Kuttanad

Kuttanad

Kuttanadu in Kerala, India, is the region with the lowest altitude in India, with 500 square kilometres of the region below sea level. Its elevation ranges from 0.6 m above to 2.2 metres below sea level. Most of the area is covered with water throughout the year. Kuttanadu is one of the few places in the world where farming is carried out below sea level. The Greater Kuttanad region spread across the districts of Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam. The Lower Kuttanad region itself has a population of 1.8 million and comes under the Alappuzha district.

Four major Kerala rivers, the Pampa, Meenachil, the Achankovil and the Manimala flow into Kuttanadu.

Crops grown in Kuttanadu include rice, bananas, casava and yams.

Divisions

The Kuttanad region is broadly classified into three divisions:
* Lower Kuttanad
* Upper Kuttanad
* North Kuttanad

Lower Kuttanad comprises taluks of Ambalapuzha, Kuttanad (excluding Edathua, Thalavady and Muttar), and the northern half of Karthikapally taluk in Alappuzha district.

Upper Kuttanad comprises Veeyapuram village in Karthikapally taluk, Edathua, Thalavady, Kidangara and Muttar in Kuttanad taluk; Mannar, Kuruttissery, Budhanur, Ennakkad villages in Chengannur taluk of Alappuzha district; and Parumala, Kadapra, Niranom, Pulikeezhu, Peringara, Chathenkeri, Nedumpuram, villages of Tiruvalla taluk in Pathanamthitta district.

North Kuttanad comprises Vaikom taluk, western parts of Kottayam taluk, and western parts of Changanacherry taluk in Kottayam district.

Villages

A few of the major villages which form Kuttanadu are: Ramankary, Kaipuzha, Kumarakom, Edathua, Mampuzhakkary, Neelamperoor, Kainadi, Kavalam, Pulincunnoo, Kannady, Veliyanadu, Veeyapuram, Vezhapra, Kunnamkary, Kidangara, Mithrakary, Muttar, Neerattupuram, Thalavadi, Changankary, Champakulam, Nedumudi, Moonnatummukham, Melpadom, Payippad, Karichal, Ayaparambu, Narakathara, Venattukad, Kayalppuram, Mankompu, Chathurthiakary, Manalady, Koduppunna, Thayankarry and Pullangadi among others.

Thanneermukkam Bund

The major occupation in Kuttanadu is farming. Rice is the important agricultural product, giving Kuttanadu the monicker of "The Rice Bowl of Kerala". Three crops are grown every year now instead of the traditional two per year. Large farming areas near vembanad Lake Lake were actually reclaimed from the lake. The king decreed that whoever retains land can own it leading massive redemption of land from the lake. As the farming in the area increased farmers felt themselves constrained by the two cycles a year for rice cultivation. The reason for which is the availability of potable water in Kuttanadu. During the monsoon seasons, the water from the mountains flow through the rivers to the sea, bringing potable water to Kuttanadu. But during summer, due to the low level of the region, seawater enters Kuttanadu and makes the salt content of the water high making it unpotable. During 1968, government of India proposed a project, in which a bundh (Dam) will be made across the river so that seawater will not be allowed to come inside Kuttanad during summer, allowing farmers to cultivate and extra cycle per year. The project was planned in three phases, the south side, the north side and another phase to join the two sections. The project was delayed and by the time the first two phases were complete the entire money allotted for the project ran out and left the final phase in limbo. The farmers who were expecting lots of financial benefits after the completion of the project decided to take matters into their own hands and one night in 1972, a large group of farmers filled the gap between the north and the south side with earth. To this day, the earth embankment between the two sections of the bundh remains.

Even though the bund has improved the quality of life of the farmers, the bund is alleged to have caused severe environmental problems. The backwaters which were abundant with fish and part of the staple food of the people of the region require a small amount of salt water for their breeding. The bund has caused deterioration of the catch of fish in the region and the fishermen are opposed to the bund as of 2005. The bund has also disrupted the harmony of the sea with the backwaters and has caused problems not foreseen before the bundh like the omniprescence of the water weeds. Earlier the salt water tends to cleanse the backwaters but this does not happen any more leading to the pollution of the backwaters and the entire land nearby.

Cultural Personalities

Kuttanad is known for its contributions to the field of Malayalam literature and cinema besides the classical dance-drama of Kathakali. Jnanpith-winning novelist, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, hailed from Kuttanad, so is late Malayalam poet K. Ayyappa Panikkar. Scholar-folklorist Kavalam Narayana Panikkar and his musician son Kavalam Sreekumar are natives of this place, so was late filmmaker John Abraham. Renowned film actor Nedumudi Venu too hails from this belt.

Among the leading Kathakali exponents from Kuttanad today are Mankompu Sivasankara Pillai, Mathoor Govindankutty, Thalavadi Aravindan and Kalamandalam Shanmughan. Its Kathakali masters of earlier days include Mathoor Kunhukunhu Pillai, Champakkulam Pachu Pillai and Guru Gopinath.

References

* " [http://www.countercurrents.org/en-suchitra150703.htm Thirst Below Sea Level] ", M Suchitra, "The Hindu", 2003-07-15


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Kuttanad — ist der Name einer Landschaft im südindischen Bundesstaat Kerala. Sie befindet sich in den Backwaters südlich des Vembanadsees im Distrikt Alappuzha und wird von zahlreichen Wasserstraßen durchzogen. Rund 500 km² der insgesamt 1157 km²… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Upper Kuttanad — is a part of India s Kuttanad region. It consists of parts of Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, and Alapuzha districts.Kuttanad is broadly divided into Lower Kuttanad (Taluks of Ambalapuzha, Kuttanad in Alappuzha district), Upper Kuttanad (some parts of… …   Wikipedia

  • Cochin University College of Engineering Kuttanad — CUCEK Motto May learning illuminate us both, the teacher and the taught Established 1999 Students 1320 Undergraduates 1200 (2005) Postgraduates …   Wikipedia

  • North Kuttanad —   village   Coordinates Country India State Kerala …   Wikipedia

  • Lower Kuttanad — comprises taluks of Ambalapuzha, Kuttanad (excluding Edathua, Talavadi, and Muttar villages), and Northern half of Karthikapally taluk in Alappuzha district …   Wikipedia

  • Kerala Backwaters — The Kerala backwaters are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast (known as the Malabar Coast) of Kerala state in southern India. The network includes five large lakes linked by canals, both manmade and… …   Wikipedia

  • Alappuzha — This article is about the municipality in Kerala, India. For its namesake district, see Alappuzha district. Alappuzha Venice of the East   town   …   Wikipedia

  • Cochin University of Science and Technology — CUSAT redirects here. For other uses, see CUSAT (disambiguation). Cochin University of Science and Technology കൊച്ചിന്‍ യൂനിവേഴ്‌സിറ്റി ഓഫ് സയന്‍സ് ആന്റ് ടെക്‌നോളജി Motto May learning illuminate us both, the teacher and the taught …   Wikipedia

  • Alappuzha district — For the town with the same name, see Alappuzha .Alappuzha is one of the 14 districts in the state of Kerala in India. It was formed as Alleppey District on August 17, 1957. The name of the district was officially changed to Alappuzha in 1990. The …   Wikipedia

  • Vembanad Lake — Infobox lake lake name = Vembanad Lake image lake = Vembanad kettuvellam.jpg caption lake = A traditional kettuvallam idling in the lake image bathymetry = caption bathymetry = location = coords = coord|9|35|N|76|25|E|region:IN type:waterbody… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”