It’s been more than a month since Kozhikode or Calicut, the old port town of northern Malabar in Kerala, was awarded the title of India’s first City of Literature by UNESCO, on July 23, 2024, as part of its Creative Cities Network (UCCN), but there is barely a sign of its emphatic literary history. The airport and railways station book shops have the cursory bestsellers from the waggish Sudha Murty, Infosys’ billionaire wife, to self-help guru Paul Coelho, and of course, the omnipresent Chetan Bhagat.
S.K. Pottekkat’s bust at S.M. Street. Photo: Vrinda Gopinath
Pottekkat’s bust is a fitting tribute to his book, Oru Theruvinte Katha or the Story of a Street, where he has chronicled the iconic S.M. Street with colourful characters like shopkeepers, shoppers, friends, passers-by, beggars and the like. There’s also a giant wall of murals depicting Pottekkat’s fictional characters in scenes from the book, including excerpts from his writings in Malayalam that welcome people, and where the municipal corporation has built cemented seats for weary shoppers and bystanders, some sitting with loaded bags, or some reading newspapers even as they wait for their bus, auto or car.
Mostly, people just walk past all this indifferently, barely throwing a glance at the literary post.
Playwright and author K.T. Mohammed’s bust. He has written plays such as Srishti, Sthithi and Samharam. Photo: Vrinda Gopinath
Nearby is the mounted black stone sculpture of Basheer’s famous goat splattered with pigeon droppings, from his popular book, Pathummayude Aadu or Pathumma’s Goat, on a traffic island on the busy Palayam road; but is anyone interested or even aware of the significance of these literary chiseled works?
Of course, there are the public libraries, from the biggest and oldest Kozhikode Library and Research Centre, the Desaposhini Public Library built in 1937, Chavara Public library where students can even bring their books to study here, the Aikya Kerala Reading Room and Library, Kunduparamba Library and Reading Room all built in the 30s; in fact, the public libraries and reading rooms are in every district and village in Kerala, next to town halls, markets and bus stands, a stunning explosion of words and lit works. Kozhikode district is reputed to have over 600 libraries and reading rooms, some as tiny as a kiosk, to the big ones.
It was this historical evidence of Calicut’s fame in ancient traveller recordings that was collected by the team as part of their proposal to present to UNESCO to get the literary tag — an idea that came from Ajith Kaliyath, urban chair professor at the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) who, in October 2021, got in touch with city mayor Beena Philip, who readily accepted the proposal to make Kozhikode the Literature City. It was a roller call of academics like Mohammed Firoz, head of the Dept of Architecture and Planning at NIT, Calicut, who set up a team of his students to collect data like GI-tagging dozens of libraries, interviewing publishers, literary groups, schools and colleges; co-ordinating with the Ministry of Culture in Delhi, to put up the proposal for UNESCO. It took a good three years for the proposal to be accepted and for Calicut to be honoured with the tag.
So, where can a visitor begin to look for literary Kozhikode; where are the lit luminaries immortalised here? Where do the characters of Basheer, Nair, Thikkodiyan and the rest come alive in the town? Is there a guided immersive experience of the dives and restaurants, streets and homes, haunts and dens of the writers?
The Wire spoke to mayor Beena Philip about the projects for literary Kozhikode; took an educative walk in the literature park with retired school teacher and noted team member Dr S. Nagesh; and also visited two local libraries listed by NIT intern head Indulekha M.S., in a bid to see how the project will play out:
Excerpts from the interview with mayor Beena Philip:
As you know, there is nothing that tells you Kozhikode is now designated as the first City of Literature in India — no tourism brochures, signages, literary walks, not even a pamphlet highlighting the town’s rich literary heritage?
Yes, there are no visible signs for any outsider to see our literary heritage in Kozhikode, and I agree it’s a big drawback — but we are coming up with many plans to enlighten the public beginning with Calicut’s ancient history too. There are remnants of the old port city, like the ‘kadal palam’ or bridge that is jetting into the sea, after all, this has been recorded by ancient travellers. We are still looking to see how to preserve this; there’s the freedom square on the beach where we plan to have a glass or metal plaque which tells you the town’s history. Another important project is to collect all historical records and digitise it for easy access and reading.
Nobody is even aware there’s a children’s literature park in the heart of Mananchira though the characters are really from books for adults?
Kozhikode mayor Beena Philip. Photo: Local Self Government Department, Government of Kerala
I agree, people who come to the children’s literature park, which was formerly Ansari Park and an extension of Tagore Park, nobody even refers to it as Lit park, and that’s because we don’t keep a board saying so. If we did have a board, I think people will be intrigued to know more about it, after all, here is your town which has all these amazing sculptures of characters from famous books; it’ll give people a great sense of curiosity. There’s Basheer’s famous goat sculpture outside the park, and Scottish officer William Logan’s Malabar Manual, a two-volume detailed treatise on the region was published here; all this is Kozhikode’s literary heritage which is unique to the town.
How do you plan to introduce people to Literature City?
Calicut Corporation has launched a website and we will incorporate all the necessary information for the literature section of the city where people can refer to books and literary resources. We must also delve into our history as Calicut has the distinction of so many world travellers who came here over centuries, and who recorded their visits from the early AD; even earlier from King Soloman’s time where Calicut is mentioned in the Bible. In fact, 20 years before Vasco da Gama arrived, the Russian traveller-merchant Afanasy Nikitin came to Calicut and recorded its history in his travelogue. Two years ago, Calicut Corp even renamed Customs Road after him, and established a twin city status with Tver, Nikitin’s birthplace.
Then, there’s the Arabs and the history of Zamorins who ruled Calicut for over 400 years, and the palace that was burned down by the last Zamorin, giving it a cursed history — unfortunately there are no remnants of that history today, which was destroyed by the British, and which must be put up.
Where is the literary history of the city?
Well, Kozhikode is famed for its Revathi Pattathanam or the open annual assembly of scholars from the 14th century, a seven day competition event of dialogue and debate, which was conducted on two mandapas on either side of the entrance hall of the Talli temple that still stands today. This tradition continues and this history was part of our presentation to get the lit tag for the town.
Is there an action plan for the immediate future?
