Kattappana

Kattappana

Kattappana is a small town surrounded by hills, located in the Idukki district of Kerala state in India. It is located near the tourist spots Munnar and Thekkady. It is the largest town in the Highrange and houses most of the educational institutions. Other towns and cities nearby are Nedumkandam, Idukki, Mundakayam, Thodupuzha, Kanjirappally, Pala, Kumily, and Kothamanglam.

Kattappana is known as the Spice Capital of Kerala. The town's fortunes rise and fall with the swings of the pepper market. The mid-1980s saw an unprecedented boom in construction activity as a result of a surge in the price of pepper. The overdeveloped town shows how much can be packed into so little space. The economic boom of the town led to land prices that were once rumoured to be higher than those in Cochin (Kochi), the commercial capital of Kerala, and that still remain high. Affluent families from other parts of the Highrange are attracted to Kattappana as it is the only place in the Highrange that has quality medical facilities.

Kattappana is an example of how Government records may have little to do with the actual state of affairs. Much of this bustling town is considered to be part of "forest areas" said to be owned by the Government, but not in the records. The state of the cultivated lands in the surrounding area is no different. Granting pure Title deeds to the farmers, a vote catching slogan raised by successive state governments, has until now been thwarted by Central Forest laws and court decisions.

Despite being the commercial hub of the Highrange, Kattappana is often not shown on official maps. Many attractions near Kattappana are little-known by outsiders. Among them are Calvari Mount and Vazhavara, which offer scenic views of the Idukki Reservoir, Vandanmedu, and Nankuthotty. The Gram Panchayat of Kattappana has a project to build a watch tower at the Kalyanathandu that will offer scenic views of the Anchuruli portion of the Idukki Reservoir.

Revenue District : Idukki, Taluk : Udumbanchola, Village : Kattappana, Local Governance : Kattappana Grama Panchayath, inluded in Kattappana Bolck Panchayath a part of Idukki District Panchayath.

Demographics

Syrian Christians are the dominant community in the town. (But the landmark of the town is a magnificent edifice dedicated Sree Narayana Guru). The town has a large population of Achayan Syrian Christians of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, who mainly derive from the Kottayam district, particularly from Palai and Kanjirappally. Nair and Ezhava community [Hindus] also make up a good part of the population. There are very few Muslims compared to other communities. People are very harmonic and they actively participate in other communities' festivals.

Education

Colleges in Kattappana are affiliated with the Mahatma Gandhi University of Kottayam. Many institutions are run under the management of the Diocese of Kanjirappally, affiliated with the Mahatma Gandhi University.

Colleges

*Government College Kattappana (one of only two Govt. colleges in Idukki district)
*College of Applied Science (IHRD) Kattappana
*Co-Operative College Kattappana
*Govt ITI College, Kattappana

Some nearby higher education centers are:

*M.E.S. College, Vattappara, Nedumkandam (18 km)
*Govt. Polytechnic College, Nedumkandam (23 km)
*Govt. Polytechnic College, Kumily (35 km)
*Holy Cross College, Puttady (10 km)
*Govt. Engineering College, Idukki (29 km)
*Model Polytechnic(IHRD), Idukki (30 km)

Note: Distances given are not exact.

Higher secondary schools

*Ossanam Higher Secondary School Kattappana
*St. George's Higher Secondary School Kattappana
*St. Jerome's Higher Secondary School Vellayamkudy
*Auxilium EM Higher Secondary School Kattappana

High schools

*Government Tribal School Kattappana

Transportation

The nearest airport is at Nedumbassery near Cochin. Nearby railway stations is at Kottayam.

Hospitals

Kattappana is home to a leading hospital in Idukki district - St. John's Hospital. It is located 1.5 km off the heart of the town and hosts all the modern facilities. An institution named St. John College of Nursing is attached with the hospital for Nursing and paramedical education.

Theni Medical College in Tamil Nadu is around 70 km afar Kattappana and is a closer destination than any other Medical College in Kerala. Kottayam Medical College is the nearest Medical College in Kerala for Kattappana residents.

Other hospitals functioning in Kattappana are Anchana Hospital and Bala Hospital(both near Pulianmala Road), Christy Hospital (Idukki kavala) and Saro Hospital (Erattayar Road, Near IHRD College).

Entertainment

For entertainment people depend on movie houses in the town, mostly. Sagara Movie House is the best in Kattappana featuring DTS sound system and often exhibits the new arrivals from Malayalam film industry. It is situated by Kochuthovala road. Aiswarya (formerly known as Sangeetha) is also a good one and is nearby the Town Hall by Elappara Road. Santhosh, near Private Bus Stand and KSHB Shopping Complex, is the third one in the list.

ports

Kattappana, along with some nearby rural areas have provided a handful of [Olympic] athletes to the country. In the older version of state school athletic meet, Kattappana educational district used to come runners up for many years consecutively next to [Kanjirappalli] . But this has been declined in the recent past.There were a few football clubs (eg, Spices City Club) in the town and an annual football event used to be conducted in which various clubs from all over Kerala used to participate.As the training facilities are less, there is no point in expecting much more from this small town in the high ranges.

Notable residents

Kattappana is home to Sebastian Joseph, a semi-literate farmer who developed the superior variety of Cardamom now known as Njallani, eclipsing the feats of established research organisations. The town is also home to a modern spiritual guru, Sri Suryaji, an advocate of surya yoga.

ee also

*Main Eastern Highway

External links

* [http://idukki.nic.in/map.htm Tourist Map of Idukki District]
* [http://www.keraladays.com/Idukki.htm Idukki District information pages]
* [http://wikimapia.org/#lat=9.750551&lon=77.1169853&z=16&l=0&m=a&v=2 Kattappana on wikimapia]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • College of Applied Science, Kattappana — The College of Applied Science was established at Kattappana, Kerala, India in 2001. College Of Applied Science, Kattappana, is working under (Institute of Human Resource Development) IHRD. Courses offered BSc computer science BSc Electronics MSc …   Wikipedia

  • Edassery Resorts — (Vandamettu,Индия) Категория отеля: 3 звездочный отель Адрес: Kattapana. Kumily Roa …   Каталог отелей

  • Murickassery — Thopramkudy   town   …   Wikipedia

  • Syro-Malankara Catholic Archieparchy of Tiruvalla — Metropolitan: His Grace Metropolitan Archbishop Aboon Mor Thomas Koorilos Parishes of the Archieparchy of TiruvallaAlamthuruthy (Niranam East) Alappuzha Amayannoor Anchery Anicadu Ayroor Cathedral, Tiruvalla Chakkupallom Changanacherry… …   Wikipedia

  • Neyyassery —   village   Coordinates Country India State Kerala …   Wikipedia

  • Cardamom — For other uses, see Cardamom (disambiguation). Cardamom True Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) Scientific classification Kingdom …   Wikipedia

  • Palai — Infobox Indian Jurisdiction native name = Pala | type = town | latd = 9.7 | longd = 76.70 locator position = right | state name = Kerala district = Kottayam leader title=Municipal Chairperson leader name= Betty Shaju altitude=186.01 altitude = 56 …   Wikipedia

  • Munnar — (മുന്നാര്‍ )   town   Munnar Hill station …   Wikipedia

  • Thodupuzha — Infobox Indian Jurisdiction native name = Thodupuzha | type = city | latd = | longd = state name = Kerala district = Idukki leader title = leader name = altitude = 22 population as of = 2001 population total = 46,226| population density = area… …   Wikipedia

  • Kodungallur — This article is about the city. For the medieval kingdom of the same name, see Kodungallur Kovilakam. Not to be confused with Kadungallur. Kodungallur   municipality and town   …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

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