Chengalam South is a small hamlet located in Thiruvarpu panchayath in

Kottayam Kottayam () is a city in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is the district headquarters of the district and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, Kottayam has a population of ...

town of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, India.

History

It is believed that the name Chengalam came from the word ''chenkulam'' (Red soiled ponds). Chempakaseri family and Pattathanam family were staying in this place. Pattathanam family is still a well known family in this area. The place was once completely paddy fields. Now so many houses and buildings are in this village. The place is now easier to build big buildings since paddy fields were converted to land. During flood time this village was completely under water. Now the road has been rebuilt and floods are not affecting transportation.

Geography

The Branch of Meenachil River flows through this village. The village consists of two type of terrestrials. The area near Kumarakom is a part of north Kuttanad full of paddy fields. The north area is a hilly area and it is known as Kunnumpuram. The southern area is always threatened by flood. The river goes directly to Vemabanad Lake but it is very narrow in this region. That is the main reason for the floods in this area. The major occupation in Chenagalam was farming. Rice is the important agricultural product. Farmers follow the traditional two crops per year. But because of the continuous floods farmers are dropping the monsoon crops. The nearest city with over a million people to Chenagalam South is

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, which is approximately 75 kilometres to the north-west of Chengalam South. However, due to Chenagalam South not having its own train station, any journeys to

would have to go to

, a city with 800,000 people, to go to it

Demographics

The main religions followed by the villagers in Chengalam are

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and Christianity. According to the 2011 Census, Chengalam South has a population of 16,111https://www.census2011.co.in/data/town/628176-chengalam-south-kerala.html with a sex ratio of 1,034 females per 1,000. The 2011 census also tells us that around 52% of the population are

Hindus Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 28.2% are

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 19.6% are Christians and the remaining 0.13% are made up of other religions or none. This means that there are several

places of worship A place of worship is a specially designed structure or space where individuals or a group of people such as a congregation come to perform acts of devotion, veneration, or religious study. A building constructed or used for this purpose is so ...

for all these different religions, such as the Chengalathu Kavu Devi Temple for Hindus, the St. Mary's Knanaya Jacobite Church for Christians and the Thableegul Islam Masjid for Muslims. By road, Chengalam is about 8 km on the Kottayam–Kumarakom route. The nearest railway station is

Kottayam Railway Station Kottayam railway station (station code: KTYM) is an NSG–3 category Indian railway station in Thiruvananthapuram railway division of Southern Railway zone. It is located in Kottayam, Kerala state, India. Kottayam lies on the busy rail route ...

,. Kumarakom (3 km) is a nearby tourist attraction.

Culture

Chengalathu Kavu Devi Temple (Chengalath Kavu) and Madhathil Bhagavathi Temple (ooranma temple of kumaranallor devi temple) are the most famous and major Hindu worship places in the village. Meena Bharani is the mostly celebrated festival in Chengalathu kavu temple and Thrikkarthika is the festival time of Madhathil Bhagavathi Temple. People across all the quarters of society take part in it irrespective of their religion. St Mary's Knanaya Jacobite Church Chengalam is one of the Christian churches in Chengalam. There are other Christian denomination's churches, too, situated at Chengalam Kunnupuram. St. Thomas Jacobite church is the oldest church in Chengalam. St. Joseph Catholic Church of Vijyapuram diocese is also situated at Chengalam Kunnupuram. Situated Seventh-Day Adventist Church, North Kerala Section of SDA, since 1932. Then other Pentecostal denomination prayer halls also have a place in Chengalam Kunnupuram's area.

References

{{Kottayam district Villages in Kottayam district