FIELD VISIT REPORT

FIELD TRIP REPORT

The field trip for the year first year B.Ed. students was organized on 19th October 2019. The field trip program of Government College for Teacher Education was planned for one day. It was a journey to famous places in and around Thiruvananthapuram City. The places were Aruvikkara dam, Koyikkal Palace, Kerala legislative assembly, Science and technology museum, Kuthiramalika Palace, Sunil’s wax museum and Vettucadu veli beach.

The field trip was organized for students belonging to physical science, natural science Malayalam Hindi Sanskrit and geography optional subjects. In total there were 27 students from various optional subjects and were accompanied by 5 teachers. All the students gathered at the college at around 7:45 a.m. The journey started by 8:00 a.m. The first destination was Aruvikkara dam followed by the Koyikkal palace. Because of some unavoidable reasons I could not visit Aruvikkara dam and Koyikkal palace. I joined the team at Kerala legislative assembly premises by around 11:15 a.m. In order to enter the Kerala legislative assembly we had to take entry pass and then we went to see the Kerala legislative assembly museum which is located right inside the Kerala legislative assembly complex.

i. Kerala legislative assembly museum and Kerala legislative assembly

The building was in fact the headquarters of the Travancore Nair brigade in 1868 and was later used as a military hospital. Later on, it was converted into legislative assembly museum and was inaugurated on 5th May 2006. The museum displays photos objects and artefacts that shows the rich democratic and political heritage of Kerala. The museum is designed in a way that every visitor gets a knowledge about the history of Kerala assembly. The museum has a section dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi. After watching the museum we went to see the Niyamasabha Mandiram. There was a guide who described all the details about the building.

The Niyamasabha mandiram located in Palayam Thiruvananthapuram is the seat of the Kerala legislative assembly. In 1979 Neelam Sanjeeva reddy the president of India laid the foundation stone of the complex. The Niyamasabha mandiram has 8 floors. Central hall is in the fifth floor, where the assembly is held. The Central hallhas eight galleries which can accommodate around 750 people at a time. Also there is a media box. The Central hall is fully furnished with Nilambur teakwood. The ceiling of the Central hall is painted with a halogen paint which contains K13 silicone which is an excellent sound absorber and prevents echo. The Central hall has 170 halogen light which prevents the formation of shadow. The Central hall has a Dias exclusively for the speaker and three sets of tables for the executive staff members. There are 141 seats arranged in in alphabetical order for the MLA and ministers. Each seat is provided with microphone and electronic voting system. The background wall of the Central hall has a large portrait of Mahatma Gandhi. There is a monitor which is used to display the electronic voting result. The guide then described about the security system and pass issuing system which is followed. There was a lady guide who explained all the details about the history and infrastructure of the Niyamasabha mandiram

After visiting the Niyamasabha mandiram we went to the Science and technology museum which is located in PMG Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram. Since we were late we could not see the show. We had our lunch at the museum premises and started our journey to Kuthiramalika.

ii. Kuthiramalika

Kuthiramalika Palace is situated adjacent to Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple in East fort, Thiruvananthapuram district. The palace was built by Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma. We reached Kuthiramalika by around 2:45 p.m. We were guided by a guide who described as about the palace. The palace got its name because of the 122 two horses that are carved on the roof of the southern part of the palace. The official name of the palace is Putten Malika. The palace was constructed by 5000 workers in 4 years. The palace was left unoccupied for about 150 years after the death of Swathi Thirunal who had lived in the palace for only 7 years. Later on, the 20 rooms of the palace where opened for the visitors in 1995.The palace is made from teakwood, rosewood, marble and granite. Guide told that even though there are 80 rooms in the palace only 20 where opened for the visitors and the remaining 60 where closed due to court issues. The floors of some rooms in the palace where made of egg white charcoal and limestone. Guide showed us various collections displayed in the palace which includes Belgium and Italian mirrors, paintings, musical instruments, cradles made from elephant trunk collection of weapons used for hunting, sculptures made from Italian marble, royal thrones made from elephant trunks and crystal etc. The guide told us that the ceiling of the library room was painted using natural flower and leaf extracts. Guide showed us the meditation and music composing room used by the king. One of the rooms displays the 3D image of Sree Chithira thirunal balarama Varma. After visiting the palace we then went to chitralayam art gallery, which is located inside palace. The displays historical photos and portraits related to Travancore and Cochin royal dynasty. In the art gallery we saw the real stuffing of the head portion of an elephant named Chandrashekaran. The stuffing was done by a process called taxidermy. Taxidermy is the preserving of an animal's body via mounting or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study.

Then by around 4: 00p.m we moved to our next destination which was Sunil's wax museum located near to Kuthiramalika palace.

iii. Sunil’s wax museum

Sunil wax museum is a wax new museum started by Sunil Kandalloor. The wax museum has 27 sculptures of famous celebrities related to politics, arts, sports etc. There was a guide who gave us instructions as well as detailed description about sculptures .Sculptures of the following personalities where displayed.

Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Anna Hazare, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Sai Baba, Prakash Raj, Indira Gandhi, Ravi Shankar, Rabindranath Tagore, APJ Abdul Kalam, Mohanlal, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Narendra Modi, V S Achuthanandan, Rajinikanth, Baahubali Prabhas, Abhinandan varthaman, Kareena Kapoor, Salman Khan, MGR, Sree Narayana Guru, justice Krishna Iyer, Raja Ravi Varma, Rajiv Gandhi, BR Ambedkar, Dada Saheb Phalke.

Some of the sculptures at wax museum

After visiting the wax museum we went to Vettucadu veli beach.

iv. Vettucadu veli beach

We reached the beach by around 5:00 pm. The famous church popularly known as Vettukad Palli was situated there. Since it was evening time there was a lot people at the beach. I got the opportunity to enter the church. We spent around 45 minutes at the beach. We had a lot of fun playing with friends at the beach. By 5:45 p.m. we started our journey back to college. On the way back to college we stopped for 10 minutes and had tea.

A few students where dropped at the railway station and Thampanoor bus stop and the remaining students along with teachers went back to the college.

Conclusion

For me, it was a wonderful experience because it was for the first time I was visiting almost all the places accept the Science and technology museum. The field trip has provided situations for student teachers to learn and get acquainted with the process of organizing and conducting a study tour or field trip.