Chittoor Road is one of the major

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

in the city of

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 ...

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 ...

. It is the oldest arterial road in the

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

mainland city that connects Ernakulam south with Chittoor, Kochi island in Ernakulam north. The road runs in north–south direction parallel to coast, covering a distance of . The road was named after Chittoor temple as the road ends before the main gate of the temple.

History

Background

The Chittoor Road was the oldest road in the Ernakulam town. The road was reported to be constructed in mid-1620s prior to arrival of Dutch to Kochi. The road was constructed to facilitate Kochi Maharaja's annual pilgrimage from the mainland to Chittoor temple. There are no recorded or written histories about this road. However the popular folklore states that King Veera Kerala Varma II's leg was seriously injured in a bomb shell due to Dutch siege of

Fort Kochi Fort Kochi ( , ; Cochin Portuguese: ''Cochim de Baixo'', , Tamil: ''Koçhé Kōtàì''), formerly also known as Fort Cochin or British Cochin or Old Kochi, is a region of Kochi city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the For ...

. Soon he was moved to Ernakulam Palace for the safety of Royal family. Though he was able to walk after intensive treatment, he couldn't achieve full recovery. It was this time, a physician from Chittoor island came to meet the King and offered an oil for regular

massage Massage is the rubbing or kneading of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet, or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pa ...

. Though the king didn't believe in the claims of the unknown physician, he thought to give a try. Within months after application of the oil, the king was able to walk with ease. He decided to search for the physician by sending soldiers to Chittoor island to bring him to the Palace. However the efforts of search parties vain and the king himself came down and seek public's help in locating the unknown physician. It was later found that, it was none other the lord of Chittoor (Chittoorappan) came in disguise to help the king from the pain. The King became an adherent devotee of the lord and ordered for reconstructing the temple. The King also decided to take a regular annual pilgrimage to the temple. The Oil (Aadiya Enna) extracted from the body of Lord Sree

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

made up of Anjanasila after abhishekam is a divine and powerful medicine for acute Rheumatic complaint (Vatham).

Construction

However the main obstacle in reaching the island was lack of road connectivity. In those days only

ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

were option to reach this island. As the temple is located somewhere in middle of the large island, it became difficult for kings and his retinue to walk a long distance once reaching the island. The reconstruction activities were also affected due irregular supplies of materials needed due to lack of road. In addition to this, the royal family thought for the necessity of a road for safe passage in event of a Dutch storming and attack over royal family. All these reason resulted in construction of a stone paved road from Valanjambalam to Chittoor temple. Works for the road started in 1617 and completed by 1622. The original road was stone paved road and meant for exclusive travel for the King's carriage. An iron bridge was laid over Chittoor Lake that connects mainland with the island. The road ended at a turning before West gate of the temple. The road once again came into forefront during mid 18th century as part of strengthening

Pallipuram Fort Pallippuram Fort or (Paleport Castelo em Cima) is a fort in Pallippuram, Vyppin, Ernakulam district of Kerala, south India. It was built by Portuguese sailors on 27 September, 1503 using just timber wood, and later renovated in 1505 by replac ...

by Travancore Army. The construction of modern road in 1910 by Maharaja Rajrishi Rama Varma to connect residents of North Ernakulam with main parts of the city.

Present

Until the 1940s, this road was the main road of the town before taken over by MG Road.

References

External links