- Kummanam
Kummanam is a village that lies on either side of River Meenachil. Administratively it is in Thiruvarpu and
Aymanam Gramapanchayat ofKottayam district inKerala State,India . Capital town of [Kottayam] District is 4 km east from here. A bridge named "Thazhathangadi palam" connects either areas beside river. Kummanam is near the tourist road fromKumarakom toThekkady .Overview
Aymanam means 'the land of five forests'. "Ay" in Tamil is five and "Vanam" in
Sanskrit is forest. "Kummanam" means 'the horrible forest'. "Ku" in Sanskrit means worst and "Vanam" is forest."Thazhathangadi" is an ancient River Port in Kummanam. "Thazhathe" inMalayalam language means 'lower down' and "angadi" is 'market'.Early traders from
Arabia settled in this river port. Thazathangadi mosque here is constructed with the help ofThekkumkoor kings and is one of the oldest in India. It is built soon after Beemapally in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum ).Portuguese traders built houses here on the banks of River Meenachil and a Church dedicated to
Saint George .Thaliyil Kotta near Thazhathangadi was the seat of Thekkumkor kings. "Thali" was an administratiove division and "kotta" means fort. King
Marthanda Varma annexedThekkumkoor toTravancore . "Vedipurackal" is the place where Thekkumkoor kings kept gunpowder. "Vanchiyathu" is the place where Thekkumkoor kings kept royal canoes. There are houses bearing these names are in Thazathangadi.Thazathangadi hosts a
Boat race orVallam Kali in August/September every year during festival ofOnam . This boat race began about one hundred years ago.Elamkavu Kaali temple is in Kummanam
Elamkavu Government Upper Primary School is the earliest around here.
"Vedippurakkal" house was gifted by the "Thekkumkoor king" to the great Vedipurackal Vaidyan (ayurvedic physician) is one of the old family/house in Kummanam.
Kummanam Govindapilla was a poet who wrote an epical poem about
Travancore kings, was a member of Sri Moolam Sahithya Sabha. CK Narayana Pilla chalasseril was a poet. Moothedath Gopala Pilla, Ponnattu Kurian "vakkil", and Valavillil Ramakrishnapilla were the advoctes. Kummanam Govindapanicker and Maliekkal Kunjachan were "aksharaslkam" deliverers.The breezes of
Meenachil river is whispering through the palm fringed shores of kummanam.
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