Aloor, Kerala

Aloor is a place in Thrissur district in Kerala, South India. Nearby towns are Irinjalakuda, Chalakudi and Kodakara.

Administration

Aloor falls under the Mukundapuram Lok Sabha Constituency and parts of it fall under the Mala and Irinjalakuda Assembly Constituencies.

Postal Index Number (PIN) of Aloor is 680683. Since Aloor and a few other post offices fall under the Divisional Post Office of Kallettumkara, the same number is shared by these post offices too. Name 'Aloor' has been further simplified to ALUR by the postal department; that's how the name is engraved on the dark wooden/iron stamp of the post office of Alur.

Telephone code (land connection) of Aloor is +480. It is followed by seven digit phone number.

Education

Educational institutions in the area include R M Higher Secondary School, St. Joseph's EMHS and Sree Narayana Vilasam Vocational Higher secondary School. [ [http://www.kerala.nic.in/sslc/schoolist.aspx?dcode=23 schoolist] ] In tune with the general trend in Kerala, child education is given top priority by everyone across the socio-economic spectrum. Although all the schools in Aloor provide quality education to the students, parents who have high ambitions on their children send the latter to schools in nearby towns like Irinjalakuda, Chalakudi, Kodakara etc. Lack of seats in the schools in Aloor can also be the reason for the children in Aloor to seek admission in schools in nearby towns. In a similar way, students from nearyby towns also join reputed schools in Aloor. School vans and buses crowded by students is a common scene along the roads of Aloor.

Despite the presence of sufficient number of educational institutions in and around Aloor, and the overwhelming enthusiasm shown by the people and government to educate its young generation, many of the Aloorians, quite similar to other Keralites, are forced to go abroad or to other cities outside the State to earn their livelihood. Many of the educated youth from Aloor become skilled blue color workers or unskilled workers in the Middle East, or in Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, to name a few.

Religion

Harmonious existence of several Christian, Hindu and Muslim religious places of worship is one of the commendable features of Aloor. While St. Joseph's Church is the parish church of all Roman Catholics in Aloor, St. Mary's Church is a subsidiary of the former. Full length Holy Mass is regularly performed in both these churches. Apart from this Sree Muthappan Bagavathy temple at the Edathadan centre, 2 kilometers from Aloor Junction, is also an attraction among Hindu devotees.

Aloor Panchayat

Aloor Panchayat is a much wider area which includes places like Kallettumkara, Thazhekkad, Kombadinjamakkal, Anathadom etc. in addition to place Aloor. Aloor Panchayat office is located at Kallettumkara, another small town located 2 km away from Aloor. Irinjalakuda railway station (IJK in railway lexicon) is located at Kallettumkara. Aloor natives reach Kallettumkara railway station (Irinjalakuda railway station) to board trains leaving for Chennai (Alleppey-Chennai Express), Mumbai (Kanyakumari-Mumbai CST Jayanti Janatha Express), Bangalore (Kanyakumari-Bangalore Island Express) and many other places within and outside Kerala.

The traffic intersection at Aloor, popularly known as Aloor Centre or Aloor Junction, is one of the liveliest areas in Aloor. From Aloor Junction, one can board government run or private buses to nearby major towns like Chalakudi and Irinjalakuda. Aloor does not have a cinema theater of its own. Nor does it have a wine shop or a bar (where liquor is served). But it certainly has several toddy shops (colloquially called [http://jamesbright.typepad.com/dreamskerala/2006/09/toddy_shops.html"kallu shap"] - "kallu" means toddy and 'shap' being the Malayalam inflection of the English word 'shop'). Unlike several other parts of Kerala, only toddy from coconut tree is available at the 'kallu shaps' of Aloor. Those who tap toddy from coconut tree, ("chethukaran" in singular) are legally bound to deposit his collection at the nearby toddy shop to which he's registered. Toddy thus pooled by several "chethukar" (in plural) is sold at a toddy shop owned, by way of bidding, by a private "Abkari" contractor. Toddy shops at Kanal Palam, Aloor Gate and Mala via are famous for their unadulterated toddy.

Malayalam is the mother tongue of almost all natives of Aloor. Even though it has some similarities with the accent of Malayalam generally spoken in Thrissur district, it is not as thick in accent as the language spoken by Thrissur town natives. Going by the literal meaning of the word Aloor, the name signifies "place with people" or "place inhabited by people" ("Aal" in Malyalam means "human" and "ur" or "oor" means "town" in old Malayalam and Tamil, the language spoken in Tamil Nadu, the neighbouring state, and which has influence on Malayalam.).

How to reach Aloor: Aloor is 25 km away from Thrissur town, the district headquarters of Thrissur. From Thrissur one can board government run bus (KSRTC bus or [http://www.keralartc.com/ Kerala State Road Transport Corporation] bus) to Mala. Only government buses ply on this route at full length. Aloor Junction comes 12 km before Mala. While in a KSRTC ordinary bus it takes 1 hour from Thrissur, if the bus is fast passenger, for which the ticket charge will be Rs.5/- to 10/- higher than the normal rate, it takes less than 45 mts to reach Aloor Junction. Coming from Thrissur the order of bus stops within the limits of Aloor is as follows: Aloor Junction, Mala via junction, Aloor Gate, RMHS School and English Medium School. Before entering Aloor, the bus passes through the territory of Kodakara and leaving Aloor the bus enters the territory of Kombadingamakkal. Starting from Kodakara to a long way after Aloor, this road is part of [http://www.keralapwd.gov.in/pwd/public/thrissur.html State Highway 51] of Kerala.

Aloor can be reached from Irinjalakuda and Chalakudi by private owned buses that frequently ply between these two nearby towns between 5.30 am and 9 pm. Chalakudi-Irinjalakuda route touches State Highway 51 at Mala via, overlaps with the Highway till Aloor Junction, and the two diverge. While Chalakudi is at a distance of 8 km from Aloor, Irinjalakuda town is 9 km away from here.

References

Educated Men and women from Aloor are found all over the state and even the country. Some of them can be located in the capital city of the country, New Delhi. While many of them are quite reminiscent about their native village some of them start (online) communities for the 'Aloorkaranmar' to come together. Those who work as journalists and writers generally write articles about the 'Aloorpuzha'(Aloor river) 'Aloor Kallu' (toddy of Aloor).