Munroe Island

Munroethuruth Munroe Island
—  village  —
Munroethuruth Location of Munroethuruth in Kerala
Coordinates	9°0′0″N 76°37′0″E / 9°N 76.616667°E / 9; 76.616667Coordinates: 9°0′0″N 76°37′0″E / 9°N 76.616667°E / 9; 76.616667
Country	India
State	Kerala
District(s)	Kollam
Nearest city	Kundara
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Area	13.4 square kilometres (5.2 sq mi)
Codes • Pincode • 691502 • Telephone • +0474
Website	http://www.munroethuruthu.com/

Munroe Island (or Munroothuruthu, Manrothuruthu, Munroethuruth) is located at the confluence of Ashtamudi Lake and the Kallada River, in Kollam district, Kerala, South India. The island, accessible by road, rail and inland water navigation, is about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Kollam by road, 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west from Kundara and about 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Karunagapally.

The place is named in honour of Resident Colonel John Munro of the former Princely State of Travancore. The island measures 13.4 square kilometres (5.2 sq mi) in area.

History

In 1795 the British established their supremacy in South India and Kerala came under their governance. From 1800 onwards, in order to maintain British Supremacy in Kerala, a Resident was appointed by the British Administrative head. The First Resident was Colonel Collin Macaulay, followed by Colonel John Munro. During Munro’s tenure, a senior priest of the Malankara Church, Pulikottil Joseph Kathanar, expressed his desire to establish a seminary for training priests and a place to settle the newly converted Christians. Thus the place was named after Colonel John Munro by the locals.

The history of Munroe Island is connected with the history of Church Missionary Society (CMS). In 1819, during the reign of Rani Gowri Parvati Bayi of Travancore, Munroe Island was granted to the CMS with a condition that revenue generated from the land should be used for the "KEROSENE EXPENSE" of the Syrian students of old seminary in Kottayam and should not be diverted for any evangelical purpose.

Tourism

The island village is a tourism destination where one can watch coir retting process, coir weaving, fishing, prawns feeding, migratory bird watch, narrow canals and waterways, coconut farms on the lake shore, lagoons, kandal plants and the beautiful tiny islands of Pathupara.

Kallada Boat Race, which is one of the famous boat races in Kerala, is at Karuvathrakadavu- Muthiraparambu nettayam in Munroethuruth. The famous Chittumala Theerthatanam starts from here.

Tourism is further promoted by the First Community Tourism Programme that was announced by Minister for Tourism Kodiyeri Balakrishnan during a visit to the islands. In addition to building accommodation facilities, the programme will also utilize vacant houses on the islands to cater to both domestic and foreign tourists.

External links

• Munroe Island website