'Akshara shilpam' to adorn City of Letters from May 31

KOTTAYAM: On the silver jubilee of becoming the first city in the country to achieve 100% literacy, Kottayam will be honoured with a tribute befitting its sobriquet. On May 31, chief minister Oommen Chandy will unveil the 'akshara shilpam' sculpted by Kanayi Kunhiraman on the premises of the 133-year-old public library here.
The work depicts a mother teaching the Malayalam alphabet to her youngest son who is sitting on her lap, while her daughter watches with books in hand.Another son is lying on the floor next to the woman's feet and reading a book.
Built using cement, the sculpture is around 33 feet high. "Apt for the City of Letters, the sculpture teaches us that our mother tongue shapes our culture. It is through language that we learn culture and the best teacher of language is our mother. It is she who imparts the first lessons of language to the child," Kanayi said. Next to the sculpture, is a platform 'akshara muttam' where children can be initiated into the world of letters (vidyarambham) by the mother.
There is also a nine-feet-tall 'soorya vattam', an abstract sculpture in stainless steel. This is the first time the artist is experimenting with the medium and he has also given different colours to the steel. The sculpture depicts the connection between mother earth and the sun.
'Vanarodhanam' a semi-realistic work created entirely in metal is also part of the work. "It is related to ecology and shows living things such as birds facing extinction, struggling to survive in this world," Kanayi said. Other installations show the evolution of Malayalam letters over the years.
The entire work has come up in an area close to half-an-acre and has been beautified by landscaping and seating facilities. The artist and his wife have been residing in the public library complex for the past two years for the work.
According to Kottayam Public Library president Abraham Itticheriya, the works cost around Rs 56 lakh. While the government provided Rs 15 lakh, up to Rs 4 lakh was sourced through a life-membership enrolment campaign, Itticheriya said. The library also recently won a lawsuit entitling it to Rs 26 lakh as rent arrears from tenants. "The remaining Rs 11 lakh was spent from the library's supply fund," he said.
The art work has created an open leisure space in the heart of the town which would have otherwise been occupied by a concrete structure," Itticheriya said.