A newly inaugurated museum wing at the District Transport Office building near the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus depot in Thiruvananthapuram is offering visitors a unique visual journey through nearly nine decades of the state's public transportation history. The museum, located at East Fort opposite Gandhi Park, features 18 meticulously crafted paintings that document the evolution of KSRTC buses from 1938 to the present day.

Artist Mahesh Velayudhan, 53, created the collection with assistance from two other painters, using vibrant acrylics on wooden frames and multiwood canvases. The museum is strategically positioned to allow passengers boarding the KSRTC Swifts Nagarakazhchakal ride from East Fort to view the artwork before their journey begins. Despite the building's unassuming concrete floors and whitewashed walls, the interior comes alive with the colorful depictions of Kerala's iconic buses, affectionately known as 'aanavandi.'

The historical journey begins with a 1938-model bus that holds special significance in Kerala's transportation heritage. According to Velayudhan, this green bus was driven by E.G. Salter, known as 'Salter sayippu,' who served as superintendent of the Travancore State Transport Department when the service was inaugurated by Sree Chithira Thirunal in 1938. The painting depicts the bus crossing the Karamana bridge with a TSTD board, traveling the Nagercoil to Kanyakumari route. "It is said they released 27 buses of these models initially," Velayudhan explains, pointing to the historical artwork.

Velayudhan was commissioned to create the museum at the direction of Thiruvananthapuram Assistant Transport Officer C.P. Prasad. His previous work included painting murals of former state Ministers of Transport at the KSRTC central workshop in Pappanamcode. As a painter at the depot, his regular duties involve creating destination boards and designing artwork for special buses, including the Royal View double-decker buses that were released in Munnar earlier this year.

The collection includes four buses from the 1938 era, with two painted in distinctive grey shades. The museum also showcases the iconic 1977 model double-decker buses featuring the classic red and yellow color palette that became synonymous with KSRTC. "It was difficult to find the colors of the buses. We figured out what they were by asking retired transport employees," Velayudhan reveals, highlighting the meticulous research that went into recreating historically accurate representations.

Among the more unusual exhibits is another 1977 bus model that was longer than typical KSRTC buses, featuring a peculiar, slightly raised portion in the middle behind its chassis area. "They discontinued it because it was impractical," Velayudhan notes, explaining why this particular design never became widespread. The 1964 Benz model buses in red and yellow were the first to emerge after KSRTC was officially formed in 1965, marking a significant transition in Kerala's public transportation system.

The museum also displays a 1965-model bus that currently serves as a depot van for repairs, spare parts, and towing malfunctioning buses, alongside a blue-and-white Venad bus. Named after a medieval kingdom based in Southern Kerala, Venad buses remain among the most commonly found vehicles in the state's public transportation fleet. The paintings additionally feature specialized vehicles that are no longer in service, including pink buses designated for women passengers and the Rajdhani ring-road service buses that followed circular routes.

The Rajdhani buses represent a brief chapter in KSRTC's history, having been launched in April 2012 but quickly discontinued due to financial losses. The museum's scope extends beyond land transportation to include a painting of the Kaveri boat services, which operated under KSRTC control until 1985, when the Department of Transport assumed direct management of the waterway service.

Velayudhan plans to expand the collection with four additional paintings, which he hopes to complete within a month. His future projects include depicting private buses that existed before the establishment of state transportation department services. "One of the first buses was the size of an extended autorickshaw. Since I have got my hands on a picture of it, I would like to draw it soon," he explains, demonstrating his commitment to preserving Kerala's complete transportation heritage. The museum offers free entry to the public, making this unique chronicle of Kerala's transportation evolution accessible to all visitors.