Gundert park looks for a new lease of life

THALASERRY: The Gundert park,  which sports  the bronze statue of Dr Hermann Gundert,  the German missionary, scholar and linguist, who is known for his immense contribution to Malayalam language and journalism,  is one of the iconic spots in Thalassery.  But the park, located in the heart of Thalassery town near the municipal stadium, is looking for a new lease of life as it is uncared for and is  a safe haven for stray dogs and weeds.

Though occasionally voluntary organisations clear the park, it still lacks a permanent maintenance system. The park and the statue are major tourist attractions, especially for the Germans. The park houses many trees planted by eminent persons,  including the mayor of Gundert’s  hometown Calw and his relatives from Germany. It was during the occasion of Gundert’s  death centenary in 1993 that  the then culture minister T.M Jacob announced the establishment of a memorial. In August, 2000 the then chief minister E.K. Nayanar unveiled the statue.  This  and the three cents of revenue land were handed over to the culture department for maintenance.

Dr Hermann GundertHowever, no set-up was established by the department to take care of the statue and the park. “We were able to establish the park and the statue through the public contribution and government help. We are planning to approach the government to maintain the park to preserve its  grandeur,” said Mr A.C Mathew, the then RDO who had taken the efforts to establish the memorial. The statue was  made by noted sculptor Jeevan Thomas. During every Vijayadashami day, Vidyarambham function is organised here.  Thalassery  Agri-Horticultural Society president Aluppy Keyi told DC that the society was  planning to plant rare varieties of fruit trees in the park.

Dr Hermann Gundert Hermann Gundert was born in Stuttgart in Germany on February 4, 1814. At the age of 22, he left Germany for India for missionary work and settled at Illikkunnu in Thalassery. During his stay there  for 22 years, he worked for the development of Malayalam language and journalism. He started the first Malayalam newspaper, ‘Rajyasamacharam,’ in 1847 and also launched another newspaper ‘Pashchimodayam.’ Gundert compiled a Malayalam grammar book, ‘Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam’ (1859) and  worked on the Bible translations into Malayalam. After his return to Germany, he completed the Malayalam-English dictionary.