Chellanam

Chellanam Chellanam means "Place where no one goes" (In Malayalam - Chella Vanam)
—  village  —
Chellanam Location of Chellanam in Kerala and India
Coordinates	9°48′26″N 76°16′39″E / 9.8072100°N 76.277420°E / 9.8072100; 76.277420Coordinates: 9°48′26″N 76°16′39″E / 9.8072100°N 76.277420°E / 9.8072100; 76.277420
Country	India
State	Kerala
District(s)	Ernakulam
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Codes • Vehicle • KL-

Chellanam is a village in the Kochi sub-district of Ernakulam District in the South Indian state of Kerala.^[1]

History

Chellanam formed the southern border of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Cochin. At one time, there was a police station called "chouki"^{[clarification needed]} at the southwest end of the forest, where policemen guarded shipments transported through the canal and collected the tariffs on goods brought into the country.

On May 24, 2010 residents of Maruvakad, staying near Thiruhridaya Chapel, just 100 meters from Velankanni Matha Pilgrim Center; dug an old well which is to be believed that, it was built and used by Dutch Army around 200 years ago.

This will help and will be a new resource for drinking water. Water is the most precious element for the people of Chellanam. The story of chellanam goes like this: The Maharaja of kochi had a marine fleet which had a captain named Mr. Thobias Cappithan. When he won a battle he was presented with a piece of land called "chellavanam". It was a vanam (forest) then which normally nobody goes to but he and his family settled there. He had three sons; one stayed near a cross statue later his descendants came to be known as Kurisingal family, another stayed at Valiyaparambu and became Valyaparambu family, and the third son who stayed near "Kalam" became Kalathumkal family. Chellavanam now is called Chellanam.

Location

Chellanam is on a narrow landform about 10 km in length, starting from St. George Church at the southern end and Kattiparambu (near Thoppumpady) At the northern end it has a width of 250 metres, accommodating in between the villages of Chellanam, Maruvkad, Chalakadavu, Kandakadavu, Puthanthodu, Kannamaly, Cheriyakadavu and Kattiparambu. The landscape is filled with bungalows and courtyards. There was a canal (azhi) passing through this place to the sea which later closed naturally and formed in a place called Andhakaranazhi in Alappuzha district.

Religion

The majority of the people are Latin Catholics. The district includes the Diocese of Cochin and the Diocese of Alleppey. The local parishes in the Diocese of Cochin consist of St. Sebastian's Church in Chellanam

St. Antony's Church in Kannamaly, St. Joseph's Church in Cheriyakadavu and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Kattiparambu. Those in the Diocese of Alleppey are St. George's Church in Chellanam and St. Francis Xavier's Church in Kandakkadavu. Hindus are belonged to different casts such as Gowda Saraswatha Brahmins, Eazhava etc...

Economy

Most of the people make their living by fishing and agriculture. Fishermen work at deep-sea and fresh-water fishing, using the latest technologies.

References

1. ^ "Village Code Directory for Kerala". http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-VillageDirectory/Directory/short_code_rural_32.pdf. Retrieved November 19, 2010.