The Thripunithura terminal station of the Kochi Metro will have a museum dedicated to Kerala’s traditional dance forms, considering that it is located in Thripunithura town where traditional dance and art forms have a wide following, it is learnt.
This will be a key attraction at the station that will have the theme ‘Dances of Kerala’ . A total of 10 sculptures of dancers in various ‘mudras’ will adorn the station, while exhibits at the museum will enable commuters and others to have a glimpse of the dance forms. The work on the station, museum, and the commercial space is going on through day and night to enable the metro’s extension beyond SN Junction, sources said.
Metro stations in the Aluva-SN Junction corridor have unique themes in keeping with, among others, the history of their locations. The two other stations in Thripunithura have their own themes. While the SN Junction station has ‘Ayurveda’, the theme for the Vadakkekota station is ‘Kerala’s role in the freedom struggle’.
Welcoming the decision of Kochi Metro Rail Limited (KMRL) to have a museum to commemorate traditional dance forms, Ramabhadran Thampuran, president of Cochin Royal Family Foundation, said this and the station’s theme were in sync with Thripunithura’s traditions and traditional dance/art forms that were staged in temples in the area. “This will help commuters and people from other places have a better idea of Thripunithura’s rich cultural background,” he added.
People in the region hope that the agencies concerned will build wide roads to ensure that the metro station has sound road connectivity from both SN Junction and Hill Palace Road since the adjacent railway station is being developed, while a bus stand is expected to come up close by, he added.
Cochin Royal Family Foundation is expected to hand over a life-size picture of erstwhile Kochi king Rama Varma to KMRL managing director Loknath Behera at a memorial function of the king to be held on February 3 at Kalikotta Palace. This will be unveiled at the Thripunithura station.
TRURA demand
Meanwhile, the Thripunithura Rajanagari Union of Residents Associations (TRURA) will stage a protest at SN Junction on Saturday, reiterating its demand for a four-lane road beneath the metro’s SN Junction-Thripunithura viaduct and its extension to Hill Palace Road. Kemal Pasha, former judge of the Kerala High Court, will open the protest.
