Central Prison, Poojappura
| Location | Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram, India |
|---|---|
| Status | Operational |
| Security class | Central Prison |
| Opened | 1914 |
| Managed by | Kerala Government |
Central Prison, Poojappura, is situated in Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala state of India. It was established in Kerala in the year of 1914 as a part of Travancore [1] It is one of the three central prisons other than Kannur and Viyyur, situated in Kerala.
HISTORY OF CENTRAL PRISON, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Thiruvananthapuram Prison is one of the oldest recorded prison in Kerala. In Thiruvananthapuram jails are mentioned around 300 years back. Ettuveettil Pillamar were arrested by Marthanda Varma and kept in Trivandrum Prison. Some of them are executed inside the Jail. During Marthanda Varma’s time Captain Delanoy and the Dutch soldiers were arrested and kept in the Trivandrum Prison. Veluthampy Dalava is supposed to have kept former Diwan Jayanthan Namboothiri arrested and kept here.
This prison is associated with the arrest and detenton of several Freedom Fighters,writers,reformers,.. In subsequent period Raja Kesava Das and Thachil Mathoor Tharakan were arrested and kept here. The great literary figure Valiyakoyithampuran, though arrested, was not brought to the Jail. The Chief of Travancore Army Colonel Thampy, though innocent, was arrested and kept here and later hanged at Idichakkaplamoodu. Great freedom fighters Akkamma Cheriyan, Rosamma Punnoose along with five other women were the first women prisoners kept in this Prison in 1939. Hence the Prison has a long history. The Trivandrum Central Prison in the former State of Travancore came in to existence in 1873 accommodated in the Barracks of Nair Brigade inside the Fort by converting the Principal Jail, Trivandrum established in 1861. The Central Prison later shifted to its present location at Poojappura in September 1886. The Prison was located in Poojappura because of a special reason. Many freedom fighters and political leaders were detained here during the freedom struggle and after. The communist and naxalites in large groups were imprisoned post independently. Besides them the literary figures like Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, Ponkunnam Varky etc were the inmates of this prison. Basheer wrote in ‘Mathilukal’ about the realism and fantasy on his life as a prisoner. Former Naxal leader turned social activist K.Ajitha in her autobiography remembering in detail the days she spent behind bars in Central Prison, Trivandrum.
Several super hit malayalam films of the past were shot in and around this jail.
References
Princely state of Travancore, not kochi rajyam.