Pallithanam Luca Matthai (also known as Pallithanathu Mathaichan) was born in 1880 in Kainady village,

Kuttanad Kuttanad is a river delta landscape region in the state of Kerala, India, known for its vast paddy fields and geographical peculiarities. It is in the Districts of Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta. The region has the lowest altitude in ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. His father, Mathai Luca Pallithanam, was among the pioneers of kayal cultivation (reclamation of cultivable land from the

Vembanad Lake Vembanad () is the longest lake in India, and the largest in the state of Kerala. The lake has an area of 2,033 square kilometers and a maximum length of 96.5 km. Spanning three districts in the state of Kerala, it is known as Vembanad L ...

) in Kuttandu. The family estate passed to 18-year-old Luca Matthai on the death of his father. Matthai spearheaded the reclamation activities of more than one-third of the total Kayal Nilam's (Kayal Nilam refers to the cultivable land reclaimed from the Vemaband Lake). His first venture of kayal cultivation was the reclamation of Cherukara Kayal. During 1898-1904, he reclaimed the Pallithanam Moovayiram Kayal and Madathil Kayal but could not progress further because of a ban on reclamation imposed by the Travancore Raja in 1904. That ban was removed in 1914, after which Matthai and some other prominent families in Kuttanadu, reclaimed E-Block Kayal, which covered . This is the biggest kayal nilam in Kuttanadu. H Block Kayal (1917) and R Block Kayal (1921) were his other major reclamations. Matthai served as member of the

Moolam Thirunal of Travancore Sir Sri Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma VI (1857–1924) was Maharajah of the princely state of Travancore between 1885 and 1924, succeeding his uncle Maharajah Visakham Thirunal (1880–1885). Moolam Thirunal is considered as the first in India t ...

's Praja Sabha (Popular Assembly) and is considered to be a pioneer of the cooperative agricultural movement in Kuttanadu. His life marked the beginning of the epoch of first generation Kayal Raja's of Kuttanad.(Kayal Raja is the term generally used to refer to the prominent kayal cultivators in the Kuttanadu region). In 1931, in order to strengthen the farming community in Kuttanadu, he founded Kuttanadu Karshaka Sangham. He spearheaded the debt relief struggle that resulted in the enactment of the Agricultural Debt Relief Act. Our Lady of Dolours Church in Kainady village stands on land donated by him. Using his influence as a member of the Praja Sabha, he established a primary school in Kainady in 1921 and in the initial years he acted as the manager of it. This school was later named as A J John Memorial High School. Matthai was among the founders of the All-Kerala Catholic Congress. He died on Christmas Day, 1962.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luca Matthai, Pallithanam 1880 births 1962 deaths Members of the Sree Moolam Popular Assembly People from British India