Jawahar Bal Bhavan Thrissur

Jawahar Bal Bhavan Thrissur

Jawahar Bal Bhavan Thrissur Logo
Type	Music and Arts Institution
Established	1991
Principal	Prof P R Jacob
Director	M K Varghese
Academic staff	15
Students	300
Location	Chembukkavu, Thrissur, Kerala, India
Campus	Urban, nearly 1 acre of wooded land

The Jawahar Bal Bhavan Thrissur (Malayalam: ജവഹര്‍ ബാലഭവന്‍ തൃശൂര്‍, JBB Thrissur) is an autonomous music, dance and arts school in central Kerala and functions under the cultural department of government of Kerala.It is situated at Chembukkavu in Thrissur (formerly Trichur) district. Founded in 1991, it is one among the best Bal Bhavans all over in India.

JBB Thrissur is a non residential institute that occupies around one acre land which is very near to Thrissur Public Library and Sangeetha Nataka Academy. The institute has nearly 16 faculties, 300 students and around 7 administrative and supporting staff. Growing ever since its establishment JBB Thrissur is a leading music and arts school, producing highly trained students each year.

Vision

Today’s children are the leaders; the hopes of tomorrow. The primary aim of establishing a reputed institution like Jawahar Bal Bhavan is overall development of children. We find ourselves in a world that denies children of their childhood. The significance an institutions such as Bal Bhavan is that it creates an ideal surrounding for the overall growth of a child. Developing natural and creative instinct among children especially in the area of art, music, literature, drama and science are the necessity of time. JBB Thrissur effectively carries out a cultural intervention in the above lines and for the past years, the institution has played a crucial role in developing such skills among the children.

We aim at an educational system that would nurture the creative urge in children, showing them the endless horizon of development and knowledge. At present JBB Thrissur is gifted with the service of a handful of teachers who know child psychology quite well and the existing management committee provides an apt leadership. It is quite imperative in our sociopolitical environment to understand and recognize the fact that many of the growing children have a lot of expectations and dreams about their future. Society indeed has a definite role to open its corridor towards a world of love, affection, peace, prosperity and developing natural instincts and abilities of children. JBB Thrissur promises all these along with entertainment, happiness, virtues, wisdom and curiosity to the children.

History

Jawahar Bal Bhavan was set up in India to commemorate 'Chacha Nehru'. Famous freedom fighter Sri. Kuroor Neelakandan Nampoothiripadu took the initiative to establish ‘Jawahar Bal Bhavan’ in Thrissur. Even though the task of constructing a building was given to the Construction Corporation, due to financial constraints on the part of 'Jawahar Bal Bhavan' the contractor did not hand over the possession of the same in time. Ultimately, owing to the prolonged protest by cultural activists, in 1990, the then honorable minister for culture Sri. T.K.Ramakrishnan took necessary measures to ensure the possession and ownership of the building in the name of 'Jawahar Bal Bhavan'. The institution started functioning from 8 April 1991 and was inaugurated by the then honorable minister Sri. V.V.Raghavan. Sri. K.Radhakrishnan (former Mayor of Thrissur) was the first executive director of JBB Thrissur. A by-law was approved on 26 August 1992 and the institution was registered as a charitable society as per TC Act 12, 1955.

Campus

The main entrance of JBB Thrissur is at the Chembukkavu Junction. The campus is close to the Thrissur Public Library, Thrissur Museum, Kerala Sate Financial Enterprises, Ramanilayam, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy, Regional Theatre, Indoor Stadium Sports Complex, Prof Joseph Mundassery Smaraka Mandiram.

The campus is just 2 km from the Thrissur Round, 4 km from the Thrissur Junction Railway station, and is connected by buses particularly those going to Ramavarmapuram region and Mannuthy region from North Bus Stand.

This institution is an ideal place to develop the creative and natural abilities of children. The campus is enriched with age old giant trees which gives a nostalgic feeling to many. These trees besides providing scenic beauty remains as an excellent habitat for various birds. Visitors are greeted with a fighter jet which served in the historic Indo-Pak conflict of 1974. There are two buildings of which one is 2 storied where classes are held for different subjects and the other is a hall.

Departments

Jawahar Bal Bhavan Thrissur offers courses for 15 disciplines viz

• Classical Music
• Classical Dance
• Violin
• Mridangam
• Tabla
• Guitar
• Crafts
• Drama
• Clay Modelling
• Computer Education
• Drawing
• Magic
• Tailoring
• Judo
• Kungfu

Note: Ottamthullal classes has been discontinued from 2011 due to less number of students taking the course.

Teachers

Faculty under various departments

• Classical Music: Smt.Jayamalini.V.S, Diploma Holder from S.R.V Music School, Thrissur
• Classical Dance: Smt.Parvathy.V.S, Diploma Holder in Mohiniyattam and Bharathanatyam from 'Trichur Natana Niketan'.
• Violin: Sri.Ramaprasad, Diploma Holder from Chembai Sangeetha College. Has been teaching since 1991.
• Mridangam: Sri.Biju.P.G, Diploma Holder in Mridangam from Kerala Kalamandalam.
• Tabla: Sri.Mahesh.K.Mon, Studied Tabla from Trichur Chinmaya Kala Mandir, Higher studies from 'Dilli Kharana'.
• Guitar: Sri.Joyal Joseph, Has accompanied for many bands.
• Crafts: Smt.K.Ramadevi, Freelance Craft Worker, Holder of Handicraft Course Development Certificate from Ministry of Textiles.
• Drama: Sri.T.V.Balakrishnan, Graduation from School of Drama, Calicut University and P.G in Drama Direction from Madurai Kamaraj University.
• Clay Modelling: Sri.I.K.Kunjunni, P.G Diploma Holder from Institute of Fine Arts.
• Tailoring: Smt.Vasanthy, excellent in the style of stitching.
• Judo: Sri.Joy Varghese.K, Sports Diploma Holder from Judo Federation of India.
• Kungfu: Sri.Xavier Jacob.T.J, Second stall Black Belt Diploma Holder under Sri.Kalai Achoni(World Grand Master, Holland)

Academics

Violin class at Jawahar Bal Bhavan Thrissur

Jawahar Bal Bhavan Thrissur offers courses across 16 disciplines in music, dance, arts and even martial arts. About 16 highly experienced and talented faculty members belonging to the above mentioned fields are engaged in teaching and guiding the students.The institute has 16 departments and regular classes( from June to March) are conducted on all days except on Mondays and Tuesdays. On weekends, classes begins at 8:00AM and ends at 1.30PM while on other working days the class hours are between 4.00PM and 6.00PM. Each student can take utmost 3 subjects of their choice and can attend the classes in their assigned slots.

Other Academic Activities

• Venalkoodaram

Venalkoodaram, a two-month long summer camp for children up to the age of 17 is an attractive initiative from JBB Thrissur. Over 1,500 students from different parts of the state are attending this camp to explore traditional arts, dances, music and even martial arts. This camp is aimed at children to have an opportunity to interact with students from different regions of the state. Bal bhavan offers two more extra subjects during Sargolsavam. Except on Sundays, classes are held on all other days. Bal bhavan organizes tour trips, snake show, elephant show, residential camp and many lectures and demonstrations for the students in Venalkoodaram. The Venalkoodaram ends with the 'Annual Day Celebrations' during the last week of May.

• Annual Day

The 'Annual Day Celebrations' of JBB Thrissur is held in the last week of May every year. The two months long Sargolsavam ends with this. There are two parts for this 4 days long annual day celebrations. For non-performing subjects like crafts, clay modelling, drawing, tailoring, computer arts etc., there will be an exhibition at Bal Bhavan during the first two days of annual day where paintings,models etc. will be displayed for the general public. The second part of annual day is usually held at Thrissur Public Library (sometimes at Regional Theatre) during the last two days. Various programs in music, dance, instrumental music, martial arts etc. makes the program outstanding. The events like Julgalbandhi, dance, violin, performance by teachers and old students are some of the remarkable events.

• Balshree Award

Balshree Award is given by the President of India to the students who come top in Creative Writing(CW), Creative Arts(CA), Creative Performance(CP), Creative Science and Innovation(CS) each year. There are district level, zonal level and all India level competition. Since there are no National Jawahar Bal Bhavan in northern kerala, aspiring students from Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur, Kasargode come to JBB Thrissur for the local selections. The all India competition is held at Delhi Bal Bhavan during the last week of December. The winners are given the prestigious Balshree award by the president of India.

The recipients of Balshree Award are (from JBB Thrissur)

• P K Sunilkumar - CP,1992
• K S Nithin - CA, 1995
• Sonia Balagopal - CW, 1996
• Aswin Gopinath - CP, 1997
• Unnimaya Balakrishnan - CA, 2000
• Nimisha Uday - CA, 2001
• Shemin Bubly - CA, 2002
• Chitra Sudhakaran - CA, 2003
• Seles K Babu - CA, 2007
• Anu Henry - CA, 2007
• Anushree K V - CA, 2008
• Hirosh A C - CA, 2009
• Vineetha K - CW, 2009
• Arun Radhakrishnan - CS, 2009
• Parvathy S - CS, 2009
• Harshitha P V - CA, 2010
• Mamatha Muraleedharan - CP, 2010

Venalkoodaram 2012 - Main Events

• 1349 students attended
• Inaugurated under the chairmanship of Mayor I.P. Paul by MLA Therambil Ramakrishnan on April 2
• April 7: Kochu TV recorded performances of students of JBB Thrissur. Dance - Srilakshmi, Suvarnna Sudhakaran, Nimitha Baboo. Mridangam - Vaishnav, Vishnu, Arjun. Violin - Sukanya Sudhakaran, Harikrishna, Yadu Krishna.
• April 9: Cine Fame Reeja Venugopal (Mallika) visited.
• April 10–12: Eye Test Camp was conducted by Dr.Jyothi. It was coordinated by Eye Vision. Over 600 students were tested.
• April 13: Vishu celebrations. Thrissur corporation arranged biscuits for students.
• April 17: Cine Fame Sreejith Ravi visited.
• April 26: Talk about elephants by Dr. Giridhas and female elephant named 'Lakshmi' of Thiruvambady Devaswom was also brought to JBB Thrissur campus. On the same day, students of JBB Thrissur performed in the Thrissur Pooram Exhibition stage.
• April 27–28: Educational tour to Peechi Dam forest and Kothakulam beach.
• May 4: Talk about Snakes by Xavier.
• May 8: Mimicry show by comedian Nandakishore.
• May 10: Dr.Aravindan Vallachira organised a movie show.
• May 11–12: Residential Camp for students who are above 2nd standard. Around 90 students and 35 staffs participated.
• May 14: Interactive session between MLA's and student. Ollur MLA Mr.M. P. Vincent and Manalur MLA Mr.P. A. Madhavan shared their experiences with students.
• May 15–17: Talk conducted by IMA Blood Bank.
• May 18: Seven students were injured as a tree branch fell in to Drama class.
• May 27–28: 21'st annual day celebrations at Thrissur Town Hall and closing ceremony of Venalkoodaram 2012.
• May 29–30: Clay modelling, painting, craft exhibition at JBB Thrissur.

May 18, 2012

Seven children who were attending Drama class sustained minor injuries after branches of a tree fell on them. About 50 students were there in the class during that period. Others had a narrow escape from the falling branches.The incident occurred at 10.45 a.m. Branches of a tree on the Bal Bhavan campus fell on a makeshift shamiana.On hearing the sound, the children who were under the tree ran for safety.Some of them suffered minor injuries.A caretaker who witnessed the incident became unconscious briefly. The injured were given treatment at a private hospital. A big tragedy was averted as only small branches fell on the children.

Executive Directors

• K Radhakarishnan (22.02.1991 - 06.10.2005)
• C R Das (26.02.2007 - 08.08.2011)
• M K Varghese (08.08.2011. - present)

Principals

• K Raghavankutty (05.04.1991 - 13.08.1993)
• N Radha Bai (04.06.1994 - 06.07.1994)
• N.P.Parukkutty (15.10.1994 - 31.05.1999)
• P.N.Bhaskaran (11.07.1999 - 09.06.2011)
• P.R.Jacob (13.10.2011–present)