister (tourism minister P A Mohamed Riyas) is taking a keen interest in the affairs, and he has asked me to complete the project as early as possible,” Kumar told TNIE at the Muziris project office at Kodungallur.
The Maritime history museum is coming up in 27 acres in Pattanam, near north Paravoor in Ernakulam, he said, adding that it will showcase the maritime history of 33 countries.
The museum of Cheraman Parambu, regarded as the royal seat of the Cheraman Perumals, the kings of the Chera dynasty, will contain all the historical artefacts of the place and the people. The palace of the Cheraman Perumals, which is spread over an area of about 5 acres at Methala, near Kodungallur is being converted into the museum, it is learnt.
“From Babylonia (present-day Iraq) to Portuguese, Dutch, English, Romans to Greeks, traders from 33 European countries landed in Kerala for spices trade. Kodungallur had establishments conducting business with 33 European countries. That’s the relevance of Kodungallur,” said the MHP managing director.
“Till now, we have not utilised this heritage or our tangible/intangible cultural heritage assets for our tourism promotion activities. Muziris project is a laudable initiative by the government of Kerala to conserve our heritage and make it a part for posterity,” he said, adding that the objective is to educate the next generation on our heritage is an objective; besides protecting our tangible/intangible assets, and to use tourism as a tool to develop the local economy. The Muziris app is ready for launch, he said. The app is mostly aimed at global travellers, who could download it on mobiles and get all the information on the Muziris region at their fingertips.
Further, the renovation work of Cheraman Masjid, the oldest mosque in India, dating to 629 CE, with intricate traditional decor and a small museum, is also in the last stages. Similarly, the renovation works of Holy Cross Church and Cheraman Synagogue, one of the oldest churches and synagogues in India, are also fast progressing.