Velu Thampi Dalava
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Velu Thampi Dalava
Velayudhan Thampi or Velu Thampi Dalava as he is more popularly known was one of the first Travancoreans to rise against the British East India company.
He was born at Thalakkulam (in present day Kanyakumari District). Starting his career as a Tahsildar in the government service, he rose in prominence when he exposed the corrupt activities of a coterie surrounding the erstwhile Maharaja Sri Balarama Varma who was weak and inefficient. This coterie included persons like Jayantan Sankaran Namboodiri and a certain Tharakan. The Maharaja however appreciated his efforts and appointed him as the 'Dalava' (a post similar to that of a Prime minister).
Velu Thampi initiated wide-ranging reforms including land reforms. He introduced a new sysytem of land survey. One of his most famous acts was the Kundara Vilambaram (Proclamation from Kundara) which was one of the first calls for independence from the East India Company's meddling in the affairs of Travancore. He also took up the task of reinforcing the army of Travancore and procured weapons and ammunition. Velu Thampi's aspirations for Independence however did not go down well with the Company, and they pressurised the Maharaja to have him dismissed. The Maharaja who succumbed to these pressures dismmissed Velu Thampi and appointed Sri Ummini Thambi as the new Dalava. The East India Company , having tasted blood went after Velu Thampi with a vengeance. They demanded that the Maharaja have Velu Thampi arrested and tried for treason. The Maharaja had no choice but to accede to these demands and directed Ummini Thampi to have Velu Thampi captured.
Velu Thampi and his brother Padmanabhan Thampi took to their heels with the Maharaja's soldiers and the Company's soldiers in hot pursuit. He reached Mannadi (near Adoor) and overnight took refuge in the famous Mannadi Bhagavati temple. However the British came to know of his whereabouts and cornered him. They sent a message to him to surrender. A defiant Velu Thampi was determined not to let the British get hold of him. He prostrated before the Bhagavati and placed his sword before her in a token gesture of surrendering himself to the deity. He then asked his brother to slay him nefore the British did. When Padmanabhan Thampi hesitated Velu Thampi plunged his dagger into himself and took his own life, dying a martyr to the cause of his Motherland.
The British, though mocked at by Velu Thampi in his very death, brought his body to Thiruvananthapuram and attempted to disgrace his memory by having it hung atop a post at a hillock in Kannammoola (thereafer called 'Dalavakkunnu'and now part of a compound belonging to a theological seminary) to be devoured by birds of prey. They ensured that the body of this valiant hero did not get the respect it deserved by denying it the final rites. Their idea was to send a message to the citizens of Travancore that this fate would befall them if they dared to take on the might of the East India Company. Legend has it that Velu Thampi's ancestral house at Thalakkulam was razed to the ground and his relatives were deported to the Maldives.
Velu Thampi had the last word however. The East India Company gave way to the British Empire, though Travancore never came directly under the rule of the Crown. Finally the sun set on the Empire with India gaining independence and Velayudhan Thampi achieved immortality in the hearts and minds of his grateful countrymen. A majestic full-size statue of Velu Thampi Dalava stands in front of the Government Secretariat buildings in Thiruvananthapuram (hence the name Statue to denote this place) almost as if he were watching with pride present-day citizens breathing the free air of their motherland in whose liberation he played an important role.
