Kozhencherry is a census town in Pathanamthitta district of Central Travancore region (South Central Kerala) in Kerala state, South India. It is on the banks of river Pampa. It is a commercial centre with many of the Banks and trade companies have their establishments here. It is believed that once the Kovilans of Thekencore kingdom's ruled this area. Kozhencherry used to be a part of the erstwhile Travancore kingdom.

The district headquarters Pathanamthitta municipality is in the Kozhencherry Taluk. The other taluks are Tiruvalla, Mallapally, Ranni, and Adoor.

Boundary[link]

North, River Pampa; South, Thekkemala; East, Cherukole and West, Maramon.

Roads[link]

Till the 19th century there were no proper roads in this area. The form of transportation was by boats. So the main market of Kozhencherry is near the river.

Now there are proper roads leading to all the small villages nearby. The T.K. Road (Tiruvalla-Pathanamthitta-Kumbazha Road/SH - 07) and M.K. Road (Mavelikkara-Kozhencherry Road) connects the town to other major towns. A bridge connecting Kozhencherry and Maramon was opened in 1948.

Healthcare[link]

• Muthoot Medical Centre
• Poyanil Hospital
• Mulamootil Eye Hospital.^[1]
• Sunny Memorial Hospital.
• Children’s Medical Centre.
• District Government Hospital.

Commerce[link]

Kozhencherry is the biggest township between the two major commercial centres in Central Travancore viz, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvalla. This geographical position makes Kozhencherry a trade point. Branches of various banks can be seen at every corner of the town. Kozhencherry is the hometown as well as the registered office of Muthoot Finance (formerly known as Muthoot Bankers/Muthoot Chit Funds).

Tuesdays and Fridays were the market days. Because it was on the way from the sea ports to the interior, jungle produce were the main trading item. The products included coconut, rubber, cocoa, tapioca, plantain, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, vanilla, rambutan and other crops.

Education[link]

It is the far sightedness of some of the leaders in Kozhencherry, that made it a 100% literate town in Kerala. It was in 1822, an English school with 40 students. was first established in Kozhencherry by a mission. In 1906, Mar Thoma Church took charge of the school and it was made a middle school. In 1918, this was upgraded as a High school. Now it is known as St. Thomas Higher Secondary School, Kozhencherry. The wood for constructing the main building of this school was from one single tree. During those days this school had students from far away places like Ranni, about 20 km from the school. Paramel Kurumthottical Rev. K.T.Thomas was the manager of this school for many years.^[2]

Now the following educational institutions are at Kozhencherry.

• St. Thomas College, Kozhencherry
• St. Thomas Higher Secondary School, Kozhencherry
• St. Mary's Girls High School, Kozhencherry
• Marthoma Senior Secondary School, Kozhencherry
• Government High School
• Mar Thoma Industrial Training Centre.
• MTLP School.

Government Offices[link]

• District hospital
• District TB Centre
• Regional Cancer centre
• District industrial Office
• Fishery, Pannivelichira

Religious festivals[link]

Maramon Convention[link]

Maramon is a small town on the banks of Pampa River, opposite Kozhencherry town. The dry river-bed of the Pampa between Maramon and Kozhencherry,witnesses the annual Maramon Convention', the largest Christian gathering in Asia.^[3] This convention is held for a week in February.

St. Thomas Marthoma Church, Kozhencherry[link]

Kozhencherry is the center of Marthoma Syrian Christians. St. Thomas Marthoma Church, Kozhencherry is the largest Marthoma church.

Cherukolpuzha Hindu Parishad[link]

The dry river-bed of river Pampa, between Ayroor and Kozhencherry, witnesses the annual gathering, the Cherukolpuzha Hindu Parishad (convention). The convention is held for a week in February.

Aranmula boat race[link]

Aranmula a suburb of Kozhencherry, is famous for its Parthasathi Temple. This is the venue of the annual Snake Boat race on the Pampa, a water theme festival bringing in palliyodams (snake boats) from all over the state, to which thousands of tourists are attracted every year

Aranmula kannadi[link]

Aranmula a village close to Kozhencherry is famous for its metal mirrors, known as Aranmula kannadi. This is the magic mirror of many a legends. It is a special type of [mirror], composed of a special metal alloy, instead of glass. It is a front surface reflection mirror, which eliminates secondary reflections. to achieve their reflective surface the metal is polished for several days in a row.

History[link]

Representatives of Christians met together at Trivandrum in 1932 and formed All Kerala Christian Maha Sabha. A special meeting of this was held on May 9 – 11, 1935 at Kozhencherry. In this meeting T. M. Varghese proposed that “ The elections to the Legislative Assembly of Travancore was not properly held and so it must be dissolved and new election should be carried out.” On the last day, May 11, the programme was an All Kerala Joint Political Meeting. C. Kesavan^[4] was a speaker. He declared, “I am talking about Sir C.P.^[5] We don't need that animal. The Travancore became notorious after his arrival.” This infuriated Sir C.P. Ramaswami Iyer Dewan (prime minister) of Travancore. C. Kesavan was arrested and spent about two years in jail.^[6] To commemorate this incident a statue of C. Kesavan was erected at the Kozhencherry town.

Presently the main political parties in Kozhencherry are:

• Indian National Congress (INC)
• Kerala Congress (Mani)
• Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M))
• Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
• Kerala Congress (Jacob)
• Communist Party of India (CPI)
• Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)

The Greater Kozhencherry region[link]

Panchayat wards[link]

Kozhencherry Panchayat is divided into 12 wards.

• Keezhukara
• Melukara
• Melukara East
• College ward
• Pamppadymon
• Kurangumala
• Kozhencherry East
• Chekkulam
• Thekkemala East
• Thekkemala west
• Vanchitra
• Kozhencherry Town

T.B. Junction[link]

T.B. Junction is a big junction in Kozhencherry where the roads from Thiruvalla, Ranni, Pathanamthitta, Chengannur, and Pandalam meets. Some important landmarks in T.B. Junction are: Petrol bunks of Hindustan Petroleum and Indian Oil, KSEB Office, Tourist Bungalow, KTDC Motel (Vazhiyora Vishrama Kendram), Park Hotel etc.

Thanungattil Paalam[link]

Thanungattil Paalam is a famous bridge in Kozhencherry, near to T.B. Junction on the way to Thekkemala. There were some pollution problem occurred in this area due to the dumping of wastes by hotels. However in the recent times, Bioplants were established in Kozhencherry to produce biofuels. This also helped to reduce the pollution in Thanungattil Paalam area.

The CI Office, Kozhencherry Stadium, Driving Training Center, Village Office,Krishi Bhavan etc. are situated near to Thanungattil Paalam.

Villages in Greater Kozhencherry Region[link]

Arattupuzha, Aranmula, Ayroor, Charalkunnu, Cheekkanal, Cherukole, Cherukolpuzha, Edayaranmula, Elanthoor, Elavumthitta, Kadaminatta, Karamveli, Kattoor, Keekozhur, Kidangannoor, Kulanada,Kuriannur, Kuzhikkala, Manthuka, Malakkara, Mallappuzhassery, Maramon, Mezhuveli, Naranganam, Nedumprayar, Nellikkala, Onthekadu, Pannivelichira, Parappuzha, Prakkanam,Punnakkadu, Thadiyoor, Theodikal, Thottappuzhassery, Vayalathala, Pullad.

Nearby towns[link]

Pathanamthitta, Aranmula, Chengannur, Kumbanad-Koipram, Tiruvalla, Mallappally, Ranni, Pandalam Poovathur

Population[link]

The population of Kozhencherry consists

• Christians - Mar Thoma Church, Syrian Orthodox Church, Church of South India(CSI), Pentecostal Churches, Catholic Church, St. Thomas Evangelical Church etc.
• Hindus - Ezhavas, Nairs, Gaud Saraswat Brahmins, Pulayas, etc.
• Muslims are a minuscle minority, concentrated in pockets like Kattoor and Naranganam.

Languages of Kozhencherry[link]

• Malayalam (mother-tongue of more than 93% of Kozhencherry's population)
• Konkani (mother-tongue of more than 5% of Kozhencherry's population)
• Tamil (mother-tongue of more than 2% of Kozhencherry's population)
• English
• Hindi

References[link]

See also[link]

• Pathanamthitta District
• T.K.Road
• Maramon Convention
• Aranmula Boat Race
• Aranmula kannadi
• Aranmula kottaram
• Gowda Saraswat Brahmin's Temple
• A Site for All residents of Kozhencherry