Mallappally is a census village in the Mallappally Gram Panchayat of

Mallappally taluk Mallappally Taluk is a tehsil in Pathanamthitta District of Kerala State, India. It comes under Thiruvalla Constituency & Thiruvalla Revenue Division. Villages The following villages are part of the Mallappally Taluk: * Kunnamthanam * Anicadu ...

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality, city in southern Kerala, India, spread over an area of . It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37,538 (as of 2011 census). The Hindu pilgrim centre Sab ...

district, Kerala. It falls under the Thiruvalla Revenue Division and Thiruvalla Constituency. The nearest railway station is Thiruvalla (15 km). As of 2011, Mallappally had a population of 17,693. Mallappally is the original home of many

non-resident Indians Overseas Indians (ISO: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are people of Indian descent who reside or originate outside of India (Including those that were directly under the British Raj). According to t ...

, and has one of the lowest population growth and highest literacy rates in India.

Etymology

The name is derived from the

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 ...

words മല്ലൻ ''(Mallan)'', meaning wrestler, and പള്ളി ''(palli)'' meaning shrine.

Demographics

As per the 2011 Indian census, Mallapally has a population of 17,603. It has a sex ratio of 1108 females per 1000 males. Children below 6 years of age constitute 7.25% of the total population. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes constitute 8.96% and 1.01% of the population respectively. The total literacy rate was 96.92% (96.85% for males and 96.99% for females), which is higher than the state average of 94% and the national average of 74.04%.

Culture

Mallappally is the birthplace of many Christian

bishops A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of Kerala, including St.Dionysius of Vattasseril, Metropolitan Archbishop Valakuzhy Joseph Severios , Cardinal

Baselios Cleemis Baselios Cleemis (born 15 June 1959) is the current Major Archbishop-Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. He was made a Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012. At the time of his elevation, he was the you ...

, and Rt. Rev. Mathews Mar Seraphim Episcopa.

Places of worship

Pathicadu St. Peters and St. Pauls Orthodox Church, built in AD 1888, is located 1 km from the town center. Cornerstone of this church was laid by St.Gregorious of Parumala (Parumala Kochuthirumeni).

Festivals

Every year during the summer, when the river water recedes, many sandy beds form in the middle of the river that are large enough to hold conventions and festivals. People from various parts of the Mallappally and Tiruvalla taluks come for the festival.

References