When Thiruvananthapuram housed the Nalanda of the South
Kanthaloor Sala attracted students from as far as Sri Lanka. They learned subjects as varied as atheism and martial arts.
Kanthaloor Sala attracted students from as far as Sri Lanka. They learned subjects as varied as atheism and martial arts.
Kanthaloor Sala attracted students from as far as Sri Lanka. They learned subjects as varied as atheism and martial arts.
Thiruvananthapuram: Not many people know that Thiruvananthapuram housed a university that taught more than 64 subjects as early as 1,200 years ago. Kanthaloor Sala attracted students from as far as Sri Lanka. They learned subjects as varied as atheism and martial arts.
Kantaloor Sala thrived between 9th and 12th centuries before it was razed in a battle between the Chera and Chola dynasties, according to a consensus among historians.
Sometimes referred to as the Nalanda of the South, after the famed ancient university in Nalanda, Kanthaloor Sala has been consigned to oblivion. This thought pained a school teacher so much that he ventured to make a documentary on Kerala's own ancient wonder.
Kishore Kallara, a teacher of the government upper primary school at Kanjirampara near Vamanapuram, wants to record a forgotten part of Thiruvananthapuram's history. “Thiruvananthapuram's history is much more than Sree Padmanabha Swami Temple. I felt duty-bound to pass on the information about the heritage that was Kanthaloor Sala,” he said.
The documentary is packed with Kishore's journey through historical records and his meetings with historians. The university was situated in Vizhinjam before it was relocated to Kanthaloor.
The documentary features historians and history enthusiasts including M G Sasibhooshan, University College history department head Dr N Gopakumaran Nair, Meenchantha Arts and Science College lecturer E Sreejith, who is researching on Kanthaloor, former Centre for Heritage Studies director T P Sankaran Kutty and former additional chief secretary Dr D Babu Paul.
The documentary, 'Ennittum Kanthaloor', will be screened at the Mar Ivanios Nagar B hub at Nalanchira on Saturday. The show will be followed by a class by Dr N Gopakumaran Nair.
The site of the university today houses the Valiyasala Mahadeva Temple. The university probably covered an area as vast as today's Valiyasala, Aryasala and Chala areas.
The university was a model for ancient centres of learning. A copper inscription from the year 855 says that King Karinanthadukkan had built a centre of learning at Parthivapuram on the model of Kanthaloor Sala.
Kanthaloor Sala also finds a mention in works of literature including Kuvalayamala and T D Ramakrishnan's 'Sugandhi Enna Andal'. Yet historical research on the university is found lacking.