Pallithura

Pallithura is a village in the district of Trivandrum, the capital city of Kerala state in India. The villagers of Pallithura are now famous for their sacrifice in 1962 of most of their village for creating the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS). The formation of TERLS was the basis of the Indian Space Program. In history, Pallitura is considered as one of the places where St. Francis Xavier established a church. This church has now been transformed to the space museum of Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. The revival of interest in the history of Pallithura resulted as a result of President Abdul Kalam's mentioning of it in his books and speeches.

Location

The location of Pallithura can be specified based on the time in question: before and after the formation of TERLS. Till the formation of TERLS, Pallithura bordered Veli in the south, Kulathoor in the east, and Kochuthura in the north. The Parvathy Puthannaar canal formed the border with Kulathoor. After the formation of TERLS, the villagers lost their border with Veli when they were rehabilitated and packed to its southern border with Kochuthura.

Pallithura of 1960s

Based on the rehabilitation agreement with the government of India, a model village was to be rebuilt to its southern border. The villagers are of roman catholic faith and hence a large church which was a priority was built. A primary school was built to facilitate basic education. The houses were neatly built single bedroom on "ten-cents of land" consisting of a kitchen, patio, and a living room. They were aligned in parallel lanes, eight houses on each side of the lane. A state-of-the-art water supply and distribution system was the attraction providing water for the entire village through two public taps in each lane. A police check-post was formed to maintain order in case people were not very comfortable with the packed nature of their new neighbourhood. A public transport main road with a designated bus stop provided access to the city. In order to aid the villagers who were dependent on the sea for their livelihood, an ice-plant and fish processing centre was built. For entertainment, a radio-kiosk was built and land was set-aside for resting at evenings. A market-place and a medical clinic was built at the centre of the village.