Padur

Padur (or Padoor) is a village in Palghat District, Kerala. There is a yearly festival in the village known as Padur Vela, which features fireworks.

About Padur

Padur is a peaceful and quiet village. There are around six temples in the village. The most famous temple in Padur is the Panicknar Kshetram, which is the temple of lord Ayyappa. The majority of people belong to the Hindu religion. There are also people from other religion such as Christians and Muslims.

There is a government school in Padur and a small sports and arts club called Bluestar and a public library. Padur also has a primary health centre and a veterinary hospital. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has also setup a telephone exchange in Padur.

The Gayatri puzha flows through Padur, which is a tributary of the Bharata puzha or river. There are also around five small lakes in Padur.

People

Padur is famous for astrologers and there is a community of people who are professional astrologers. The astrologers are called panickers and use Padur Kalarikkal in their names.

There are many famous nair families or tharavadu as called in Malayalam in Padur. One of the famous nair tharavadu is Kallazhy. The Kallazhy tharavadu has been in Padur for more than 150 years and is the oldest. Many people from this tharavadu have now built their houses in Padur.

The people of Padur are very friendly and good natured. People are closely knit through family relations, culture, and traditions.

Occupation

The main occupation of the people in Padur is agriculture. Many people from Padur work in other states of India and abroad in both private and public sectors. There are also small scale industries such as plastic products, soap and brick manufacturing units in Padur.

How to reach

Padur is well connected through road to different places in the region such as Palakkad or Palghat, Alathur, Thrissur, Nenmara, and others. Many route buses pass through Padur connecting these places. The nearest railway station from Padur are Palghat Jn, and Thrissur Jn.

Famous Festivals

Padur Vela celebrated in the month of February every year brings in a lot of crowd to the place. People from the Padur village who stay in other places also come to attend this festival. This festival features lot of fireworks, elephant processions, and other cultural events.

Brahmin Community at Padur

There are two villages or agraharams at Padur, where Tamil brahmins are residing. One village is Padoor Padinjare Gramam and the other isKazhani Puthan Gramam. There is a Gopalakrishna Swamy temple at Padoor Padinjare Gramam and there is a Venkitachalapathy Temple atKazhani Puthan Gramam. The main uthsavam of Padinjare Gramam is Karthika Vilakku and falls in the month of Vrichikam. The main uthsavam of Kazhani Puthan Gramam is Mandala Vilakku and Brahmothsavam and falls in the month of Dhanu(ie, Decemeber 23rd to28th and the 27th is the main uthsavam day Mandalavilakku). Theuthsavams in both the agraharams are celebrated in a very good manner.Brahmasri Kumarapuram Rama Govindha Bhattacharyar is the Acharyal who is our Purohitha for this Uthsavam.