Maharaja's College, Ernakulam

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Not to be confused with Maharaja's College, Mysore.

Maharaja's College, Ernakulam
Maharaja's College, Ernakulam logo.png
TypeGovernment
Established1875; 146 years ago (1875)
PrincipalDr. Mathew George
Location
Kochi
,
Kerala
,
India

9°58′16″N 76°16′52″E / 9.971°N 76.281°E / 9.971; 76.281Coordinates: 9°58′16″N 76°16′52″E / 9.971°N 76.281°E / 9.971; 76.281
NicknameMaharajas
AffiliationsMahatma Gandhi University, Kerala, University Grants Commission, National Assessment and Accreditation Council
SportsAthletics
soccer
cricket
wrestling
Websitewww.maharajas.ac.in

The Maharaja's College is a government college of higher education located in Kochi, Kerala. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest colleges in India. Located in the heart of the city, it is spread over a campus of 100,000 square metres (25 acres) on the banks of Vembanad Lake. Blanketed by tall and rare species of trees, its campus features a mix of old and modern architecture and covers a total area of 19,525 m2 (210,170 sq ft), providing infrastructural facilities for the 19 departments of the college.

History[]

The front gate of Maharaja's College, Ernakulam

This multidisciplinary centre of higher learning had its humble beginnings as a single room English school started by the Royal (Kingdom of Cochin) Shankara Warrier in 1845 "to impart such instruction to the students as would enable them to converse with Englishmen without the aid of an interpreter". The school was upgraded to a college in 1875 and in June 1925 the college acquired its present name. The college provided instruction in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, History and Economics. At that time there were two hostels and physical education, literary and science associations functioning in full swing. Sir C. V. Raman and Dr S. Radhakrishnan were among the speakers at the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1925.

The first PG course was started in 1947 in the Department of Chemistry, which already had research facilities holding to M.Sc and Ph.D. The government of Kerala recognised it as a Centre of Excellence in the state and the University Grants Commission awarded the college with Potential for Excellence (CPE) status based on the NAAC Accreditation results. UGC awarded Autonomous status to the college.

The green campus that acts as the lungs of the city.

Campus[]

Library[]

The view from the oldest part of the college.

The college library is 135 years old and has a collection of nearly one lakh (hundred thousand) books, including a prestigious collection of rare literature books. The reference section itself has 2000 books. However, lack of space is one of the vexing problems of the library. A reference and information section, inter-library networking and Internet facility are some of the immediate requirements of the library.

College grounds[]

The facilities available for sports activities include a 400-meter synthetic track, a football field-cum-cricket ground, a stadium pavilion with a capacity of 25,000 people, and courts for games like hockey, volleyball, basketball, kho-kho, kabady, and ball badminton. Facilities are available for indoor games like table-tennis, carom, chess, wrestling, weightlifting and power lifting.

Sports[]

The university has 18 acres of land specifically dedicated to sports.

Staff and students co-operative society[]

The Maharaja's College staff and students co-operative society Ltd. no. 207, functioning on the campus, aims at promoting the spirit of cooperation and independence among its members. The society runs a bookshop in which textbooks and notebooks and various study materials are made available for students. It also houses a photocopying machine where photocopying is done at a fixed rate.

Career guidance cell[]

A career guidance centre was started on the college campus in 1994, with a view to enable the students to manage themselves and to provide personal counseling on environment and qualifications for entry into various careers. In spite of the fact that the centre is still in its infancy and has few infrastructural facilities, it could arrange campus interviews for Cochin Maintenance Centre, NITT and Eureka Forbes. Many lectures on career opportunities are arranged on a regular basis by the centre.

Hostels[]

Old building that houses the Principal's Office at Maharaja's College

The Maharaja's College Rama Varma hostels include the new hostel for men and the ladies' hostel. The former has 90 rooms with a capacity of 240 students and two tutors; the latter has facilities for only 104 students and one tutor. Nowadays, the demand for accommodation in the ladies' hostel is greater than the availability due to the increase in the number of girl students. To remedy this situation, a concrete proposal for a women's hostel has been submitted to UGC during the IX plan.

Old Students Association[]

An Old Students Association formed in 1925 still functions on the college campus and its members have been involved in many of the activities of the college, such as arranging lectures by eminent personalities and awarding prizes to rank holders. It has also played an instrumental role in initiating the ongoing restoration work of the College

Entrance of the college.

Courses[]

The college conducts 19 degree courses, 21 postgraduate courses and 11 doctorate programmes. Maharaja's also offers PhD programmes under some departments.

Milestones[]

  • 1875 - The Cochin Rajas Elementary school started by Cochin Sarkar is upgraded into a college. Mr. Alfred Forbes Sealy, M.A. took charge as the first principal. It was Mr. Sealy who had designed the building and hence the name Sealy block. F.A. (First examination in Arts) course started.
  • 1908 - Intermediate course started
  • 1909 - Two separate hostels started - one for Hindu students and another for Christian students
  • 1910 - First college magazine published - on the occasion of the 60th birthday of the Cochin Maharaja, Sir Sri Rama Varma.
  • 1925 - Golden Jubilee. Sir C.V. Raman and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan visited the college. The college got its present name - "Maharajas College". The college was raised to a first grade college providing instructions in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, History and Economics affiliated to Madras University. Old Students Association formed.
  • 1930 - Three new blocks added to the college. 15-acre (61,000 m2) plot donated to the college - Maharajas ground established.
  • 1935 - Diamond Jubily. B. Sc. Courses in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Zoology started.
  • 1947 - B. Sc. Botany started. Year of India's independence. Students' political activities reached new peaks. Student activists hoisted Indian national flag in the Campus and got brutally beaten up by the royal police.
  • 1948 - The department of Chemistry that already had research facility started the first P.G. course.
  • 1949 - Following the integration of Travancore and Cochin states, the college is transferred from Madras University to Travancore University.
  • 1951 - New courses - B.A. (Hons.), M.A. Economics, B.Sc. (Hons.), M.Sc. Mathematics.
  • 1954 - New course - M.Sc. Applied Chemistry.
  • 1956 - Pre University course started. M.A. Malayalam and M.A. English started.
  • 1957 - The College comes under Kerala University. M.Sc. Physics started.
  • 1959 - New courses - B.A.Sanskrit, M.A. History, M.A. Hindi, M.Sc Zoology.
  • 1964 - Pre University Course metamorphed into Pre Degree course. New courses - B.A. Politics, B.A. Philosophy
  • 1968 - New courses - B.A.English, B.A. Islamic History, B.A. Arabic
  • 1971 - New courses - M.A. Philosophy, M.A. politics, M.A. Sanskrit
  • 1975 - Centennial - completed 100 years - celebrations in great style with science exhibitions, seminars, symposia etc.
  • 1977 - New Centenary Auditorium inaugurated.
  • 1979 - New course - M.A. Arabic.
  • 1981 - New courses - M.A. Islamic History.
  • 1983 - Affiliation changed to newly formed Mahatma Gandhi University.
  • 1990 - Maharaja's College declared Centre of Excellence. Departments of Chemistry, Hindi, Malayalam and Physics recognised as research centres for research towards Ph. D, under Mahatma Gandhi University.
  • 1993 - Maharaja's won overall championship of the Mahatma Gandhi University youth festival. A feat to be repeated in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 2000.
  • 1995 - New course - M.Sc. Statistics.
  • 1996 - New courses - B.Sc. Physics - Instrumentation and B.Sc. Environment and Water Management.
  • 1997 - R. Shankar Award for the best Government College presented to Maharajas.
  • 1998 - New course - B. A. Music
  • 1999 - New course - B. Com. with Computer Applications.
  • 2000 - Completes 125 glorious years. Accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council. Maharajas goes online.
  • 2006 - Re-accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council at A - level.
  • 2007 - Maharaja's College Ground gets synthetic tracks for conducting international athletic events. Students of the college win overall championship of the Mahatma Gandhi University Silver Jubilee youth festival.
  • 2009 - Edusat facility installed. Becomes part of Ernakulam cluster of colleges.
  • 2010 - Maharaja's wins overall championship of the Mahatma Gandhi University youth festival. College selected as a "College with Potential for Excellence" by the University Grants Commission.
  • 2012 - New course - M. Com. with Finance.
  • 2013 - Re-accredited (Third cycle) by National Assessment and Accreditation Council at A - level.
  • 2013 - New course - B.A. Honors in Economics.
  • 2017 - Mridula Gopi became first woman chairperson in 70 years.
A panoramic view of the rear entrance of the college.

Notable alumni[]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "A special get-together at Maharaja's college". The Hindu. 17 December 2006. Retrieved 2 April 2018.

External links[]

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