Known as the ‘Evergreen city of India’, Trivandrum is also the capital of Kerala state and has been voted as the best city to live in, three years in a row. Rich in natural beauty, it’s also a major tourism hub, an IT hub as well as a medical tourism hub.

Aside from this, Trivandrum is also famous for a number of great luminaries in multiple fields. Here’s a look at some of them:

Sree Narayana Guru (1855-1928) – He was a spiritual leader and social reformer born into the lower Ezhava caste. He was responsible for a reform movement in Kerala against the caste system and promoted social equality and spiritual enlightenment.

Annie Mascarene (1902-1963) – She was a freedom fighter, nation builder and Kerala’s first female MP. She was part of the independence movement and imprisoned multiple times.

Shashi Tharoor (1956-till date) – He is an Indian politician, a writer and a current MP from Trivandrum with an earlier career as an international diplomat.

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (1940- to date) – An outstanding Indian classical musician and playback singer with over 80,000 recorded songs in over a dozen languages, in a career spanning over 5 decades.

Balabhaskar Chandran (1978-2018) – A famous musician, violinist, composer, music director and record producer.

Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) – A part of the royal family of Travancore, he was a celebrated Indian artist and painter who used European techniques and Indian sensibilities to create many masterpieces.

Gopalan Nair Shankar – He is a 3-times national award winning architect who advocates ‘green architecture’ using eco-friendly, sustainable and locally available cost-effective materials for building.

G. Madhavan Nair (1943-to date) – He is the national award-winning ex-Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation and various other top government agencies.

Ayyankali (1863-1941) – He was a social reformer who worked for the improvement and social wellbeing of Dalit people who were also referred to as ‘untouchables’.

Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer (1877-1949) – He was a great poet of Malayalam literature and a historian who has created many unmatched literary works.

Sanju Viswanath Samson (1994-to date) – An international-level cricket player representing Rajasthan Royals in IPL, he was the youngest cricketing captain for Ranjhi trophy and the youngest batsman to score 1,000 runs in IPL.

M. Krishnan Nair – He is a national award-winning oncologist who is the founding director of RCC, Trivandrum, Director, SUT Institute of Oncology and TCC, SUT Royal Hospital.

Mohammed Illias Sahadulla (1945-to date) – He is a physician and Founder Chairman of KIMS Healthcare Management Limited.

Aside from these, there are numerous other luminaries from Trivandrum including numerous outstanding film stars.