Nowadays, the students and teachers of CMS College, Kottayam, aren’t the only ones who are discovering the joys that their grand old campus offers.
The 200-year-old institution, a blend of colonial and traditional Kerala architectural style constructions, is now emerging as a major academic tourist destination with a steady stream of visitors, including foreigners, exploring its history and heritage and studying about its transformative journey spanning over two centuries. The visiting public are also allowed to get a first hand experience of the knowledge-based materials and other intellectual assets.
Varghese C. Joshua, the college Principal, said the campus with its green open spaces, heritage buildings and other academic facilities had also landed in the radar of a few international tour agencies already. “Over the past seven to eight months alone, the campus has received an average of 150-200 visitors every month. Majority of the foreign guests come here as part of their academic projects. It is against this backdrop that we decided to blend these two concepts to launch an academic tourism programme,” he said.
Key attractions
Among the key attractions on the campus are a sprawling botanic garden comprising 1,650 plant varieties, seven heritage buildings that are two centuries old, a huge aquarium, a sculpture park, besides a museum that showcases the history of Indian printing technology.
The autonomous institution, founded in 1817, is one of the first colleges in India and is acknowledged for its role in the development of the modern university system. Its first Principal, Benjamin Bailey, was instrumental in developing the Malayalam typeface that led to a modernisation of Malayalam script and universalisation of public instruction.
Student, staff guides
As part of opening up the campus, the college authorities have also set up a group of student tour guides and staff coordinators to take the guests around the campus and share insights into its history and unique eco-system. “The campus will be open to guests on all Saturdays and Sundays, besides public holidays. Individuals or groups who are keen on visiting the place may book their slots on the college website,” added Mr. Joshua.
Nina Thomas, a faculty member with the Mar Theophilus Training College in Thiruvananthapuram, who recently visited the college along with a 14-member group of BEd students, said one of the main reasons why she would take in more student groups to the campus was its great academic atmosphere. “We wanted the students to get a glimpse of an education system that existed in the past. What we found there, however, was a transition of the country’s education system from the old to the modern that spans two centuries,’’ she said.
Aleena Ann Saju, a teacher with the NSM CMS Lower Primary School in Mooledam, had recently led two student groups to the camps and said that it was not like taking the students to an anonymous destination – the students and staff of the college are very friendly. “For the children, everything on the campus is exciting - the huge aquarium, the old printing press units and even the green open spaces,” she said.
