- Kattappana
Kattappana is a small town surrounded by hills, located in the
Idukki district ofKerala state inIndia . It is located near the tourist spotsMunnar andThekkady . It is the largest town in the Highrange and houses most of the educational institutions. Other towns and cities nearby areNedumkandam ,Idukki ,Mundakayam ,Thodupuzha ,Kanjirappally ,Pala ,Kumily , andKothamanglam .Kattappana is known as the Spice Capital of Kerala. The town's fortunes rise and fall with the swings of the pepper market. The mid-1980s saw an unprecedented boom in construction activity as a result of a surge in the price of pepper. The overdeveloped town shows how much can be packed into so little space. The economic boom of the town led to land prices that were once rumoured to be higher than those in Cochin (
Kochi ), the commercial capital of Kerala, and that still remain high. Affluent families from other parts of the Highrange are attracted to Kattappana as it is the only place in the Highrange that has quality medical facilities.Kattappana is an example of how Government records may have little to do with the actual state of affairs. Much of this bustling town is considered to be part of "forest areas" said to be owned by the Government, but not in the records. The state of the cultivated lands in the surrounding area is no different. Granting pure Title deeds to the farmers, a vote catching slogan raised by successive state governments, has until now been thwarted by Central Forest laws and court decisions.
Despite being the commercial hub of the Highrange, Kattappana is often not shown on official maps. Many attractions near Kattappana are little-known by outsiders. Among them are Calvari Mount and Vazhavara, which offer scenic views of the
Idukki Reservoir , Vandanmedu, and Nankuthotty. TheGram Panchayat of Kattappana has a project to build a watch tower at the Kalyanathandu that will offer scenic views of the Anchuruli portion of the Idukki Reservoir.Revenue District : Idukki, Taluk :
Udumbanchola , Village : Kattappana, Local Governance : Kattappana Grama Panchayath, inluded in Kattappana Bolck Panchayath a part of Idukki District Panchayath.Demographics
Syrian Christians are the dominant community in the town. (But the landmark of the town is a magnificent edifice dedicated Sree
Narayana Guru ). The town has a large population ofAchayan Syrian Christians of theSyro-Malabar Catholic Church , who mainly derive from theKottayam district , particularly fromPalai andKanjirappally .Nair andEzhava community [Hindus] also make up a good part of the population. There are very fewMuslim s compared to other communities. People are very harmonic and they actively participate in other communities' festivals.Education
Colleges in Kattappana are affiliated with the
Mahatma Gandhi University ofKottayam . Many institutions are run under the management of theDiocese of Kanjirappally , affiliated with the Mahatma Gandhi University.Colleges
*Government College Kattappana (one of only two Govt. colleges in Idukki district)
*College of Applied Science (IHRD) Kattappana
*Co-Operative College Kattappana
*Govt ITI College, KattappanaSome nearby higher education centers are:
*M.E.S. College, Vattappara, Nedumkandam (18 km)
*Govt. Polytechnic College, Nedumkandam (23 km)
*Govt. Polytechnic College, Kumily (35 km)
*Holy Cross College, Puttady (10 km)
*Govt. Engineering College, Idukki (29 km)
*Model Polytechnic(IHRD), Idukki (30 km)Note: Distances given are not exact.
Higher secondary schools
*Ossanam Higher Secondary School Kattappana
*St. George's Higher Secondary School Kattappana
*St. Jerome's Higher Secondary School Vellayamkudy
*Auxilium EM Higher Secondary School KattappanaHigh schools
*Government Tribal School Kattappana
Transportation
The nearest
airport is atNedumbassery nearCochin . Nearby railway stations is atKottayam .Hospitals
Kattappana is home to a leading hospital in Idukki district - St. John's Hospital. It is located 1.5 km off the heart of the town and hosts all the modern facilities. An institution named St. John College of Nursing is attached with the hospital for Nursing and paramedical education.
Theni Medical College in Tamil Nadu is around 70 km afar Kattappana and is a closer destination than any other Medical College in Kerala. Kottayam Medical College is the nearest Medical College in Kerala for Kattappana residents.Other hospitals functioning in Kattappana are Anchana Hospital and Bala Hospital(both near Pulianmala Road), Christy Hospital (Idukki kavala) and Saro Hospital (Erattayar Road, Near IHRD College).
Entertainment
For entertainment people depend on movie houses in the town, mostly. Sagara Movie House is the best in Kattappana featuring DTS sound system and often exhibits the new arrivals from Malayalam film industry. It is situated by Kochuthovala road. Aiswarya (formerly known as Sangeetha) is also a good one and is nearby the Town Hall by Elappara Road. Santhosh, near Private Bus Stand and KSHB Shopping Complex, is the third one in the list.
ports
Kattappana, along with some nearby rural areas have provided a handful of [Olympic] athletes to the country. In the older version of state school athletic meet, Kattappana educational district used to come runners up for many years consecutively next to [Kanjirappalli] . But this has been declined in the recent past.There were a few football clubs (eg, Spices City Club) in the town and an annual football event used to be conducted in which various clubs from all over Kerala used to participate.As the training facilities are less, there is no point in expecting much more from this small town in the high ranges.
Notable residents
Kattappana is home to
Sebastian Joseph , a semi-literate farmer who developed the superior variety ofCardamom now known asNjallani , eclipsing the feats of established research organisations. The town is also home to a modern spiritual guru, Sri Suryaji, an advocate of suryayoga .ee also
*
Main Eastern Highway External links
* [http://idukki.nic.in/map.htm Tourist Map of Idukki District]
* [http://www.keraladays.com/Idukki.htm Idukki District information pages]
* [http://wikimapia.org/#lat=9.750551&lon=77.1169853&z=16&l=0&m=a&v=2 Kattappana on wikimapia]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.