The Kerala Assembly on Monday (June 24) unanimously passed a resolution urging the Center to change the state’s name to “Kerala” in the Constitution. This is the second time such a resolution has been passed in the last year.
Kerala resolution
In the resolution presented by the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, “The name of our state in Malayalam is Kerala. However, the name of our state is written as Kerala in the First Schedule of the Constitution. This Assembly unanimously requests the Central Government to take immediate action under Article 3 of the Constitution to change the name of the State to Kerala.”
A similar resolution was passed on August 9 last year. The Chief Minister said that due to some technical problems, re-introduction is required. The earlier resolution sought amendments to the First Schedule (list of various states) of the Constitution.
It seeks an amendment to the Eighth Schedule (list of official languages). But on further investigation, it was realized that the latter claim was not included in the wording. So the resolution was modified and re-introduced,” Vijayan told the assembly.
Why Kerala?
The Malayalam word Kerala has become the English word Kerala. There are several theories regarding its etymological roots. The earliest mention of the term can be found in Emperor Ashoka’s Rock Edict II dated 257 BC. In it, “The reigns of King Priyadarsha, beloved of the gods, are everywhere. Dominions of his border emperors like Sodas (Cholas), Pandyas, Satyaputras, Keralaputras (Keralaputras)” are mentioned.
Keralaputra son of Kerala in Sanskrit refers to the Cheras dynasty, one of the three major kingdoms of South India.
German linguist Dr. Hermann Gundert suggested that the word keram is Kanarese (or Kannada) for ‘serum’.
It is used to refer to the coastal land between Gokarna (in Karnataka) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu, southern tip of India). The origin of the word may be from the Old Tamil ‘Sher’ which means to add.
The story of the state
The demand for a unified Malayalam-speaking state first gained momentum in the 1920s, and the princely states of Travancore and Cochin, Chennai It was intended to integrate the Malabar district of the province as well.
After independence on July 1, 1949, the two Malayalam-speaking princely states were merged to form Travancore-Cochin State. As per the recommendations of the State Reorganization Commission, the state of Kerala was finally created by creating language-wise states.
The commission under Syed Fazal Ali recommended the inclusion of Malabar district and Kasargod taluk in the Malayalam speaking state.
Notably, Travancore recommended the four southern taluks of Dovala, Agastheeswaram, Kalkulam and Udayangode along with parts of Sengottai (all these taluks are now part of Tamil Nadu).
