Kuthiravattom Mental Hospital

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This place takes you back more than a century & so does the way it looks even today. At the entrance on the arch you can find the date of its establishment, this heritage building has been standing here from 1872. This place is today the Government Mental Health center & this 22 acres heritage has always been for the same cause – to provide asylum to the mentally disturbed & challenged.

Built by the erstwhile Madras Presidency it was then know as the Lunatic Asylum of Calicut. This asylum was started during the colonial times for the insane from the army, but later non English patients & civilians were also admitted here. During the start of the 9th century the center was handed over to the Jail department & it stayed under them till 1949 even after independence. The word Lunatic Asylum was changed to Mental hospital in 1920 & it was given the name as today when the health department took over the hospital. During the colonial times, English & Indians were treated by English doctors but they were treated in different quarters.

The center is open for all and daily consultations are also done here. This center has a capacity to keep around 450 patients and some here have been staying for years together. This place has a similarity to a normal jail cell as it was made along those lines, so you will find inmates locked inside dark rooms just like a prison cell. There are new initiatives started at the institution to make the stay more favorable for the inmates. The center is not just for people with consulting but they also take care of rehabilitation of the cured. The institution assists the inmates to find ways by engaging them in weaving, stitching, and craft activities.

Today there as huge overhaul activity carried out at the center to get it at par with world standards. A good set of health professionals with eminent doctors are now part of the system here. The weekly discharge adalat identifies patients who are good to be discharged & arrangements are made to either allow them to be handed over to their families or rehabilitated. This has considerable reduced strain on the inmate’s number which was seen to be overwhelmed. The government has taken efforts to make the institution a place well equipped to provide good health for the mentally challenged.

Entry to the center is very restricted & so take the permission of the authorities to enter.




Location: Kuthiravattom, Kozhikode, Kerala 673016, India

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