Raja Kesavadas Statue

Raja KesavadasnnKesava Pillai also known as Raja Keshavadas (1745-1799; Sanskrit keśavadāsa) was the Dewan of Travancore during the reign of Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. He is well known for his planning skills and administrative acumen. He was the master mind in developing the Alappuzha town.nCurrently we the people of SD COLLEGE CONDUCTED A CLEANING campaign and made it much more BeautifulnSituated at kalarkodenNear NH 66 road sidenAlappuzha

The statue of the founder of our Alappuzha ( The Venice of the East). Raja Kesavadas was the Dewan of Travancore during the reign of Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. He was the master mind in developing the Alappuzha town. Raja Kesavadas was born as Kesava Pillai at a small hamlet called Kunnathur village Southern Travancore, in Kanyakumari district on March 17, 1745 in the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore. Although he had little formal education, knowing his abilities in mathematics, Puthukkada Chettiyar, a wealthy merchant from Palliyadi, appointed Kesava Pillai as his accountant, he was appointed as the apprentice of Pokkumoosa Marickar, a leading merchant and exporter. Pokumoosa was faithful to the Maharaja of Travancore, Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma and during a visit to his palace Kesava Pillai accompanied him; the maharaja was impressed by the skills of Kesava Pillai and he was appointed to the Travancore palace. When Tippu Sultan of Mysore attacked Travancore, Kesava Pillai was the commandant of the state army.nnTravancore army fought against the Mysore force under the leadership of Kesava Pillai and Tippu was forced to retreat. Recognizing his victory over the Mysore, the Karthika Thirunal Maharaja of Travancore appointed Kesava Pillai as Diwan of Travancore, he was glorified by the British Governor Mornington, by the title Raja in appreciation of his administrative talents. As Diwan, Raja Kesavadas was responsible for shifting the capital of Travancore from Padmanabhapuram to Thiruvananthapuram. Development of Alappuzha portHis all time contribution is finding an ideal location and constructing a well planned port city at Alappuzha, he found Alappuzha as the most suitable, because of the oceanic reasons. He constructed two parallel canals for bringing goods to port and offered infrastructural facilities to merchants and traders from Surat and Kutch to start industrial enterprises and cargo centres. Alappuzha became the financial nerve centre of Travancore during his time; the port was opened in 1762 for the export of coir-matting and coir-yarn.nnKesavadas built three ships for trade with Calcutta and Bombay, alleppey afforded a convenient depot for the storage and disposal of goods produce in the east. Construction of MC roadThe Main Central Road, the arterial State Highway in the Travancore region of Kerala state was constructed at the time when Raja Kesavadas was the dewan of travancore. Opening of Chalai MarketChalai Market was established towards end of 18th century by Raja Kesavadas with an intention to make this bazaar a central point for the supply of commodities to the Travancore kingdom. Killi and the Karamana rivers nearby were used to carry goods from different parts of Travancore state, his tenure of Diwan ended with demise of Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal in 1798. Balarama Varma, his successor aged fourteen became the crown prince, too young in the hands of Jayanthan Sankaran Nampoothiri. Raja Kesavadas was proclaimed as a traitor and kept under house arrest which helped Jayanthan Sankaran Nampoothiri to usurp the post of Diwan.His family assets were confiscated and was poisoned to death on 21 April 1799.

Raja Kesavadas (1745-1799) was the Dewan of Travancoreduring the reign of Dharma Raja Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma. He is well known for his planning skills and administrative acumen. He was the master mind in developing the Alappuzha town.

Good statue for a good human. Place is not good maintain

♡♡♡nIt is placed at west of national highway kalarkode junction.nn♡nThere is a building of keralauniversity. S.D college is situated some meters away from this statue.nn♡nStatue and surroundings not maintained well.nn♡nNo entry fee. We can see it by standing on road side.nn♡♡♡