Asramam Maidan

The Asramam Maidanam or Ashramam Maithanam is an urban park, or maidhanam, in the city of Kollam, in Kerala, India. At, it is the largest open space within Kerala Municipal Corporation limits. The maidan is considered as one of the green lungs of the city and regularly hosts the city's main cultural and sports events. It holds an adventure park children's park, picnic village, British Residency and mangrove forests making it an important tourism spot in the city.The Asramam maidan is the major training hub of all the driving school operators in Kollam city.HistoryAsramam Maidan was used as an aerodrome during the British Raj. At that time there were no civil aerodromes either in Thiruvananthapuram or anywhere else in the erstwhile kingdoms of Travancore and Kochi nor in the British-ruled Malabar area of the Madras Presidency. Chartered flights, mainly using Avro aircraft, would land and take off from Quilon Aerodrome. The aerodrome was primarily used by VIPs from Madras en route to Thiruvananthapuram, who after landing at Quilon, would proceed to Thiruvananthapuram by car. Quilon Aerodrome was also used for flying training. During one such training exercise, an aircraft hit a tree on the boundary of the aerodrome, killing the pilot and the trainee. Training operations were stopped after the accident, but civilian aircraft continued to use the aerodrome.