Most Respected Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu,

Hon’ble Upa Rashtrapatiji,

Shri A.K. Balan, Hon’ble Minister for Culture and Law,

Government of Kerala

Shri Ramesh Chennithala, Opposition Leader,

Shri K Muraleedharan, Member of Legislative Assembly

Shri O. Rajagopal, Member of Legislative Assembly

Princess Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lekshmi Bayi,

Shri Palode Ravi, President, Sree Chithira Thirunal

Smaraka Samithi

Adv. Harikumar, General Secretary, Sree Chithira

Thirunal Smaraka Samithi

Shri Sasthamangalam Mohan, Working President, Sree Chithira

Thirunal Smaraka Samithi

Friends in Media,

Sahodaree Sahodaranmaare,

Ellaavarkkum Ente Namaskaaram,

It gives me great joy to preside over the Sree Chithira Thirunal Memorial Lecture, which is being regularly organized by the Sree Chithira Thirunal Smaraka Samithi since 1992. This year, we are fortunate to have our Hon’ble Upa Rashtrapati Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu-ji to deliver the lecture. On behalf of the people of Kerala, I welcome the Hon’ble Upa Rashtrapati ji to Kerala.

Today, as we eagerly await the Lecture by our
Upa Rashtrapatiji, our minds bow in reverence to the sacred memory of the Late Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the last Maharaja of Travancore. As a ruler, Sree Chithira Thirunal was well known for progressive steps that added momentum to the intellectual and social development of Kerala.

The love and reverence with which the people Kerala recall the contributions of Sree Chithira Thirunal even decades after his demise, bear testimony to his greatness. He was respected as a benevolent ruler who recognized the people's desire for an egalitarian society. Many of his significant decisions point to his ability to fathom the pulse of the people. By constituting the Sree Moolam Assembly, and later abdicating the crown as the Raj-Pramukh of the erstwhile Travancore-Cochin state in the wake of the re-organisation of the Indian States, he was respecting the people's will. And, he did it with remarkable grace and poise.

His famous Temple Entry proclamation of 1936, has been extolled as a revolutionary and courageous reform initiated for the first time in the country towards the eradication of un-touchability and un-approachability. Some historians also believe that this Proclamation helped to dissuade people in many communities from converting to other religions in protest against the inequalities that prevailed in Hinduism at that time. Through this bold proclamation, the King was respecting the people’s desire for freedom of worship.

We all know that it was the spread of education which finally enabled Kerala's transition from a caste ridden society into one that adheres to egalitarian principles. The rulers of Travancore who preceded Sree Chithira Thirunal were also guided by belief that the entire cost of the education of the people should be borne by the State.

I feel that it was this faith that guided Sree Chithira Thirunal to introduce a scheme for compulsory and secular education in the age group of five and eleven and most importantly, to establish the first university in Travancore in 1937. Though quite young at that time, he had performed his role as the Chancellor of the University of Travancore with a global outlook and utmost efficiency. The greatness of his futuristic vision is evident in the number of institutions and movements he had initiated, be it the Observatory or the Manuscripts Library or the Travancore Youth League which was the precursor of the National Cadet Corps.

Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, who was the embodiment of simplicity and humility, is also a model for leaders of all times in respecting the will of the people – a quality that enriches any democracy.

I compliment the organizers for conducting this function in a befitting manner.

Ellavarkkum Ente Aashamsakal

Nanni

Jai Hind