Chinnakada Clock Tower

Chinnakada Clock Tower
Kollam Clock Tower

Clock Tower in Chinnakada, Kollam city
Coordinates 8°53′07″N 76°35′28″E / 8.885324°N 76.591188°E / 8.885324; 76.591188
Location Chinnakada, Kollam
Type Memorial
Material Brick and White Cement
Opening date 1944
Dedicated to K.G Parameswaran Pillai
(Former Kollam Municipal Chairman)

Chinnakada Clock Tower (Malayalam: ചിന്നക്കട ക്ലോക്ക്ടവര്‍) is a landmark in Kollam City in the Indian state of Kerala. Situated in the city center at Chinnakada, the tower lies in the heart of the city, close to Kollam Junction Railway Station.[1] As the first clock tower in the erstwhile Travancore state, it has now become a non-official emblem of the entire city and the major landmark of Kollam.[2]

History

The quadrangular clock tower was built in 1944 by the natives as a tribute to Unichakam Veedu K G Parameshwaran Pillai, the former chairman of Kollam Municipality from 1932–48. Construction of the tower began in 1941 and was completed three years later in brick and white cement. The tower has four clocks facing the four directions of the city, which were brought from Kolkata.[3][4]

Importance

Underpass works and Chinnakada Clock Tower

Chinnakkada is considered the heart of the Kollam and one of the major junctions in the city where National Highways – NH 66 (Earlier NH 47) meets NH 744 (Earlier NH 208). Because of the presence of a huge traffic circle in the junction, it became one of the busiest junctions in the state. To reduce the traffic congestion in Chinnakada, Kollam Municipal Corporation is now constructing a new underpass near to the clock tower.[5] The complex junction is the meeting point of roads from Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Sengottai, Ashramam, Kollam Beach and Kollam Port, Downtown Kollam and the City Bus Stand.

The development of the Chinnakada area including the clock tower is the most important junction development project by the municipal corporation. The works have been initiated by the shifting of city bus stand to Andamukkam.[6] The former Left Democratic Front Government of Kerala decided to develop Kollam as an international city using Delhi's Chandni Chowk as a model. The proposed complex was designed as a trade centre for products of the traditional industries in the district.[7]

Renovation

Kollam Municipal Corporation has allocated Rs. 2 million to renovate the clock tower. Work on the project will start after the completion of the Chinnakada Underpass.[8][9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ History of Kollam
  2. ↑ Kollam Clock Tower
  3. ↑ Kollam - Trawell.in
  4. ↑ India9.com - Kollam City
  5. ↑ Delay in underpass work: Congress dharna today
  6. ↑ "Restore Chinnakkada bus stand". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2014-08-21.
  7. ↑ Chandni Chowk-model complex for Kollam: LDF
  8. ↑ "No demolition of clock tower: Kollam Mayor". The Hindu. Retrieved 2014-11-18.
  9. ↑ "When'll the Clocks Tick Again?". TNIE. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
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