Mannathara

Mannathara
—  village  —
Coordinates
Country	India
State	Kerala
District(s)	Idukki
Nearest city	Cochin a
Parliamentary constituency	Idukki
Literacy	100%%
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Codes • Pincode • 685515 • Telephone • +04868 • Vehicle • KL-

Mannathara is a small village in the Idukki District of Kerala on the southwest coast of India. This village is located in environmentallye rich mountains of the Western Ghats. The word manathra evolves from the name of a tribal groups called Mannan. Mannans were the early inhabitants of in the region. This was a place with rich megalithic sites in the early twentieth century. Continuous human intervention in the terrain destroyed most of the historically rich sites. It is therefore becoming difficult to shed light on the early history of this region. But it is important to do further research on the human interaction in the pre-historic western Ghats.

Migration of the peasants in the 1950s and 1960s was the major turning point in the history of this forest hilly region into an agrarian village. Now it is a village of farmers who have migrated from Palai, Ettumanoor, Kothamangalam, Thodupuzha, and Melukavu. This was largely connected with the larger project to accelerate the production of 'cash crops'. In the later decades, the entire high range, as Father Vadakkan mentioned in his biography Ente Kuthippum Kitaappumbecame the backbone of the Kerala Economy.

This village is famous for its high quality black pepper. Black pepper and cardamon from this area had been considered as special quality in the Mattacherry spice market in Cochin. But the leaf disease of black pepper (Kurumulku valli) in the late 1980s onwards was a major backlash to the agrarian change of Mannathara. Moreover, the import of black pepper from other parts of the world to Cochin port and mixing of the imported goods with high quality pepper from idukki affected the demand of high range pepper in the international market.

In the 1990s as elsewhere in India, structural adjustment policies of the government affected Mannathara economy as well. The roll back of the Government of Indian and the State government from the welfare policies for peasants and elimination of subsidy for fertilizers increased the risk of investment. The risk of investment was high in the case of ginger, plantain, and areca nut cultivation. The heavy fluctuations in the climate and various crop diseases increased the burden of the peasants. Cultivation of cassava (tapioca) and rice and milk products were the ways to meet their ends. Milma (APCOS) corporation of the Kerala state Government was a helping hand to the peasants. Nursing as a profession with employment chances attracted the lower middle class peasant families. The agrarian crisis of compelled young women to prefer nursing as a profession. Trained nurses, mostly from Syrian Christian and ezhava families migrated to middle eastern countries, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai. Now there are a few family has its members in America and England. Daughters of Chennamkulam Pappachan and the son of Paulose Eenthumkal are in the USA. Though the most of the lower middle class family remain unchanged in their economic condition, some of the families enjoy the economic mobility,

Geography

] Till the beginning of the 21st Century, once we reach the place after a long journey, a long strip of rice field was the landmark and main attraction of Mannathara. Mannathra thodu (a stream) flowing in the middle of the rice field is the life line of Mannathara. Now the decline in the rice production due to various reasons affected the Mannathara rice filed as well. Overflowing of this stream in the heavy monsoon months helps to balance the fertility of this rice field. But the first thing we notice would be the poor transport infrastructure of this region. The Government had been largely ignoring the transport development of the region for decades. It is only after 1995, a positive reaction is visible from the side of authorities. Now, Rajamudi-Thoprumkudy main state high way and Mannathara-Perumthotty road are the life line of the village. These two tarred roads connect Mannathra with other villages and market places including Kattappana, Murickassery, Cheruthony, and Nedumkandam and connects the region with larger market place such as Thodupuzha,and Kothamangalam.