Kerala Bhawan

Considering Samajam’s commendable activities during the barely four years of existence since 1999, Government of Punjab allotted a piece of land measuring 1000 square yards at Sector 65 (Phase XI), Mohali (SAS Nagar), adjacent to International Cricket Stadium, Mohali in the year 2003.  For a socio-cultural organisation that was still in its infancy, allotment of such a large piece of land in a prominent area by a Government agency at subsidized rate has been one of the extraordinarily celebrated event.  Samajam could take possession of the land immediately after the allotment and constructed boundary wall towards first step to set up Kerala Bhawan - a cultural centre and a hub of pride and a long cherished dream of Keralites living in Mohali, Chandigarh and Panchkula, aiming furtherance of its commitment towards the society.   A land dedication ceremony was also organized on 18 January 2004 involving the public.

Following the Bhoomi Pooja on 29th November 2005, foundation stone of the proposed Kerala Bhawan was laid by Mr. TKA Nair, IAS, the then Principal Secretary to Prime Minister on December 11, 2005. Other dignitaries present during the occasion were Mr. Raghunath Sahay Puri, the then Minister for Urban Development & Housing, Govt. of Punjab; Mr. Bir Devinder Singh, then MLA, Kharar Constituency; Mr. K. Koshy, then DGP (Vigilance) Haryana, Dr. John V. George, then ADGP (Law & Order), Haryana and Mrs. Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha, then OSD to Chief Minister of Punjab and other great personalities like Shri. PV Sudhakaran, Chairman, Land & Building, Shri. A.J. Philip, then Chief Editor, The Tribune, Shri. Charles Samuel, Chairman, Mount Carmel School, Chandigarh.

Financial assistance of Rs.6 lakhs for setting up of Kerala Bhawan was released on April 4, 2006, by the then MLA, Kharar Constituency Sardar Bir Devinder Singh, on behalf of Mr. Surinder Singla, then Finance Minister, Government of Punjab and Mr. Raghunath Sahay Puri, then Minister for Urban Development & Housing, Government of Punjab, who announced the same during the Foundation Stone laying ceremony.

Construction of the building was taken up immediately after this and many other activities towards realization of funds for continuing construction were also started parallely.  With the rigorous and committed initiatives by the then Managing Committee members, the construction of Phase I was completed in time and the building was made inhabitable.

Kerala Bhawan was inaugurated on September 23, 2012 by Shri. Pawan Kumar Bansal, the then Hon’ble Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, as Chief Guest and Sardar Balbir Singh Sidhu, then MLA, Mohali as Special Guest, and thrown open to public.  The present setup is a hall and stage with elevated balcony for accommodating about 500 persons for holding public functions.  It also has an office and exhaustive Library with the literary works in both Malayalam and English.  The Library has books from art, literature, culture and civilization other than the books on current affairs.  

Phase II:
Samajam plans to construct the 2nd phase of Kerala Bhawan with integrated facilities having one big Conference hall and rooms for various cultural and literary activities like Music and Dance classes.  Construction activities of the Phase II shall be started in the near future.

 
 
 

-: © Malayalee Samajam Mohali :-