Maharajas College, Ernakulam

About Maharajas College, Ernakulam

he Maharajas College, Ernakulam, the biggest centers of learning and higher education in the state of Kerala. Though located in the heart of Cochin city, it is spread over a campus of 10 acres on the banks of Vembanad lake. Blanketed by tall and rare species of trees, its buildings are structures that speak of very old as well as modern architectural archetypes and cover a total area of 19,525sq.m. This house provides infrastructure facilities for the 19 departments of the college. This multidisciplinary center of higher learning had its humble beginnings as a single room English school started by Cochin Sarkar in 1845 'to impart such instruction to the students as would enable them to converse with Englishmen without the aid of an interpreter'. The school was upgraded into a college in 1875 and in June 1925 the college got its present name. It was raised to a first grade college providing instructions in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Zoology, History and Economics and affiliated to Madras University. At that time itself there were 2 hostels and physical education, literary and science associations functioning in full swing. Sir C V Raman and Dr S Radhakrishnan were among the speakers on the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 1925. The first PG course was started in 1947 in the department of Chemistry that already had research facilities holding to M.Sc and Ph.D. Following- the integration of Cochin and Travancore states the college was transferred from Madras to Travancore University in 1949. The further growth and development by way of student strength and diversification of courses were so rapid that the maintenance of steady equilibrium became difficult. The student strength rose from 500 in 1925 to 2802 in 1998 and the teaching faculty also followed a parallel increase from 21 to 195.

The college library is 125 years old and has a collection of nearly one lakh books including a prestigious collection of rare literature books. The reference section itself has 2000 books. However, lack of space is one of the vexing problems of the library. The construction of a 3-storied library complex will be starting soon with UGC assistance. A reference and information section, inter-library networking and Internet facility are some of the immediate requirements of the library.

Mission
To provide Human Resource Development at Under Graduate and Postgraduate levels with multi- optional facilities in 18 different disciplines.

To motivate urban, semi-urban and rural youth towards further pursuit of knowledge.
To equip them to serve the nation in its march towards self-sufficiency and progress in all areas of human endeavor.
To ensure that our knowledge and expertise serve the needs of the society at large through multi -pronged extension activities.

Vision
To provide quality education to youth from all sections of society, especially the deprived and disadvantaged, and to mould them into responsible citizens capable of serving the nation.

It is one of the five Centers of Excellence in the state. It is a special grade college affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam and placed under Section 2(f) by the University Grants Commission (UGC) It is accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council in 1999 at the level of three Stars. The college was selected for the R. Sank'ar Award for the best Arts and Science College in 1996-97. The college functions as a human resource development centre with 16 regular programmes at UG level, and 19 at PG level. In addition it offers two self-financing vocational courses, a vocational BCom and three add-on courses. There are 9 research centers recognized by the MG University and involved in research in the frontier areas with national and international collaborations.