Chinnakada or Chinnakkada is considered as the heart of the city of Kollam in

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 India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. Chinnakada is a busy junction where 5 city roads and one National highway interconnect at a traffic roundabout. The city's symbolic

clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

is located in Chinnakada. To reduce the

traffic congestion Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...

in Chinnakada,

Kollam Municipal Corporation Kollam Municipal Corporation (KMC) is an ISO 9000#Contents of ISO 9001:2015, ISO 9001:2015 certified civic body that governs the city of Kollam in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the fourth-largest city corporation by population in the state, ...

constructed an underpass near to clock tower. Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA)'s

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

sub-regional office is situated at Chinnakada.

Toponymy

The name ''Chinnakada'' may be derived from ''China-Kada'', which means China

bazaar A bazaar or souk is a marketplace consisting of multiple small Market stall, stalls or shops, especially in the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia, North Africa and South Asia. They are traditionally located in vaulted or covered streets th ...

. Chinese coins and other artefacts in enormous quantities were found near the Kollam port, proving Kollam was a significant Chinese trading hub. Another explanation is that due to the presence of a large number of

Tamil people The Tamils ( ), also known by their endonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Tamil language is one of the longe ...

in Kollam, they named the area ''Chinnakada'', which means "small market" in the

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

. This derivation fits with the toponomy of ''Valiakada'' adjacent to Chinnakada, which means "big market" in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

. ;Other areas in Kollam ending with the word ''kada'' in the name *

Kadappakada Kadappakada or Kadappakkada is a neighbourhood and important junction in the city of Kollam, in the state of Kerala, India. NH 744 (Earlier NH 208), that connects Kollam with Tirumangalam meets the Asramam Link Road at Kadappakada junction. ...

*Payikkada *

Pullikada Pullikada or Pullikkada is a neighbourhood of Kollam city in Kerala, India. Pullikada is very close to Chinnakada - the city CBD of Kollam and is a part of Downtown Kollam. The Coconut Development Board of India is planning to start a Coconut ...

Chamakada Chamakada or Chamakkada is a trade hub of the city of Kollam, India, in the core Downtown Kollam area. The area has wholesale dealers and rice merchants. Chamakada is the second main commercial centre of Kollam city after Chinnakada. Chamakada: ...

*Valiyakada

History

The ancient city of

, then known as Quilon, was an important center for trade with the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

. The Chinese traders were one of the oldest foreign communities to settle in Kollam. That was during 8th century AD or even before. That was during the period Kollam evolved as a major trade centre ( of spices ) and an important port in the Malabar coast. Chinnakada could be the corrupted form of China-Kada , means China Bazaar ( or Chinese market). That argument should be taken with a pinch of salt , as Chinnakkada also means small market (in Tamil). That stands complementary to the Valiakada adjacent to Chinnakada, which means big market in Malayalam.

Chinnakada Underpass

The Chinnakada Underpass is a public road infrastructure project for the city of

as part of the Kerala Sustainable Urban Development Project supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to ease traffic congestion at Chinnakada, the city CBD of

. The presence of an existing Railway over bridge and three close intersections with heavy traffic limits the option for traffic management measures including junction improvement. That caused the authorities to think about this underpass at Chinnakada. Chinnakada is a complex junction where roads from

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

Alappuzha Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

Sengottai Sengottai (also known as Shencottah, Chenkotta or Shenkottai) is a town in the Tenkasi district, of Tamil Nadu, India. It is the gateway to southern Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Spread over an area of 2.68 km2 with a population of over 26,823, ...

, Ashramam,

Kollam Beach Kollam Beach, also known as Mahatma Gandhi Beach, is a beach at Kollam city in the Indian state of Kerala. Kollam Beach is the first 'Beach Wedding Destination' in Kerala. The beach also features a park of international standard, the Maha ...

and the City bus stand road meets. Preliminary design for underpass was prepared by NATPAC'' (NATPAC - National Transportation Planning and Research Centre)'' involving the acquisition of of government land on a temporary basis. Height of the road passage above the underpass was increased to from to facilitate movement of modern container trucks through the underpass. Underpass has been thrown open to the public by the end of May 2015.

Gallery

File:Upcoming Pulimootil Silks at Chinnakada, Kollam.jpg, Upcoming Pulimootil Silks building at Chinnakada,

File:Chinnakada Roundabout, Kollam.jpg, Chinnakada Roundabout,

File:Bishop Jerome Nagar, Kollam.jpg, Bishop Jerome Nagar: One of the popular shopping destinations in

city File:RP Mall, Kollam.jpg, RP Mall, off Chinnakada File:Front view of Bishop Jerome Nagar, Kollam.jpg, Front view of Bishop Jerome Nagar File:Clock tower in Chinnakkada, Kollam.jpg,

Clock tower Clock towers are a specific type of structure that house a turret clock and have one or more clock faces on the upper exterior walls. Many clock towers are freestanding structures but they can also adjoin or be located on top of another building ...

in Chinnakada File:Chinnakada bus stop, Kollam.jpg, Chinnakada bus stop File:Chinnakada Clocktower, Jul 2015.jpg, Renovated Chinnakada flyover and Clocktower

References

{{Kollam , state=expanded Neighbourhoods in Kollam Shopping districts and streets in India

Toponymy

History

Chinnakada Underpass

Gallery

See also

References