Maruthi Vilas, once a meeting point for politicians, journalists, cultural and social activists now stands empty, dark, and forlorn. Located on Cannon Shed Road, close to the Ernakulam boat jetty, this iconic hotel is on the verge of being demolished. Another historic landmark will soon disappear into the gauze of memory.
Not really luxurious or sophisticated Maruthi Vilas was a typical midtown boarding and lodge with a character of its own. For more than half a century at least it hosted celebrities; politicians made it their home, theatre actors made it their rehearsal camp. It was the city’s ‘place of occasion.’
Today, this place is run down. There are a few trade union offices that function out of this building. Electric supply has been cut for some time now. The ‘lobby’ still has its wooden, glass-topped cash counter with faded pictures of gods and goddesses on the washed out blue wall. A wooden staircase leads to the lodging above. On the ground floor was the famous restaurant that made hot, crisp, ghee dosas, memories of which old-timers still savour. Black-and-white photographs of the owner Rama Achar and his son Narayana Bhat occupy the space above the door that must have led to the main ‘dining hall.’
“My earliest memory of this hotel was when I was in school. Prof. Gopal Iyer, from Presidency College, Madras, had come to Maharaja’s College as an external examiner. He was my father’s professor. One evening he took me along with my father and Appan Thampuran to Maruthi Vilas, which then functioned out of Broadway. I had mango juice there,” remembers V.N. Venugopal, local historian.
By the early 1950s Maruthi Vilas became a hub of political activity. “Every evening after tennis I used to walk to Shanmugham Road where you could sit and listen to the music from the loudspeakers. Kunjappan, the peon of Maharaja’s College, used to watch me take this route close to Maruthi Vilas. He once stopped me and told me not to walk that way. Later, I came to know that Kunjappan’s worry was that I would be drawn into the study classes for Communists that were held in one of the rooms in this hotel,” adds Venugopal.
From then, till today Maruthi Vilas has been a popular destination for politicians, especially the Communists. “Room No. 54 was where A.P. Varkey, CPI-M’s long-standing district secretary stayed for more than four decades. Azhikodan Raghavan attended a meeting here, which turned out to be his last. He left at around 5 p.m. walked to the bus stand and took a bus to Thrissur where he was killed. Another important historic event that links this hotel to history is that of the swearing-in ceremony of the first Communist ministry in the world. Before the swearing –in at TDM Hall the Polit Bureau held a meeting at this hotel,” informs Ravi Kuttikad, journalist.
It was not just the Left parties that made Maruthi Vilas their den. Theatre personalities like P.J. Antony, N.N. Pillai who had rehearsals of plays here and Vaikom Mohammed Basheer often spent time here. “Basheer who had his book stall close to the hotel stayed above a tailoring shop owned by Francis that was located at the corner of Cannon Shed Road. There used to be a small eating place close to Maruthi that offered clean, homely food at comparatively low cost. The Prabhat Book House and two Communist party offices, all made this road very active,” says Ravi.
Sreedharan Nair came to this hotel nearly 35 years back as a cleaner. Though the hotel is on the verge of being demolished he continues to stay here finding work in one of the thattukadas nearby. “I have spent my whole life in this hotel. I have seen so many great leaders and personalities here. E.K. Nayanar, for example, used to stay here and continued to visit the hotel even when he was the Chief Minister. The food was much sought after and though the rooms were not very luxurious people found it comfortable. The location was also ideal,” remarks Sreedharan Nair, who hails from Cherthala.
Y. Shantaram, noted ghanjira artiste, and his brother, sons of Narayana Bhat, managed the hotel with the help of managers from 1982 to 2003. “Busy with my concerts it was my brother who was actually in-charge. In the heydays there were around 70 rooms and five to six buildings in the compound. I studied at the Swati Thirunal College of Music, Thiruvananthapuram, and whenever I came home I used to go to the hotel and help my father,” he says.
The first male playback singer in Malayalam the late T.K. Govinda Rao, once told this writer how he used to go to Maruthi Vilas, owned by one of his uncles and assisted him. And it was while he was sitting at the cash counter that he was invited to Salem to sing in the 1948 film Nirmala .
CPI (ML) Red Flag opened its first office in the district in this hotel and they continue to function from the same room. Charles George, District Secretary and State Secretariat member, sits in the office, papers strewn on a small table, a few chairs lying around and shelves with dusty files and papers. “As a student and part of the library movement I used to come to Maruthi Vilas. I have met so many leaders here. We set up our office in 1987-88. I used to stay in the office and whenever football was on television used to watch it in A.P. Varkey’s room.
All the rallies and processions of the Left parties used to begin from here, what we called Maruthi junction. And it is this historic landmark that will soon become a memory,” feels Charles.
