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Ukken Family, one of the most
ancient catholic families in Kerala, which got its roots at
Edakulam 335 years back, has grown to a huge tree, even
beyond the wildest of dreams of Mathew and Thandathe first
forefathers of Ukken family settled at Edakulam. In these
years Ukken Family members have established themselves in
every walk of life and made the family well known throughout
Kerala, India and the whole world. When the family grew to
such huge size, the members lost the closeness and
interconnections among themselves. Some of the members
thought that this was a serious limitation in the growth of
the family and they had an urge among themselves to come
together in a family atmosphere.
In October 1993, some young
members of the family under the leadership of Sri
U.J.Josemaster met together in the house of Sri P.T.Roy to
think about the ways and means to create a sense of
togetherness among the members of the family. After many
rounds of deliberations conducted in the houses of different
members of the family, it was decided to conduct a general
assembly of the family members. An ad hoc executive
committee was formed for the purpose with Sri C.L. Cheriyan
as president, Sri U.J.Josemaster as Secretary and Sri
P.T.Cheriyan as treasurer. The executive committee decided
to convene the general body of the Ukken family members on
26th January 1994, at Edakulam.
As decided, the first general
body of Ukken Kudumbayogam was conducted at Edakulam on 26th
January, 1994. Every member whose address was known to the
committee was invited personally for this grand function. A
full page supplement was given in the leading Malayalam
daily, “ Malayala Manorama” on 26th January,
1994, wherein every member of the family was invited for the
“Mahayogam”.
In the first General Assembly,
the response of the family members was beyond the
expectations of the organizing committee. The meeting ground
was packed with members. The general body started with a
commemorative co-celebration mass at St.Sebastian’s Church,
Edakulam, the main celebrant being Rev. Fr.Alex Ukken CMI.
After the mass, the general body meeting was inaugurated by
Bishop James Pazhayattil, Bishop of Irinjalakuda. Bishop
Joseph Kundukulam, whose grandmother belongs to Ukken
family, felicitated the activities of the Kudumbayogam. All
the priests and nuns from the family participated in this
great gathering. Rev. Fr. Alex Ukken CMI, whose Sacerdotal
Silver Jubilee was celebrated on the occasion was
felicitated. The meeting lasted till late afternoon and the
members went back with a resolve to meet once in every year.
In the first annual general body
meeting, the members expressed their concern for not being
able to locate the roots of their origins. The reason was
simple. The copies of the first part of the book “Ukken
Charithram” authored by Sri C.C.Lonappan were not available
and most of the members did not own a copy of the same.
Besides, the family members were so scattered that it was
practically impossible to know which families known by the
name “Ukken” in different parts of Kerala belonged to Ukken
Family originated at Edakulam. The first part of the book
was written fifty nine years back and since then many new
generations have come in the family. These facts urged the
executive committee to take a decision to write a second
part to the “Ukken Charithram”. The committee entrusted Sri
M.D.Mathews and Sri C.L.Cheriyan, son of Sri C.C.Lonappan to
take up this task. Though tedious, they lived up to the
expectations of the committee. They traveled extensively and
collected data of the scattered members of the nine lineages
(Thavazhikal) of the family. They came up with a wonderful
book which included also the first part of Ukken Charithram.
Though there were pressures to include some families who
also had the name ‘Ukken’, only those families who had the
roots at Edakulam were included in the book. The book was
finally published in the Second General Body meeting of
Ukken Kudumbayogam held at Kalparamba.
Another noteworthy step taken by
the Kudumbayogam was the publication of the Directory of the
members of the family. The directory included the addresses
and telephone numbers of the family members. This was done
with the intention of facilitating and encouraging
communications and interactions among the family members.
The directory was also prepared by Sri M.D.Mathews and was
published in the year 1997. Later, in 2008, a new Kudumba
Directory was published including the addresses, telephone
numbers, mobile numbers and email addresses of the family
members. The new directory was prepared by Sri O.J.Paulson.
In 1997, Ukken Kudumbayogam was
registered as a charitable trust under the Thirukochi
Science, Literary and Charitable Trust Act in the name
“Edakulam Ukken Kudumbayogam”, with supporting bye laws for
its proper functioning. Not only that it was registered as a
charitable trust, it lives up to its name by undertaking
many charitable and welfare activities for its members. At
present there are four trust funds, namely, Ukken
KudumbaYogam Education Fund, Ukken Kudumbayogam Medical
Treatment fund, Ukken Kudumbayogam Marriage fund and Ukken
Kudumbayogam housing funds. All these funds function for the
support of the less fortunate members of the family and
depend on the generosity of its affluent members.
Though in the first general body
it was decided to convene the general body every year, considering the
inconveniences caused to the members for attending the
meeting every year, later it was decided to conduct the
general body once in two years. Thus, the ninth general body
is being conducted on 16th of May, 2010, the last
one being on 18th May 2008. The Kudumbayogam
plans to take up many for charitable and welfare activities
in the years to come. |
