In a heartwarming display of community spirit and drowning prevention, the 150-year-old pond at Thondayad Vishnu Temple in Nellikkode has transformed into a vibrant swimming school that welcomes everyone from five-year-olds to septuagenarians. Over the past nine years, more than 1,000 people have learned to swim here at absolutely no cost, breaking down barriers of age, gender, and background with every splash in the water. This remarkable initiative proves that when communities come together, traditional water bodies can become life-saving resources rather than forgotten relics.
The swimming program began in 2017 when Ravindran, a physical education teacher and then-member of the temple committee, proposed conducting swimming classes at the temple pond. Recognizing the potential of the 150-year-old waterbody, the temple committee quickly sought support from Kreeda Bharathi, a national sports organization founded in 1992 with the vision of building a “FIT INDIA – HIT INDIA” through traditional and modern sports. Around 10 volunteers, including local residents and temple committee members, stepped forward to serve as trainers. Under the expert guidance of Mohandas Payyadimeethal, these volunteers received specialized training in swimming instruction methods. The first public training camp, held over 15 days in 2017, drew an overwhelming response. Nearly 200 children learned to swim in the program’s first year alone. Except during the Covid pandemic, the classes have continued every vacation season since then, building momentum year after year.
The intergenerational learning aspect has become the program’s signature feature. When Dr. Ranju Lakshmi of Meitra Hospital first brought her five-year-old daughter Daksha to the classes, she spent a few days watching from the sidelines. Something clicked, and she decided to step into the water and learn to swim herself. The most inspiring story came when Daksha arrived at the pond one day with her grandmother Bindu Ramakrishnan instead of her mother. Inspired by her granddaughter’s enthusiasm, the 74-year-old joined the classes the very next day.
Initially, the program attracted mostly children. But soon, mothers accompanying their kids expressed a desire to learn swimming themselves. The organizers responded by bringing in women trainers, and today women actively participate in sessions alongside children. This shift was crucial for Kerala, where cultural barriers sometimes prevent women from participating in water sports. The temple pond created a safe, community-supported space where women could learn without hesitation.
This initiative connects with a deeper Kerala tradition. Kulams (traditional public ponds) in Kerala villages, many situated adjacent to temples, have historically served as community swimming spaces. During monsoons, these ponds double up as swimming pools where young children learn their first swimming lessons under the watchful eyes of experienced swimmers—with no fee charged.
The story of the 150-year-old temple pond in Nellikkode, Kozhikode, is a powerful reminder that communities have the ability to transform traditional spaces into life-saving resources teaching over 1,000 people to swim for free, from five-year-old children to 74-year-old grandmothers, with no barriers of age, gender, or financial status. This initiative proves that drowning is preventable when communities come together, when volunteers dedicate their time, and when we recognize swimming not as an optional sport but as an essential life skill. As Kerala continues to face drowning challenges, this temple pond offers hope and a replicable model for communities across India: look around your own neighborhood, identify underutilized water bodies, partner with local organizations, and bring people together to teach swimming. Every person who learns to swim is one less life at risk, and every community that takes action becomes one step closer to eliminating preventable drowning deaths—that’s the ripple effect this 150-year-old pond is creating, one splash at a time.
Read more at: https://www.onmanorama.com/news/kerala/2026/05/28/temple-pond-swimming-school-age-no-barrier-swimming.html