Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Heritage status of castle to be probed

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUNE 24. The Minister for Archaeology, T.M. Jacob, has directed the Archaeology director, Manmadhan Nair, to probe whether the Halcyon Castle in Kovalam can be made a heritage property.

The Minister passed the order on the basis of a complaint submitted by the human rights activist, Jomon Puthenpurackal, against the alleged move to hand over the castle to a private hotel group.

Meanwhile, in a statement here, the former MP and Socialist leader, P. Viswambharan, said that the castle had been constructed by the Regent Queen of erstwhile Travancore and had been under the ownership of her husband.

He said that the plan to develop Kovalam as a tourist destination had gained momentum in 1960 during the tenure of Pattom A. Thanu Pillai. A four-room apartment called Bath House was first constructed on the two-acre plot donated on the castle premises.

Further developments were initiated by T.K. Divakaran who was Minister for Tourism in the E.M.S. Government in 1967. The castle was bought by the Government and the land and the castle were in its possession. Later, it was handed over to the ITDC following the intervention of the Central Government, he said. Mr. Viswambharan said that he was not sure whether the ownership of the castle was handed over to the ITDC, but it had been under the possession of the corporation. The royal family of erstwhile Travancore had retained the building that houses the Government Guest House and another adjoining building in its custody. Later, the State Government had bought the building and developed it, Mr. Viswambharan said. If the ITDC had been remitting tax for the castle for the past 30 years, it showed the inefficiency of the Government. Action should be taken against those responsible for the lapse, Mr. Viswambharan added.

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