History & Milestones

Union Christian College, Aluva is a premier educational institution in Kerala, South India, established in 1921 as a Centre of Higher Education and as a venture in interdenominational cooperation among the four major non-catholic Christian denominations of South India viz. The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, The Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church, The Church of South India and the Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church, with the founding fathers of the College being, the late Mr. K.C.Chacko, the late Mr.A.M.Varki, the late Mr.C.P Mathew and the late Mr.V.M.Ittyerah

Union Christian College had its modest beginning in 1921 atop a hillock overlooking a relatively wild landscape, in a building gifted by Maharajah of Travancore. The old court building (Kacheri Maalika) in which the college began is now a protected monument of the Dept. of Archaeology, Kerala State. The College was a bold and unique experiment in higher education. What began on a humble scale with a crop of five teachers and sixty-four students in residence, and next to no resources, has now grown into one of the foremost academic institutions in the southern part of India. The College now offers graduate courses in twelve disciplines and postgraduate courses in eight. The eight research departments here are engaged in meaningful academic activity. The College runs enrichment courses in the frontier areas of Archaeology, Tribal Studies and Wildlife Management, and in technological areas like Information Science and Computer Applications

Union Christian College was the product of a purely indigenous initiative. It adopted, on its inception, a residential system which has much in common with the Gurukula tradition. Rabindranath Tagore, while blessing the first residential building on the Campus, in 1922, observed that the College had features reminiscent of his own Viswabharati.

The visit of the Guruji was not an accident. It is the index of the admiration commanded by the institution from among men of eminence. Mahatma Gandhi, himself, found it fit and worthwhile to visit the College in response to the invitation of the College community. During a quite hot phase of the freedom struggle, in 1925, the Mahatma addressed the teachers and students of the College and initiated them into the national movement. At a time when most Christian institutions would be reluctant to invite a leader of the freedom movement, the College had the courage of conviction and deep commitment to display an open posture. That is why the Mahatma wrote in the visitor’s diary of the College that he was “delighted with the ideal situation”. The mango sapling planted by Gandhiji still graces the Campus and remains a hallowed spot.

While taking a definite position vis-à-vis the national movement, Union Christian College remained secular and cosmopolitan enough to nurture an east-west dialogue. A procession of teachers from Oxford and Cambridge lived and taught here, and interacted with the cream of Indian intelligentsia. The presence and participation of the finest teachers from India and abroad laid down the composite ethos of the Institution. Acdemic stalwarts like Prof.T.S.Venkataraman, Prof.A.Aruvamuda Ayyangar, Prof.D.P.Unni, Prof.Kuttippuzha Krishnapillai and the founders of the College, freely interacted with intellectuals like Bishop Stephen Neil, W.E.S. Holland and Malcolm Muggeridge. Muggeridge speaks at great length of his experiences here, in his celebrated autobiography

The year-long Platinum Jubilee celebration of the College was launched by the President of India, H.E.Dr.Shanker Dayal Sharma, on Feb., 14, 1996. Following the celebrations, a series of developmental projects were launched. The College was awarded the R. Sankar Award in 2005 for the best private special grade college in the state adjudged by Government of Kerala. The College was accredited at the five star level in 1999 and recently reaccredited with   `A` level in 2011 by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

The Union Christian College A Model Centre of Higher Learning

Inaugurating the Platinum Jubilee of the Union Christian College, Aluva, Kerala, The President of India, H.E. Dr.Shankar Dayal Sharma said the Motto of your College “ Truth shall make you free” encapsulates in a few words the great spiritual ideal of India and of all religions”. The pursuit of truth is indeed the driving force behind human creativity, discovery, invention and innovation. It provides the raison d’être for science and for the region.

The college was found in 1921 By three students of Madras Christian College – Prof.K.C.Chacko, Prof.C.P.Mathew and Prof.V.M.Ittyerah-who believed that human spirit is faster than any sectarian dogma, the body, mind and soul must be nourished and cared for equally, and that education extends beyond what is prescribed in the curriculum to genuine interaction between teachers and the taught.

During a visit to the Union Christian College in 1922, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore said, “India must be saved by revealing the best gift which she carries hidden in her heart. This must be revealed to the world and to herself – When the doors are shut and when it is dark, then we are ignored by the world. We must therefore, open our doors and save the world.”