The Maharaja's College is a government college located in the city of

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

in Kerala, India. Established in 1875, it is one of the oldest colleges in India. Located in the heart of the city, the college campus is spread over on the banks of

Vembanad Lake Vembanad () is the longest lake in India, and the largest in the state of Kerala. The lake has an area of 2,033 square kilometers and a maximum length of 96.5 km. Spanning three districts in the state of Kerala, it is known as Vembanad L ...

. The infrastructure of Campus is a mix of old and modern architecture. The college is ranked 53rd among colleges in India by the

National Institutional Ranking Framework National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology released annually by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the former Ministr ...

(NIRF) in 2024.

Campus

Library

The college library is 135 years old and has a collection of nearly one

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

(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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

grounds, courts for

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, kho-kho,

kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...

and

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

carrom Carrom is a tabletop game of Indian origin in which players flick discs, attempting to knock them to the corners of the board. In South Asia, many clubs and cafés hold regular tournaments. Carrom is commonly played by families, including c ...

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

weightlifting Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

powerlifting Powerlifting is a competitive strength athletics, strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: Squat (exercise), squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athle ...

etc.

Hostels

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. Maharajas Entrance

Milestones

* 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 The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

. Old Students Association formed. * 1930 - Three new blocks added to the college. 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

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. * 1960 - First Ph.D. work completed by P S Raman (Department of Chemistry) * 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 Kochi 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 * 2020 - Integrated MA Archaeology 5 year course was added * 2024 - Maharaja's wins overall championship of the Mahatma Gandhi University youth festival which took place in Kottayam.

Notable alumni

* A. K. Antony, former Chief Minister of Kerala and Former Defence Minister of India *

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, film director, producer *

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, film director, cinematographer * Anju Joseph, singer * Antony Varghese, actor * Anu Sivaraman, judge, High Court of Kerala *

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, film director, producer * Ashitha, author *

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, film actor * Baburaj, film actor *

Balachandran Chullikkadu Balachandran Chullikkad (born 30 July 1957) is an Indian poet, orator, lyricist and actor in Malayalam-language media. Early life Balachandran was born in Paravur, Ernakulam, Kerala, India. He completed his graduation in English literature fr ...

, poet, film actor, lyricist, screenplay writer * Bibin George, actor and writer *

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, playback singer * Binoy Viswam, Former Member of Parliament * C. V. Subramanian, mycologist,

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recipient *

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, poet * Chinmayananda Saraswati, founder of

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* Chitharesh Natesan, Mr. Universe, 2019 *

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, Indian scriptwriter, producer, author and actor. *

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, film actress * K. G. Balakrishnan, former

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* K. K. Kochu, Dalit activist and writer * Justice K. K. Usha, former Chief Justice of Kerala * K. P. Appan, literary critic * K. P. Thomas (artist), Indian contemporary artist * K. R. Gowri Amma, former minister of Kerala * K. S. Manilal, taxonomist * K. Satchidanandan, poet * K. Sukumaran, former judge of Bombay and Kerala High Courts * K. V. Ramanadhan, writer * Kalabhavan Abi, actor *

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, former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation * M. Achuthan, orator * M. Leelavathy, writer, academic * M. N. Vijayan, writer *

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, film actor *

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, physician * Mercy Ravi, writer, senior Mahila Congress leader and former MLA * N. S. Madhavan, author, civil servant *

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, actor, director * O. Chandrashekar, Olympian and Asian Games Gold Medal winner in football * P. K. Chathan Master, former minister of Kerala * P. T. Thomas, MLA * Priya A. S., writer * R. Ramachandran, poet * Radha Vinod Raju, IPS *

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, film director, cinematographer, producer * S. D. Shibulal, co-founder and former CEO of

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* Sabareesh Prabhaker, violinist *

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, film actor, comedian *

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, film director, cinematographer *

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, film actor *

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, actress * Sebastian Paul, politician, former Member of Parliament * Seethi Sahib, legislative assembly speaker, community leader * Justice Shaji P. Chaly, Judge of

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, poet, lyricist *

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, actress, classical dancer *

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, writer *

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, singer * Sunil P. Ilayidom, critic * T. A. Venkitasubramanian, biochemist,

recipient *

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, journalist, columnist * T.M. Thomas Isaac (1956), Finance Minister of Kerala *

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, film actor, comedian * Vaikom Viswan, former LDF Convenor *

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(1956), writer, playwright, and screenwriter *

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) is an Indian politician, who served as the

, former Cabinet Minister for Overseas and Civil Aviation Affairs of India and Senior Congress Leader * Venu Rajamony I.F.S, Diplomat and Ambassador of India to the Kingdom of Netherlands * Vijayalakshmi, Malayalam poet *

Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon (11 May 1911 – 22 December 1985) (also written as Vailoppilli) was an Indian poet of Malayalam literature. Known for his works such as ''Kudiyozhikkal'', ''Kannikkoythu'' and ''Mambazham (poem), Mambazham'', Menon wa ...

, poet * K.N. Ninan, Space Scientist,

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References

External links

* {{Authority control Arts and Science colleges in Kerala Universities and colleges in Kochi Colleges affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala 1875 establishments in India Educational institutions established in 1875 Academic institutions formerly affiliated with the University of Madras