Lieutenant Colonel Ramakrishnan Vishwanathan, VrC was the second-in-command of 18 Grenadiers which was conducting operations on and around Tololing mountain, Drass sector, Kargil, during Operation Vijay. He was posthumously awarded the

Vir Chakra The Vir Chakra (pronunciation: ʋ iː ɾ a tʃ a kɾa, ) is an Indian wartime military bravery award presented for acts of gallantry on the battlefield, on land or in the air or at sea. It is third in precedence in wartime gallantry awards and ...

for his actions during the

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

. A

Tripunithura Thrippunithura or Tripunithura (Malayalam:തൃപ്പൂണിത്തുറ) is a prominent historical and residential region in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India. Located about 7 km (4 mi) from the city centre, Tripunithura wa ...

a street near Eroor Pisharikovil Temple is named in his honour.

Early life

Vishwanathan was born to V Ramakrishna Iyer and Kamala, in 1960. He was raised in Kochi and attended Kendriya Vidyalaya at Gandhi Nagar in

Kadavanthra Kadavanthra is a ward in downtown Kochi, Kerala. It is bounded by the S.A Road to the east ( MG Road-side) and the Giri Nagar canal in the west. Kadavanthra is a major commercial centre of Kochi, and a prime residential area. In recent years, t ...

Military life

Vishwanathan was commissioned into the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

in June 1981 after completing his military training from

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

in 1980. He had served with the

Indian Peacekeeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan ...

in Sri Lanka and later with the UN Peacekeeping Force in Angola. The then Colonel Khushal Thakur, commanding-officer of the 18 grenadiers, recalled Vishwanathan's courage with the narrative, "The 18 Grenadiers had launched three unsuccessful attacks on Tololing. On 2 June, Lt. Col. R Vishwanathan volunteered to go."

Vir Chakra Citation

The citation for the

reads as follows

References

{{Reflist

External links

*http://ikashmir.net/kargilheroes/vishwanathan.html *http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/ARMY/Galleries/Wars/Kargil/0366.jpg.html 1960 births 1999 deaths Kargil War