Kozhencherry

Kozhencherry is a small town in Pathanamthitta district of "Central Travancore" region (South Central Kerala) in Kerala state, South India. It is on the banks of river Pampa. It is a commercial centre with many of the Banks and trade companies have their establishments here. It is believed that once the Kovilans of Thekencore kingdom's ruled this area. Kozhencherry used to be a part of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom.

One of the five Taluks in Pathanamthitta district is also named Kozhencherry. The other taluks are Tiruvalla, Mallapally, Ranni, and Adoor.

Roads

Till the nineteenth century there were no proper roads in this area. The form of transportation was by boats. So the main market of Kozhencherry is near the river. Now there are proper roads leading to all the small villages nearby.The T.K.Road ( Tiruvalla-Pathanamthitta-Kumbazha Road / SH - 07 ) connects the town to other major towns. A bridge connecting Kozhencherry and Maramon was opened in 1948.

Commerce

Kozhencherry is a major commercial centre in Central Travancore. Branches of various banks can be seen at every corner of the town.

Tuesdays and Fridays were the market days. Because it was on the way from the sea ports to the interior, jungle produce were the main trading item. The products included coconut, rubber, cocoa, tapioca, plantain, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, vanilla, rambutan and other crops. Now, most of the week days the markets are open supplying the needs of the local population.

Education

It is the far sightedness of some of the leaders in Kozhencherry, that made it a 100% literate town in Kerala. It was in 1822, an English school with 40 students. was first established in Kozhencherry by a mission. In 1906, Mar Thoma Church took charge of the school and it was made a middle school. In 1918, this was upgraded as a High school. Now it is known as St. Thomas Higher Secondary School. The wood for constructing the main building of this school was from one single tree. During those days this school had students from far away places like Ranni, about 20 km from the school. Kurumthottical Rev. K.T.Thomas was the manager of this school for many years. [ Mathew, N.M. ‘’Malankara Marthoma Sabha Charitram’’, (History of the Marthoma Church), Volume III. Page 39]

Now the following educational institutions are at Kozhencherry.
* St. Thomas College.
* St. Thomas Higher Secondary School.
* St. Marys Girls School.
* Marthoma senior secondary school.
* Mar Thoma Industrial Training Centre.
* THSS Ayroor (Managed by IHRD)
* "Vijnana Kala Vedi", a school of traditional art

Religious festivals

Maramon Convention

Kozhencherry is one of the traditional strongholds of the Marthoma Church.

Maramon is a small town on the banks of Pampa River, opposite Kozhencherry town. The dry river-bed of the the Pampa between Maramon and Kozhencherry,witnesses the nnual "Maramon Convention", the largest Christian gathering in Asia. [ [http://in.news.yahoo.com/indiaabroad/20080209/r_t_ians_nl_general/tnl-kerala-set-for-asia-s-biggest-christ-b9e311f.html Kerala set for Asia's biggest Christian convention - Yahoo! India News ] ] . This convention is held for a week in February.

Cherukolpuzha Hindu Parishad

The dry river-bed of river Pampa, between Ayroor and Kozhencherry, witnesses the annual gathering, the "Cherukolpuzha Hindu Parishad".(convention). The convention is held for a week in February.

Aranmula boat race

Aranmula a suburb of Kozhencherry, is famous for its "Parthasathi Temple". This is the venue of the annual Snake Boat race on the Pampa, a water theme festival bringing in "palliyodams" (snake boats) from all over the state, to which thousands of tourists are attracted every year

Aranmula kannadi

Aranmula a suburb of Kozhencherry is famous for its metal mirrors, known as "Aranmula kannadi". This is the magic mirror of many a legends. It is a special type of mirror, composed of a special metal alloy, instead of glass. It is a front surface reflection mirror, which eliminates secondary reflections. to achieve their reflective surface the metal is polished for several days in a row.

Political history

Representatives of Christians met together at Trivandrum in 1932 and formed All Kerala Christian Maha Sabha. A special meeting of this was held on May 9 – 11, 1935 at Kozhencherry. In this meeting T.M.Varghese [ Later Deputy speaker of Travancore Assembly, Minister of Travancore-Cochin and speaker Assembly] proposed that “ The elections to the Legislative Assembly of Travancore was not properly held and so it must be dissolved and new election should be carried out.” On the last day, May 11, the programme was an All Kerala Joint Political Meeting. C. Kesavan [ Later Chief Minister of Kerala.] was a speaker. He declared, “I am talking about Sir C.P. [ Dewan (prime minister) of Travancore, Sir C.P.Ramaswami Iyer was known as Sir C.P.] We don't need that animal. The Travancore became notorious after his arrival.” This infuriated Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer Dewan (prime minister) of Travancore. C. Kesavan was arrested and spent about two years in jail. [ Mathew, N.M. ‘’Malankara Marthoma Sabha Charitram’’, (History of the Marthoma Church), Volume III. Page 72-73.] To commemorate this incident a statue of C. Kesavan was erected at the Kozhencherry town.

Presently the main political parties in Kozhencherry are:
* Indian National Congress (INC)
* Kerala Congress (Mani)
* Kerala Congress (Balakrishna Pillai)
* Kerala Congress (Jacob)
* Kerala Congress (Secular)
* Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M))
* Kerala Congress (Joseph)
* Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
* Bharateeya Janatha Party (BJP)
* Kerala Janapaksham of former BJP leader Raman Pillai

The region

The Greater Kozhencherry region consists of Kozhencherry and near by areas like Mallappuzhassery, Thottappuzhassery, Koipram, Aranmula, Kidangannoor, Mezhuveli, Kulanada, Chekkulam, Naranganam, Elanthur, Cherukol, Ayroor, and Thadiyur.

Nearby towns

* Pathanamthitta
* Mallappuzhassery
* Aranmula
* Kidangannoor
* Maramon
* Thottappuzhasseri
* Kumbanad
* Koipram
* Ayroor
* Cherukolpuzha
* Cherukol
* Naranganam
* Elanthoor
* Chengannur
* Tiruvalla
* Mallapally
* Keekozhur
* Ranni
* Konni
* Kulanada
* Pandalam
* Adoor
* Parumala
* Mannar
* Mavelikkara
* Changanacherry

Population

The population of Kozhencherry consists
* Christians - Syrian Christians (Marthoma, Syrian Orthodox, CSI), Pentecostals, Catholics, etc
* Hindus - Nairs, Brahmins, Ezhavas, Pulayas, etc.
* Muslims are a minuscle minority, concentrated in pockets like Kattoor and Naranganam.

Languages of Kozhencherry

* Malayalam
* English
* Tamil
* Konkani
* Aramaic (Syriac)
* Hindi

References

ee also

* Pathanamthitta
*Maramon Convention
*Aranmula Boat Race
*Aranmula kannadi