Maharaja's College, Ernakulam

The Maharaja's College is a government college of higher education located in Ernakulam, Kerala. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest colleges in India. Located in the heart of the city, the college is spread over a campus of 100,000 square metres (25 acres) on the banks of Vembanad Lake. Blanketed by tall and rare species of trees, its campus features is a mix of old and modern architecture and covers a total area of 19,525 m2 (210,170 sq ft), providing infrastructural facilities for the 22 departments of the college.

Not to be confused with Maharaja's College, Mysore.

Maharaja's College, Ernakulam
Former names
Cochin Raja's Elementary School
TypeGovernment
Established1875 (1875)
AccreditationNational Assessment and Accreditation Council
Academic affiliations
Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, University Grants Commission
PrincipalV S Joy
Undergraduates2082
Postgraduates600
Location
Kochi, Kerala
,
India

9.971°N 76.281°E / 9.971; 76.281
Websitewww.maharajas.ac.in

Campus

Library
The view from the oldest part of the college.

The college library is 135 years old and has a collection of nearly one lakh (hundred thousand) books, including a collection of rare literature books. The reference section itself has 2000 books.

Sport facilities

The university has 18 acres of land specifically dedicated to sports, including a 400-meter synthetic track, football and cricket grounds, courts for field hockey, volleyball, basketball, kho-kho, kabaddi and badminton, futsal, table tennis, carrom, chess, wrestling, weightlifting, judo, powerlifting etc.

Hostels
Old building that houses the Principal's Office at Maharaja's College

The Maharaja's College Rama Varma hostels include the new hostel for men and the ladies' hostel. The former has 90 rooms with a capacity of 240 students and two tutors; the latter has facilities for only 104 students and one tutor. Nowadays, the demand for accommodation in the ladies' hostel is greater than the availability due to the increase in the number of girl students. To remedy this situation, a concrete proposal for a women's hostel has been submitted to UGC during the IX plan.

Entrance of the college.
OSA meeting 2023

Milestones
A panoramic view of the rear entrance of the college.
  • 1875 - The Cochin Rajas Elementary school started by Cochin Sarkar is upgraded into a college. Mr. Alfred Forbes Sealy, M.A. took charge as the first principal. It was Mr. Sealy who had designed the building and hence the name Sealy block. F.A. (First examination in Arts) course started.
  • 1908 - Intermediate course started
  • 1909 - Two separate hostels started - one for Hindu students and another for Christian students
  • 1910 - First college magazine published - on the occasion of the 60th birthday of the Cochin Maharaja, Sir Sri Rama Varma.
  • 1925 - Golden Jubilee. Sir C.V. Raman and Dr. S. Radhakrishnan visited the college. The college got its present name - "Maharajas College". The college was raised to a first grade college providing instructions in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, History and Economics affiliated to Madras University. Old Students Association formed.
  • 1930 - Three new blocks added to the college. 15-acre (61,000 m2) plot donated to the college - Maharajas ground established.
  • 1935 - Diamond Jubily. B.Sc. Courses in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Zoology started.
  • 1947 - B.Sc. Botany started. Year of India's independence. Students' political activities reached new peaks. Student activists hoisted Indian national flag in the Campus and got brutally beaten up by the royal police.
  • 1948 - The department of Chemistry that already had research facility started the first P.G. course.
  • 1949 - Following the integration of Travancore and Cochin states, the college is transferred from Madras University to Travancore University.
  • 1951 - New courses - B.A. (Hons.), M.A. Economics, B.Sc. (Hons.), M.Sc. Mathematics.
  • 1954 - New course - M.Sc. Applied Chemistry.
  • 1956 - Pre University course started. M.A. Malayalam and M.A. English started.
  • 1957 - The college comes under Kerala University. M.Sc. Physics started.
  • 1959 - New courses - B.A.Sanskrit, M.A. History, M.A. Hindi, M.Sc. Zoology.
  • 1964 - Pre University Course metamorphed into Pre Degree course. New courses - B.A. Politics, B.A. Philosophy
  • 1968 - New courses - B.A.English, B.A. Islamic History, B.A. Arabic
  • 1971 - New courses - M.A. Philosophy, M.A. politics, M.A. Sanskrit
  • 1975 - Centennial - completed 100 years - celebrations in great style with science exhibitions, seminars, symposia etc.
  • 1977 - New Centenary Auditorium inaugurated.
  • 1979 - New course - M.A. Arabic.
  • 1981 - New courses - M.A. Islamic History.
  • 1983 - Affiliation changed to newly formed Mahatma Gandhi University.
  • 1990 - Maharaja's College declared Centre of Excellence. Departments of Chemistry, Hindi, Malayalam and Physics recognised as research centres for research towards Ph.D., under Mahatma Gandhi University.
  • 1993 - Maharaja's won overall championship of the Mahatma Gandhi University youth festival. A feat to be repeated in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 2000.
  • 1995 - New course - M.Sc. Statistics.
  • 1996 - New courses - B.Sc. Physics - Instrumentation and B.Sc. Environment and Water Management.
  • 1997 - R. Shankar Award for the best Government College presented to Maharajas.
  • 1998 - New course - B. A. Music
  • 1999 - New course - B.Com. with Computer Applications.
  • 2000 - Completes 125 glorious years. Accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council. Maharajas goes online.
  • 2006 - Re-accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council at A - level.
  • 2007 - Maharaja's College Ground gets synthetic tracks for conducting international athletic events. Students of the college win overall championship of the Mahatma Gandhi University Silver Jubilee youth festival.
  • 2009 - Edusat facility installed. Becomes part of Ernakulam cluster of colleges.
  • 2010 - Maharaja's wins overall championship of the Mahatma Gandhi University youth festival. College selected as a "College with Potential for Excellence" by the University Grants Commission.
  • 2012 - New course - M.Com. with Finance.
  • 2013 - Re-accredited (Third cycle) by National Assessment and Accreditation Council at A - level.
  • 2013 - New course - B.A. Honors in Economics
  • 2014 - Berlin Bench - the friend shade in memory of Berlin Babu was established
  • 2017 - Mridula Gopi became first woman chairperson in 70 years


Notable alumni

References
  1. "A special get-together at Maharaja's college". The Hindu. 17 December 2006. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
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