In October 2023, Kozhikode had earned a place in the 'Literature' category of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
Published Jun 24, 2024 | 2:12 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 24, 2024 | 2:12 PM
Kozhikode beach. (Wikimedia)
Kozhikode in north Kerala, known for its rich cultural heritage, was on Sunday, 23 June, officially declared as India’s first UNESCO ‘City of Literature’.
In October 2023, Kozhikode had earned a place in the ‘Literature’ category of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
State Local Self Government Department (LSGD) Minister, MB Rajesh, on Sunday in an official event in Kozhikode, announced the achievement of Kozhikode which earned the place in the ‘Literature’ category of the UCCN.
Rajesh described Kozhikode as a city with a soul, characterised by humanity, harmony, a strong sense of justice and freedom of expression.
“These core values have given birth to the vibrant art of Kozhikode,” Rajesh said.
The minister said the efficient functioning of the Kozhikode city corporation played a major role in bagging the ‘City of Literature’ tag from UNESCO after beating cities with rich cultural history like Kolkata.
The state government also announced that from coming year, 23 June will be celebrated as the “City of Literature” Day of Kozhikode, a place known for literary greats like late SK Pottakkad and Vaikom Muhammed Basheer.
On this day, special awards will be announced in six categories, a statement issued by the LSGD said.
As part of the event, Tourism Minister PA Mohammed Riyas unveiled the logo of the “City of Literature” by UNESCO.
Rajesh visited the house of Jnanpith awardee MT Vasudevan Nair and handed over the Diamond Jubilee award instituted by the Kozhikode city corporation.
The official declaration of #Kozhikode as the ‘City of Literature’ on 23 June.
A declaration is to be made by Minister for Local Self-Governments M B Rajesh at a function in Kozhikode.
It was in October 2023 that #UNESCO included Kozhikode in its UNESCO Creative Cities…
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) June 23, 2024
Known as the city of Zamorins once, Kozhikode, also known as Calicut during British rule, served as the gateway to the coast for many foreigners, such as Persians, Arabs, Chinese, and eventually Europeans, centuries ago.
The cradle of the freedom movement in Kerala, Kozhikode has also been an important destination for book festivals for many decades.
Kozhikode is a city where there are over 500 libraries functioning and has been the base of literary activities of legendary Malayalam writer MT Vasudevan Nair for several decades.
Gwalior and Kozhikode from India are among the 55 new cities which have joined the UCCN. The new list was published on its website on the World Cities Day, which falls on 31 October.
These new cities were acknowledged for “their strong commitment to harnessing culture and creativity as part of their development strategies and displaying innovative practices in human-centred urban planning”, the UN agency had said in a statement.
The Kozhikode Corporation carefully considered a suggestion from the Kerala Institute of Local Administration and ultimately chose to go forward with its ambition of being the City of Literature in 2022.
Since Prague was the first city to receive the tag in 2014, the Kozhikode Corporation acted quickly. It contacted the University of Prague in the Czech Republic for help with the paperwork.
Prague University’s research student Ludmila Kolouchova travelled to Kozhikode and did a comparative study on Prague and Kozhikode.
Her research indicated that Kozhikode has over 70 publishers and over 500 libraries, giving the city a solid operational foundation.
The fact that the city annually hosts the Kerala Literature Festival and other book festivals supported its claim.
The majority of the requirements for the tag were met by the city, including having a sizeable number of businesses dedicated to advancing its literary culture, the capacity and experience to host a variety of literary events, a high standard of literary education, and a sizeable quantity, calibre, and diversity of literary activities.
Kozhikode has the distinction of being the publication hub for literary periodicals in Malayalam.
Literature is given significance by the numerous local newspapers and television networks that are headquartered in the city.
A national agency ranked Kozhikode as the second-greatest place to live in a few years ago.
The city is well-known for its rich cuisine, culture, and friendliness. This quaint city, previously known as Calicut, has a lot to offer visitors, including parks, wildlife, sculptures, museums, sanctuaries, hills, beaches, and rivers.
The Tali Temple and its environs served as the centre of the former Zamorin dynasty. Many of the royal residences were reportedly located near the temple, which served as the setting for the Vedic academics’ Revathi Pattathanam argument.
The temple pond and its surroundings are currently being renovated by the Tourism Department.
Renovations are also being undertaken in Kuttichira, a distinct area of the city that is home to two medieval mosques, the Mishkal Mosque and the Muchundi Mosque, as well as sizeable matrilineal Muslim ancestral homes.
While it continues to be the hub of the ancient martial art form Kalaripayattu — touted as the mother of all martial arts — Kozhikode is also home to the traditional Muslim art forms, Mappilappattu and Duff Muttu.
While Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh made it to the coveted list in the ‘Music’ category, Kozhikode earned a place in the ‘Literature’ category.
These cities join the list of places which received tags from the UNESCO including Bukhara – Crafts and Folk Art, Casablanca – Media Arts, Chongqing – Design, Kathmandu – Film, Rio de Janeiro – Literature, and Ulaanbaatar – Crafts and Folk Art.
With the latest additions, the UCCN now counts 350 cities in more than a hundred countries, representing seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.
The newly designated Creative Cities are invited to participate in the 2024 UCCN Annual Conference (July 1-5, 2024) in Braga, Portugal, under the theme ‘Bringing Youth to the Table for the Next Decade’, UNESCO had said in a statement.
(With PTI inputs)
