Akshara Veedhi: new cultural hub in the making 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For residents of Thiruvananthapuram city, the mention of Manaveeyam Veedhi is sure to bring back fond memories of watching street theatre and socially charged music performances. Over the past two decades, the 180 metre stretch of road in the vicinity of Kanakakunnu Palace has come to signify a vibrant cultural hub hosting plays, performances, exhibitions and even art festivals. In what is an exciting news for art enthusiasts, the capital city may soon get a second cultural hub as the government is shaping up ‘Akshara Veedhi’, a one-km-long stretch starting from the Technopark back gate to Karyavattom. The stretch is a part of the 2.8-km-long Arasumoodu-Karyavattom road. 

A place to unite
The Arasumoodu-Karyavattom road is currently being revamped by the Public Works Department (PWD) at a cost of `5 crore. According to Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran, the government always had plans to launch a cultural hub at Kazhakkoottam. “There is no place for techies or the residents of Kazhakkoottam to socialise. ‘Akshara Veedhi’ will be an ideal location. Techies of the IT park and students and faculty of the University of Kerala, Karyavattom campus, have easy access to the road,” said the minister. 

He added that people could make use of the hub to host cultural programmes once the pandemic is contained. “The road doesn’t experience much traffic. Once the project is completed, we will identify compound walls on the stretch for graffiti,” he said. “The construction work on the Arasumoodu-Karyavattom road was expected to be completed by November. However, with recent rain delaying the project, it is expected to be finished by December,” said Sudheesh Kumar, assistant engineer, PWD, Sreekaryam. “The road has been widened and the drainage work are completed. Now, paving of tiles on the footpath needs to be done,” he said. 

Welcome initiative
According to the members of Prathidhwani, the welfare organisation of IT employees in Technopark, Akshara Veedhi is a welcome project. “Kazhakkoottam has already become a new city within Thiruvananthapuram. We had proposed for such a hub back in 2016 itself. The upcoming stretch will aid students and techies to conduct more public events. Very few people use the road  now due to lack of adequate streetlights, this will change soon,” said Vineeth Chandran, secretary, Prathidhwani.