Enchanting Kerala

KERALA TOURISM NEWSLETTER

O. V. Vijayan Memorial - In Memory of Khasak

The legendary village that formed the setting for one of the most outstanding pieces of work in Malayalam literature Khasakhinte Ithihasam (The Legends of Khasak) written by the renowned writer O. V. Vijayan is now replicated as a celebrated living and throbbing memorial.

to Thasrak and see the place where your favourite characters lived.

O. V. Vijayan Smaraka Samiti situated in Thasrak village in Palakkad district brings flashbacks of Ravi, Appukili, Aliyar, Shivaraman Nair, Maimoona (characters of Khasakhinte Ithihasam) and the calm and composed life of Khasak.

The archway leading to the Memorial is adorned with 140 granite pieces, on which renowned sculptors have meticulously carved the characters of the novel.

Another major attraction in the Memorial is the Njattupura, a bucolic building used for keeping rice seeds and agricultural implements, which once served as a temporary shelter for the author during the late nineteen fifties and sixties. In the novel, this is where the lead character, Ravi, teaches children.

A theatre has been set up here that plays documentaries on the major events in the life of O. V. Vijayan, short films, feature films and recorded memorial lectures on demand also available here.

The Memorial also houses a photo and a cartoon gallery. The photo gallery is decked with pictures from various phases of the writer’s life, and the cartoon gallery exhibits a collection of his cartoons.

Paintings and murals and a few letters written by him to friends, are the other attractions of the Memorial.

Thasrak, that is recreated in the Memorial, is designed to show you the ground beneath O. V. Vijayan’s feet that ultimately morphed into the mystic village of Khasak in the modern Malayalam classic!