Chinmaya Vidyalaya - History

History

In commemoration of the first global tour of H. H. Swami Chinmayanada, the members of Chinmaya Mission, Kollengode under the guidance of a president of that time, Smt. Radha Devi Namboodiripad, after consultations with the Kerala Educational authorities, started a nursery school at Kollengode on 20 May 1965.

The Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Kollengode was inaugurated at a function arranged at Kollengode Palace by the late Sri. K. P. S. Menon who was the ex-ambassador to Russia. It was known as Chinmaya Nursery School. From 1965 to 1969, it had only pre-primary section with around 40 students and three teachers.

In 1970, the Vidyalaya was divided into two sections: one Nursery section and the other Primary section having classes from Std. 1 to IV. English was the medium of instruction. Ms. K. Draupadi was the first Head Mistress of the Vidyalaya and Kambarath Gopinath Menon was the secretary.

In the early days, the Ranis of the Kollengode Palace were the patrons of the Vidyalaya.

In the initial period,the Chinmaya Nursery section was conducted in one part of the Kollengode Palace (Kalari). On 17 June 1969 Chinmaya Vignana Mandir, a separate building near the palace was inaugurated by Chinmayanda and in this new building Chinmaya Vidyalaya started functioning.

Since 1969, under Chinmaya Mission Kollengode, Chinmaya Nursery section as well as Chinmaya Vidyalaya started to function. Along with these, from 1 May 1969 Chinmaya Commercial Institute and from 9 December 1973 Chinmaya Tailoring Institute (both for girls) were introduced. By 1976-77, the Vidyalaya consisted of 3 sections: Nursery, Lower Primary and Upper Primary sections. Class VIII was introduced in 1982 and IX in 1983.

Chinmaya Vidyalayas are run under the auspices of the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, Bombay. The Vidyalaya in each place is administered by a Managing Committee consisting of the local members of the Chinmaya Mission and other interested people in the cause. The schools have nursery as well as primary classes in most of the centers. Montessori and other modern systems are adopted in the nursery section. The medium of instruction is English.