Ollur

Ollur
—  town  —
Ollur town seen from the municipal corporation building
Ollur Location of Ollur in Kerala
Coordinates	10°28′N 76°14′E / 10.46°N 76.23°E / 10.46; 76.23Coordinates: 10°28′N 76°14′E / 10.46°N 76.23°E / 10.46; 76.23
Country	India
State	Kerala
District(s)	Thrissur District
Mayor	I.P. Paul
Deputy Mayor	Subi Babu
Official languages	Malayalam, English
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Codes • Pincode • 680 306 • Telephone • +91 (0)487 • Vehicle • KL-08
Website	www.corporationofthrissur.org

Ollur (Malayalam: ഒല്ലൂര്) is a major suburban area and an old commercial town in the Thrissur district of Kerala state, South India. It is situated about 5 km away from Swaraj Round on National Highway 47 commonly referred to as NH47 towards Ernakulam. From ancient time onwards Ollur was a major business centre in Thrissur district. Now, this geographical area is part of Thrissur Corporation. It is situated between Kuriachira and Thalore on the national highway. However, a specific identity for this geographical region is still there due to the rural setting of this region and its important religious institutions.

History

Be India independence, are belonged to the State of Cochin. Ollur Panchayat was formed in 1919 with villages of Ollur and Edakunny. It has an area of 14.92 km². The Panchayat comprise mainly areas of Ollur, Anchery, Chiyyaram, Kuriachira, Chelakkoottukara, Kuttanallur, Padavaradu , Peruvamkulangara, Panamkuttichira, Edakkunny and Thaikkattussery. The first Panchayat election was held in 1953 and A.C.Ramankutty was the first elected Ollur Panchayat President. In 2000, the Government of Kerala decided to merge Ollur Panchayat to the Corporation of Thrissur, which newly established on 30 September. Ollur Panchayat was completely merged with Thrissur Municipal Corporation.^[1]

Education

An evening seen from Ollur town

St. Anthony's Forane Church, Ollur was instrumental in beginning the first Primary School in 1896. Thereafter another primary school was commenced by St Mary's Convent Panamkuttichira, in the year 1900. Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College is another notable college in Ollur, which was founded by Padmasree E.T Neelakantan Moose.

Schools

• St Raphel’s Convent Girls High School & Plus 2, Ollur
• St Mary's Convent Girls High School High School & Plus 2, Ollur
• Holy Angels English Medium High School & Plus 2, Ollur
• St Joseph's High School Anakkallu, Ollur
• Government High School & V. H. S, Ollur
• Augustin Akkara Memo H.S, Kuttanallur, Ollur
• Government High School, Anchery, Ollur
• Government Upper Primary School, Ollur
• Government Upper Primary School, Thaikkttussery, Ollur
• Mission Home Lower Primary School, Mariyapuram, Ollur
• Asha Bhavan Deaf & Dumb School, Ollur

Colleges

• Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College, Thaikkatussery, Ollur
• Government B.Ed. College.
• Government College, Kuttanallur, Ollur

Hospitals

• Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College Hospital, Thaikkatussery, Ollur
• Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda Nursing Home, Thaikkatussery, Ollur
• St Vincent De Paul Hospital, Ollur
• Holy Family Hospital, Ollur
• E.S.I. Dispensary, Ollur
• Kanichayi Dental Clinic, Ollur
• Kattukkaran Hospital, Ollur
• Mother Evuprasia Homeo Clinic, Ollur
• Universal Yoga Centre, Ollur
• Carewell Dental Clinic, Ollur

Civic Administration

Ollur is administered by Thrissur Municipal Corporation.

Government Offices

• Ollur Police Station (Circle Inspector of Police)
• Kerala State Electricity Board (Sub Division)
• Ollur Telephone Exchange
• Ollur Post Office

Religion

Facade of the St. Anthony's Forane Church in Ollur.

Edakkunni Sri Durga Bhagavathy Temple

Edakkunni Sri Durga Bhagavathy Temple is one of the 108 Durga temples believed to have been built by the great sage Parasurama.^[2] The devi in Edakkunni Sri Durga Bhagavathy Temple is Vaishnava. The temple don't have upadevas inside the temple walls. The temple is an important participant in the Arattupuzha Pooram. Edakkunni Uthram Vilakku is the festival celebrated at Edakkunni Temple

St. Anthony's Forane Church

The famous St. Anthony's Forane Church is situated in Ollur. Feast of Saint Raphael, Ollur, the Archangel, is the most important festival of Ollur church falling on October 23 and 24 of each year.^[3] People from distant places areas come here for the festival. The Ollur church, as all old places of worship in Kerala, is situated on top of a hillock, and there are numerous ring roads around this typically Kerala architecture style 'Devalaya', replete with woodwork, murals and colourful tiles. These are the other churches in Ollur.

• Mary Matha Church, Panamkuttichira
• Vijayamatha Church, Chiyyaram
• Holy Family Church (Sevanalayam), Chiyyaram
• St Thomas Church, Padavarad
• St Joseph Church, Avinissery

Euphrasia Eluvathingal

The tomb of Blessed Euphrasia Eluvathingal of the Sacred Heart (Evuprasiamma), the famous pilgrim centre is at St Mary's convent, Ollur. Sister Euphrasia was declared a Servant of God in 1987, followed by Venerable on July 5, 2002. Sister Euphrasia was declared as 'Blessed' on December 3, 2006, by Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayathil, the Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar church.

Business

Ollur fish and vegetable market seen from municipal building

Ollur, which lies in the central part of Kerala with sound financial institutions, industries and a railway station around it, makes a good environment for business. With Swaraj Round just five km and NH47 four km away, and a bustling Thrissur City just five km minutes drive away, Ollur is a true entrepreneurial city, which is struggling to make it big in the business. This small town, which is famous for its tile factories, wooden packing boxes and rolled gold business, has an industrial estate with an area of 29 acres (120,000 m²) and 48 small scale industrial units in it.

Vaidyaratnam Oushadhasala, an Ayurvedic pharmaceutical company, is situated in Ollur. It is managed by Thaikkattusseri Eledathu Thaikkattu Family, one among the Ashtavaidya families of Kerala. Oushadhi, another Ayurvedic medicine manufacturing company is also situated in Ollur. It is directly controlled by Health and Family Welfare Department of Kerala State Government. Catholic Syrian Bank has a staff training college in Ollur for its staff.

Tile factories

Ollur houses around 20 tile factories in and around. These units cater mainly to Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. In the pre-independence period, tiles were exported from Ollur railway station to different parts of the country by rail network. One of the main reasons for the flourishing of tile factories in Ollur is the high quality of clay found here for the manufacture of tiles and bricks.

Timber and wooden packing boxes

Ollur is famous for its Timber and wooden packing boxes. This small town has around 300 units of wooden packing boxes units. The boxes are mainly catered to companies for transporting goods to different parts of the country. Before India’s independence, the British used to source sleepers and wooden platforms for railways from Ollur, which was main centre for this trade at that time. During the First World War, wooden packing cases were built in Ollur for military purposes also. In the coming days, the business grew and now, the wooden packing cases of Ollur reach all parts of India and are even used for export. The boxes are made from rubber wood, which is taken on auction from different parts of Kerala. Another main business which goes with wooden packing case is the timber industry which is highly concentrated in Ollur. There are many saw mills with up-to-date plant and machinery.

Rolled gold ornaments

Ollur manufactures a major chunk of rolled gold ornaments sold in all over India. The rolled gold industry employee around 6,000 people and is 200 years old. The ornaments are made with designs imported from Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and other parts of India. These cheaper rolled gold jewelries cost less than Rs 5,000 and used by many women who can’t afford real gold. Rolled gold jewelries are also exported to Middle East countries which have a large Indian diaspora. Rolled gold is a very thin sheet of gold that is laminated to a lesser metal (usually brass). The two layers of metal are heated under pressure to fuse them together. The sheet is them rolled into a very thin sheet and then used to make jewelry or other objects. Jewelry made from rolled gold wear well over time. Rolled gold pieces are marked rolled gold plate, R.G.P., or plaqué d'or laminé.

Restaurants and Bars

• Sree Bhavan Veg Hotel
• Sree Bhavan Bar
• Kallada Restaurant And Bar
• Massland Restaurant
• Salkara Restaurant and Bar
• Maheswari veg hotel

Banks

• Canara Bank
• Catholic Syrian Bank
• South Indian Bank Ltd
• State Bank of Travancore
• Dhanalakshmi Bank

Transportation

Ollur is well connected to other cities in Kerala by both rail and road. It is located 50 km from the new Cochin International Airport and 85 km from the Kozhikode International Airport. Ollur lies on NH 47. Both KSRTC and private bus services connect Ollur to Thrissur, Amballur, Kodakara, Cherpu, Irinjalakuda and Chalakkudy, Angamaly and Ernakulam. It is well-connected to nearby cities and towns like Kochi, Kozhikode and Palakkad.

Ollur Railway Station

Ollur Railway Station traces its history to 1902, when Shoranur-Cochin Railway line was built during the rule of Sir Sri Rama Varma of Cochin Royal family. Now, this railway line in the Central part of Kerala is considered as one of the busiest railway route in Kerala and handles very high traffic intensity including passenger and goods. Ollur Railway Station falls between Thrissur Railway Station and Pudukad Railway stations in Shoranur-Cochin Harbour section Electrified Railway double line.

Only four trains stops at Ollur Railway Station. They are Guruvayoor - Ernakulam Passenger, Ernakulam - Guruvayoor Passenger, Shoranur - Ernakulam Passenger and Ernakulam - Shoranur Passenger. Shoranur-Cochin Passenger runs between Cochin Harbour Terminus Railway Station and Shoranur Junction Railway Station. The train operates daily except on Sundays and covers a distance of 113 km. Second class seating coaches are available. Guruvayoor - Ernakulam Passenger runs between Ernakulam Junction Railway Station and Guruvayoor Railway Station.

Politics

Ollur Assembly Constituency is part of Thrissur (Lok Sabha constituency). The present MLA of Ollur is M.P Vincent.

See also

• Thrissur
• Thrissur District

References

1. ^ "Home". Ollur.com. http://www.ollur.com/. Retrieved 2010-05-06. 
2. ^ "About Temple". Edakkunni Sri Durga Temple. http://www.edakkunnitemple.org/temple.html. Retrieved 2010-05-06. 
3. ^ "Home". St. Anthony's Forane Church Parish. http://www.ollurchurch.com/html/m0100frm.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-06. 

External links

• Official web site
• Ollur Church web site
• Official web site