Karamana

Infobox Indian Jurisdiction
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district = Thiruvananthapuram
state_name = Kerala
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Karamana is a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of Kerala, India. It is one of the most densely populated, but green part of Thiruvananthapuram. The land of Karamana is made fertile by the river, Karamana River which starts from the southern tip of the Western Ghats at "Agastyakoodam". The river flows 68 km westward and merges into the Arabian Sea at Thiruvallom-Karumam area near Kovalam.The famous karamana jumamasjid is in karamana. Karamana is also known for its busy "Daily market" (a Farmers/Produce market) and is a major transit point for both trade and people travelling to or coming in from the Kanyakumari district of neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Etymology

According to myths, 'Karamana' the place name came from a famous namboothiri(vaishnavite brahmin) family who lived in the bank of the river. The life of people at that time was sticking around the brahmin family. So, simply referring as the 'mana', meaning house on 'kara' meaning bank, became "karamana".Fact|date=March 2007 In the flow of time, this family extincted and still the name is there.

Civil Society and Administration

Karamana is situated inside the city limits of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation (TC). It is the 20th ward of TC and is represented by a Councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Council. Like most parts of Trivandrum, Karamana too has a substantial non-Keralite/non-Malayalam speaking population, which contributes immensely to the rich and vibrant cultural scene in Trivandrum. It has one of the oldest Brahmin settlements of Thiruvananthapuram and the old "Theruvu" style of wall-sharing town-houses, gives one a peek into the Brahmin life-style of yore. It maintains a large community of various religions and castes. Karamana is a model for secularism and religious/cultural tolerance. National Highway 47, the main travel and trade corridor of Kerala, passes through Karamana onward to the Central business district's of Thiruvananthapuram.

Karamana has a police station in Nagamaiyya Street. The station is currently headed by Inspector Sri. Anil Kumar.

Famous personalities

Among many illustrious persons who had made Karamana their home was "Divan Bahadhur Veeraraghavapuram Nagamaiya" (Who incidentally, was the first Bachelor of Arts graduate in Kerala). The Divan (meaning "Minister" or "Grand Vizier") was one of the persons who contributed to the growth of the State of Travancore. In memory of the Diwan, the avenue where he lived is named as "Nagamaiya Avenue".The Famous journalist of the time A.Padmanabha Iyer { Known as Karamanai A.P.Iyer) (1869-1942} was born to Shri.C.Yegnanarayanan and Seethalakshmi in this street. He lived in this place throughout his life. In the meantime he wrote about 179 books. To mention some, Modern Mysore, modern Travancore Souvenir on the Shashti Abdhapoorti (60th Birthday) of Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer.

Neelakanta Sivan, later known as Nilakanta Dasar, a resident of Karamana, man of great spiritual attainments, he wrote many devotional songs in Tamil. [http://carnatica.net/composer/neelakantasivan.htm] His disciple, Papanasam Sivan was greatly influenced by his compositions. He was in Government service till his 35th birthday. Then, he began to compose his lyrics, in praise of Siva. He composed more than a thousand songs. [http://carnatica.net/neelakantasivan.htm] He used "Nilakanta" as the mudra. His greatest contribution was 'Lalitha Mahatmiyam'. [http://www.carnaticcorner.com/articles/nilakanta_sivan.html]

The famous Diwan Sankarasubba Iyer, Diwan of Travancore (Thiruvithamkur) during 1890's was from Karamana. S.S Street (Iratta Theruvu) and a lower primary school also were named after him. Diwan lived in a majestic mansion located in the S.S.Street, well known as "Diwanji Aam" (Minister's Home). His grandchildren, Justice T.S. Krishnamoorthy Iyer and Justice S. Padmanabhan, Judges in Kerala High Court and Madras High Court respectively. Their father, Sankarasubba Iyer was also a Judge of outstanding merit in the Travancore High Court.

Dr.Sambasivan, one of the leading Neurosurgeons in India, hails from Karamana. He devised a technique to operate posterior third-ventricular tumours - extremely complex brain surgery [http://www.harmonyindia.org/hportal/VirtualPageView.jsp?page_id=2718#4] . He is also the Tantri of Sathyavageeswarar Temple(Sivan Kovil) and Durga Temple at Sreekanteswaram.

Karamana is also home to Sooranadu Kunjan Pillai, great lexicographer and Malayalam scholar. Malayattoor Ramakrishnan, a famous malayalam novelist lived in Shastri Nagar in Karamana.

The award winning thespian Karamana Janardhanan Nair hails from this area. Cukkoo of the south - K.S Chithra hails from this place.

Karamana has been referred in various historic literature works, especially in the period detective novel Dharma Raja, written by Sri C.V. Raman Pillai.

Places of interest and topology

Karamana is home to the famous temple of Sri Satyavageeswara (Lord Siva). The Mahadeva Temple of Thaliyal is very near, a walkable distance.

Every year, Thaipusam festival is conducted with grandeur.

Karamana settlement is mainly divided into streets. They are: Sivan Kovil street,Kinattumkara Theruvu, Keezhetheruvu, single street, Aattinkara street, S.S Street (Iratta Theruvu), Deekshan Bhagavathar theruvu, Kozhakka theruvu, Nagamaiyya Street(Kollamettu theruvu) and Krishnan Kovil Street. These are all mainly occupied by Tamil Brahmins.Among other streets are Thelungu Chetti Street, Mancadu lane,Rajeev Nagar, Milad nagar and Elankom Street.

Nearest places of interest: Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple, 3 km; Attukal Temple, 3 km; Palayam Jum-a-Masjid, 5 km; Vettukadu church, 9 km; Palayam St. Joseph Church, 5 km; Shankhumukham Beach, 8 km; Veli Lake resort, 11 km; and Kovalam Beach, 14 km; Thurivananthapuram Bus Stand(Thampanur) 2km; Central Railway Station 2km; Trivandrum International Airport 9km.

The Sahasranama(thousand names) Japa Mandali in Karamana, S.S.street, is also very famous for Sahasranama japam in the month Karthika. The programmes during this period start with Ganapathy Homam, Sastha Pattu & Sastha Pooja, Vilakku Pooja, Panja Ratna Keerthana, Bhagavatha Sapthaham, Radha Kalyanam (This Programmes are done by very famous personalities from all over India).Fact|date=November 2007 Sri. Padmanabhan was elected as President of the Mandali and Sri. Mony as secretary. Veda class lessons are taught by Sri Boothalinga Vadhyar in the Mandali and a class for Bhajana is proposed to start very shortly under Sri. Sankar. Every year a group of people visit Sabarimala from here.

"Sree Chilanthivala Dharmasastha Temple"" is another important temple in Karamana. Every Saturday at 7.00PM "Sasthapattu" is performed in this temple by a group of Brahmin youths.