Thiruvananthapuram - Evergreen city of India
Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum) is the captial of Kerala
and also the headquaters of the trivandrum District.It is a beautiful seaside
city built on seven hills. It is located on the west coast of India near the
extreme south of the mainland spreading over a total of 2,192sq.km. Mahatma Gandhi has referred trivandrum as “Evergreen cityof India“.
The city is the state capital and houses many central and
state government offices, organizations and companies. Apart from being the
political nerve centre of Kerala, it is also a major academic hub and is home
to several educational institutions including the University of Kerala, and too
many science and technology institutions, namely Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre ,
Technopark and IIST.
The city gets its name from the word,
Thiru-anantha-puram, meaning the city of Anantha or the abode of the sacred
Serpent Anantha on which Lord Vishnu, the preserver of the Hindu trinity,
reclines.
From around 1000 BC Thiruvananthapuram has been an
ancient city with trading traditions. The rise of modern Thiruvananthapuram
began with accession of Marthanda Varma in 1729 as the founding ruler of the
princely state of Travancore. Thiruvananthapuram was made the capital of
Travancore in 1745. The city developed into a major intellectual and artistic
centre during this period. The golden age in the city’s history was during the
mid 19th century under the reign of Maharaja Swathi Thirunal and Maharaja
Ayilyam Thirunal. This era witnessed the establishment of the first English
school, the Oriental Research Institute , the General Hospital , the
Observatory & Manuscripts Library and the University College . The first
Lunatic Asylum in the state was also started during the same period. Sanskrit
College, Ayurveda College, Law College and a second grade college for women
were started by Moolam Thirunal during this era.
The begining of the 19th century was an age of tremendous
political and social changes in the city. The Sree Moolam Assembly, established
in 1904 was the first democratically elected legislative council in any Indian
state. It was not under the direct control of the British Empire at any time,
the city however featured prominently in India’s freedom struggle. The Indian
National Congress made a very active presence in the city. In 1938 a meeting of
the Indian National Congress was held which was presided by Dr. Pattabhi
Sitaramayya
kuIn 1931 Chitra Thirunal Bala Rama Varma took over and
witnessed many-sided progress. The promulgation of “Temple Entry Proclamation”
(1936) was an act that underlined social emancipation. This era also saw the
establishment of the Kerala University which was formerly known as University
of Travancore in 1937.
With the establishment of Thumba Equatorial Rocket
Launching Station (TERLS) in 1962, Thiruvananthapuram became the cradle of
India’s ambitious space programme. The first Indian space rocket was developed
and launched from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) located in the
outskirts of the city in 1963. Several establishments of the Indian Space
Research Organization (ISRO) were later established in Thiruvananthapuram.
A major milestone in the city’s recent history was the
establishment of Technopark,India’s first IT park in 1995. Technopark has developed
into the largest IT Park in India and third largest in Asia and is home to MNC
giants like Infosys, TCS, Ernst & Young, UST Global etc; This placed
Thiruvananthapuram on the IT map of India and it is today one of the most
promising in the country in terms of competitiveness and capability.
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