KOCHI: G memorial, a project which had gathered dust for more than one-and-a-half decades, is finally all set to become a reality. Literary critic M K Sanoo laid the foundation stone of the memorial of G Sankara Kurup, the first laureate of Jnanpith, on the 25 cents allotted by the government near Mangalavanam on Wednesday.
Architects Kumar Group will be implementing the project in an eco-friendly manner. The project cost will come to around Rs 3.1 crore. Allocations from plan fund, Amrut fund and Kochi corporation’s own fund will be used for the purpose.
Sankara Kurup had won the highest literary honour of the country for ‘Odakkuzhal’, an anthology of poems, in 1965, the very year of its inception.
Following the foundation stone laying ceremony, architect Gopakumar of Kumar Group made a presentation on the project. The memorial will consist of a forest space, lobby, art gallery, landscape, poet’s corner, knowledge park and tranquillity space. The forest area will look like sacred groves and it will provide a green cover for the G Memorial. After the forest area, the visitor will see the lobby.
Then, there will be an art gallery and the adjacent area has been earmarked for landscaping. The poet’s corner next to it will have books and other things related to G Sankara Kurup who brought laurels for Malayalam literature. Records of audio versions of the works by the great poet will be played in the poet’s corner.
The project designed during the tenure of C M Dinesh Mani as the mayor had been in the cold storage for various reasons. When M Anilkumar assumed office as mayor, the project gained momentum. He took the initiative to clear various hurdles before the project. Mayor presided over the foundation stone laying ceremony. B Bhadra, former deputy mayor and granddaughter of G Sankara Kurup, was the chief guest.
