'Kerala Anthem' in seven-year limbo

The state song of Kerala continues to dwell in bureaucratic uncertainty more than seven years after a formal directive called for its adoption.

- HD Bureau

The matter involves the literary body Kerala Sahitya Akademi, the culture department of the state government and a deluge of lyrical submissions that remain under review.

A 2022 government order directed that the patriotic poem “Keralaganam’, penned by poet-freedom-fighter Bodheswaran in 1938, be rendered at the beginning of all cultural events in the state as the “cultural song of Kerala”.

The government’s move was billed as a stopgap arrangement, with an official anthem to be selected through a state-level competition facilitated by the KSA and ratified by the culture department.