G. V. Raja

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Lt. Col. G. V. Raja

Lt. Col. Goda Varma Raja (13 October 1908 - 30 April 1971) popularly known as G.V. Raja, was the founder President of the Kerala State Sports Council.[1] He is considered the father of Tourism in Kerala.[2]

Personal life

Lt. Col. Raja was born to Ambalika Thamburatty (of Poonjar Royal House) and Puthusseri Narayanan Nampoothiri on 13 October 1908 at Poonjar in Kottayam. His wife was Her Highness Sree Padmanabha Sevini Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi of Travancore, the sister of Maharajah Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.[3]

Her Highness Sree Padmanabha Sevini Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi - Wife of Lt. Col. Godavarma Raja

The royal couple had four children namely H.H. Prince Sree Padmanabhadasa Avittom Thirunal Rama Varma (died at the young age of six due to a rheumatic heart condition), H.H. Pooyam Thirunal Gowri Parvati Bayi, H.H Aswathi Thirunal Gowri Lakshmi Bayi and H.H. Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma Kulasekhara Kiritapati Manney Sultan Maharaja Raja Ramaraja Bahadur, Shamsher Jang, Maharaja of Travancore(succeeded Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma as the titular[4][5] Maharaja Of Travancore as well as the Head of Travancore Royal Family & Supreme Guardian/Custodian[6] of Sree Padmanabhaswami Temple). He was an honorary Colonel in the Travancore state force.[7]

Contributions to sports

Lt. Col. Raja was an excellent sports man as well as the foremost promoter of sports on Kerala.He was a multi-talented man whose contributions ranged from sports promption, tourism, aviation industry & establishing necessary infrastructure for the promotion of all these varied fields.[8][9]

Lt. Col. Raja the great patron of sports established the sports council in 1954, the first of its kind in India. He took the initiative to form the Golf club association here. . A globe trotter, whatever good things he saw abroad, he earnestly established it in Kerala. He introduced Keralites to mountaineering & surfing. He had great love and affection for players, personal success mattered little to him as he was extremely passionate about sports and worked tirelessly for the benefit of the players. Lt. Col. Raja himself was an accomplished sportsman as well as a well trained mountaineer. He excelled in football, tennis, golf, cricket etc.[10][11]

Lt. Col. Raja invited Wimbledon champion Bill Tilden to play an exhibition match on 30 January 1938 to popularise Tennis in the state.[12] Following this, he founded the Trivandrum Tennis Club on 1 February 1938 at Shasthamangalam.[13] Raja was the president of Kerala Cricket Association from 1950 to 1953.[14] He became the first person from Kerala to become an office bearer of BCCIBoard of Control for Cricket in India when he became its Vice president. He was the founder president of the Travancore Sports Council that was formed in 1954. The Council was formed as the result of a meeting of 11 sports organizations of Kerala. After the formation of Kerala state, it became the Kerala State Sports Council. Lt. Col. Raja remained the President of the council till his death. The list of other organizations that he started includes Trivandrum Golf Club Committee,[15] Veli Boat Club, "Roller Skating Ring", "SreePaadam Stadium"and Trivandrum/Kerala Flying Club[16] (re-named as Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology). He served as the commandant of the Travancore University Labour core and was also the first Physical Education Director of the university.In 1953 he conducted Trivandrum-Kochi swimming competition. He formed the aquatic association and was the president of Lawn tennis association.[17]

Lt. Col. Raja played an important role in developing Kovalam as a major tourism destination.[18] He also took the initiative to develop the Trivandrum Airport.[19]

Death

In 1971 he went to Patiala, to participate in All India sports Council Conference. He made an unscheduled trip to the Kulu Valley on 30 April 1972. With Bolineye, the then Aero Club president, and his nephew Inderjith, G V Raja, flew in a three-seater aircraft. It nose dived and crashed,killing all its passengers including Lt. Col. Raja. He was aged 62 at the time of his death. He loved to ride aeroplanes till his death and it was the main reason for his active participation for the development of Thiruvananthapuram Airport, but at the time of his untimely death, the development programmes were still going on.He had great desire to see Viscount Flight landing in Trivandrum Airport. It first landed with his corpse in it. His dead body was taken to Thiruvananthapuram in an aeroplane from New Delhi and was cremated at Poonjar. The developed airport was inaugurated a few months later.[20]

Honours

The sports school in Thiruvananthapuram has been named G.V. Raja Sports School in his honour. A sports stadium in Thiruvananthapuram is named after him. Kerala State Sports Council has instituted the G.V. Raja award, awarded yearly for excellence in sport.[21] The Kerala Tourism Department's award for lifetime achievement in tourism is also named after him.[22] Lt. Col. Raja's birth anniversary, October 13, is observed as Kerala Sports day.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Kerala State Sports Council : KSSC Presidents". Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  2. ↑ "G.V. Raja birth centenary". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 12 October 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  3. ↑ "Kayikakelikalude Thampuran" (in Malayalam). Webduniya. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  4. ↑ "Though by the 26th amendment to the Constitution, Article 363 was repealed whereby the rights and privileges of the rulers of Indian states were taken away, still the name and title of the rulers remained as such and unaffected in so far as names and titles were not contemplated as rights or privileges under the repealed Articles 291 and 362 of the Constitution."
  5. ↑ HANEEF, MAHIR (2013-12-17). "'His Highness' isn't unconstitutional: Kerala high court". THE TIMES OF INDIA. Retrieved 27 January 2014. 
  6. ↑ Express News Service (4 January 2014). "Moolam Thirunal Anointed Custodian of Temple". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 22 January 2014. 
  7. ↑ "Goda Varma Raja" (in Malayalam). Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  8. ↑ n 1936, Queen, HH Karthika Thirunal choose Haylcon Palace for her honeymoon with her newly wed husband, Prince Consort Lt.Col.Godavarma Raja/G.V.Raja. It was Prince Consort G.V Raja who found immense tourist potentiality of Kovalam and decided promote the region among state guests, by inviting Thomas Cook & Sons- UK to develop the region. The Maharaja of Travancore , H.H. Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, soon started hosting regular state banquets and accommodation of his European guests in Kovalam Haylcon Palace. This made the beach popular among European families living in nearby Madras and Bombay Presidencies as well as elite Travancore families to spend their holidays. Thus, the move helped to lay foundations of modern tourism industry in South India.
  9. ↑ travel, Wiki. "Kovalam". Retrieved 27 January 2014. 
  10. ↑ He did mountaineering course in Switzerland, and enjoyed mountaineering at the Alps. He was a person with extraordinary ability to organize things. Amidst his busy schedule when Col. Thirumeni as he is called affectionately called reaches TTC other members would have finished their practice. He used to call the picker boys Maniyan or Thanakappan to play against him. And finally these two rose to the rank of State tennis players. He believed professional coaching is essential for sports too and brought A G Ram Singh to train cricket enthusiasts in Kerala.
  11. ↑ Maheshwari, Uma. "G.V.Raja (The history of Sports and Games in Kerala)". Kerala 4u.in. Retrieved 22 January 2014. 
  12. ↑ "Trivandrum Tennis Club : About us / History". Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  13. ↑ "Sports and Games in Kerala". Information & Public Relation Department, Kerala. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  14. ↑ "Profile of Kerala Cricket Association". Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  15. ↑ "Thiruvananthapuram Corporation : About City" (in Malayalam). Thiruvananthapuram Corporation. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  16. ↑ “Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology”, Thiruvananthapuram , originally established as the “Kerala Flying Club” by founder Lt.Col.G.V.Raja, was registered under the Indian Companies Act 1956 on 14.07.1959. In 1980, the name“ Kerala Flying Club” was changed to Kerala Aviation Training Centre and later in 1981 the Government of Kerala brought the institution under its direct control. Subsequently with the approval of the Director General of Civil Aviation, KATC was renamed as Rajiv Gandhi Academy for Aviation Technology a Society under the title Travancore Cochin Literary Scientific and Charitable Societies Act 1955.
  17. ↑ Maheshwari, Uma. "G.V.Raja (The history of Sports and Games in Kerala)". Kerala 4u.in. Retrieved 22 January 2014. 
  18. ↑ "Col. GODA VARMA RAJA The God Father of Kerala Tourism". Kerla Tourism Web Magazine. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  19. ↑ "Trivandrum International Airport/History, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"Trivandrum International Airport 'The airport was established in 1932 as part of the Royal Flying Club under the initiative of Colonel Goda Varma Raja, husband of HRH Princess Karthika Thirunal of Travancore Kingdom.[8] Col G.V Raja, being a trained pilot, felt the need an airport to accommodate Travancore in the aviation map of India. In 1935, on royal patronage of H.H Maharaja Chitra Thirunal, Tata Airlines made its maiden flight to the airport using DH.83 Fox Moth aircraft under command of India's first pilot Nevill Vintcent, carried two passengers Jamshed Navoroji, a Tata company official, and Kanchi Dwarakadas, commercial agent of Travancore to Bombay Presidency along with a special mail from Viceroy of British India, Lord Willingdon wishing birthday greetings to the Maharaja.[9] The first flight from the airport took off on 1 November 1935, carrying mails of Royal Anchal (Travancore Post) to Bombay. Soon in 1938, the Royal Government of Travancore acquired a Dakota aircraft as Maharaja's private aircraft and placed 1st squadron of Royal Indian Air Force (Travancore) for protection of state from aerial attacks.'
  20. ↑ Maheshawari, Uma. "G.V.Raja (The history of Sports and Games in Kerala)". Kerala 4u.in. Retrieved 22 January 2014. 
  21. ↑ "G.V. Raja award for Renjith". The Hindu. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  22. ↑ "Tourism award for Thankam Philip". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 20 January 2004. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 
  23. ↑ "Impressive function to mark Kerala Sports Day". Chennai, India: The hindu. 14 October 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2009. 

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