Exhibition on history of mental health centre in Kozhikode begins

Expo held as part of sesquicentennial celebrations of the institution

It was once called the ‘Lunatic Jail’ and housed distressed personnel in the British Indian Army, so that they did not cause ‘trouble’ in the society.

It was governed by the Prisons department until Independence, after which it was moved under the Health department. The Government Mental Health Centre at Kuthiravattam in Kozhikode has come a long way since the time when admission there was considered equivalent to doom. Celebrating its sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) year, it’s now a model institution that serves the society in multiple dimensions.

An exhibition on the history of the centre, which turns out to be the history of mental health care in north Kerala, that began in its campus on Sunday opens the door to an eventful past. “We only planned to put up some photographs from the past as part of the Continuing Medical Education programme here on Sunday. But when we started, a lot of information sprung up and we were hooked,” said Vinod S.S., Clinical Psychologist at the centre, who, along with Psychiatric Social Worker Sreepriya C.K. put up the show.

It began in 1872 as the Kozhikode Lunatic Asylum. The name was changed to Mental Hospital somewhere along the way. The exhibition tracks the developments in the facility, especially during the pre-independent era. It shows how the British officers celebrated every Indian festival at the asylum and allowed the inmates to have pet animals with them.

A bullock cart, which could be dubbed as an archaic ambulance, was introduced in the centre in 1892. The hospital had a dairy farm in the 1920s and a coconut oil mill since 1939. The expo also recalls several stories including the death of a convict due to misunderstanding in 1936 and the legal battle to operate a radio in 1939.

The centenary celebrations of the hospital was held in a grand manner in 1972 and so was its post centenary silver jubilee. The expo also recalls the contributions of various superintendents of the hospital over the years, including Ayyathan Gopalan and K.R. Balakrishnan. The hospital has undergone a multitude of changes in recent years.

The official sesquicentennial celebrations will be held in a few months time.