The University of Kerala is a state public university located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. Established in 1937, it is one of the oldest universities in India and a major centre of higher education and research in southern India. The university operates a network of teaching departments, research centres, and affiliated colleges spread across the southern districts of Kerala.
| Name | University of Kerala |
|---|---|
| Former name | University of Travancore (1937–1957) |
| Type | State public university |
| Established | 1937 |
| Location | Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India |
| Main campus | Palayam, Thiruvananthapuram; teaching departments at Kariavattom |
| Language of instruction | English |
The university was founded as the University of Travancore by a proclamation of Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the Maharaja of Travancore, in 1937. At its founding, the Maharaja served as the first Chancellor, and the institution drew on the existing structure of higher education in the princely state, including the Maharaja's College in Thiruvananthapuram. The university was reconstituted as the University of Kerala in 1957, following the formation of the state of Kerala in 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act.
The administrative headquarters and the Senate House are located at Palayam in central Thiruvananthapuram, while many of the postgraduate teaching and research departments are situated on the Kariavattom campus on the outskirts of the city. The university administers affiliated colleges in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, and Pathanamthitta.
The university offers programmes across the faculties of arts, science, social sciences, commerce, management, education, law, engineering, ayurveda, oriental studies, and medicine, among others. Teaching departments at Kariavattom and Palayam conduct postgraduate, MPhil, and PhD programmes, while undergraduate and many postgraduate courses are taught through the affiliated college network. The university also operates an institute of distance education and a school of legal studies.
The University Library, headquartered at Palayam, holds significant collections in the humanities and sciences, including a notable manuscripts division. The Oriental Research Institute and Manuscripts Library, attached to the university, preserves a large collection of palm-leaf and paper manuscripts in Sanskrit, Malayalam, and other languages.
The Governor of Kerala serves as the Chancellor of the university, while the Vice-Chancellor functions as the chief executive and academic officer. The principal statutory bodies are the Senate, the Syndicate, and the Academic Council, which oversee policy, administration, and curriculum respectively. The university is governed under the Kerala University Act and is funded primarily by the Government of Kerala, with additional support from the University Grants Commission of India.
As the first university established in the region that is now Kerala, the institution played a foundational role in shaping higher education and research in the state. Several later universities in Kerala, including the University of Calicut, Cochin University of Science and Technology, and Mahatma Gandhi University, were carved out of areas and institutions originally affiliated to the University of Kerala. The university has been associated with prominent scholars, scientists, and writers in fields such as Malayalam literature, mathematics, and the social sciences.