Pampady is a large town in the

Kottayam district Kottayam () is one of List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. Kottayam district comprises six municipal towns: Kottayam, Changanassery, Pala, Kerala, Pala, Erattupetta, Ettu ...

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. It is situated midway between the backwaters of western Kerala and the mountains of the Western Ghats.

Etymology

According to

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 ...

Dictionary, '' Sabdatharavali'' of Sreekandeswaram means "The Land of Lord

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

". The area where a Sreekrishna Temple was located was named Pampady, possibly influencing the town's current name.

History

Vennimala, on the western border of Pampady was once the Capital of

Thekkumkur The Kingdom of Thekkumkur () (also transliterated as ''Thekkumkoor'' or ''Thekkumcore'') was an independent kingdom in the southern part of Kerala in India from 1103 CE until 1750 CE.P. Shungoonny Menon - A HISTORY OF TRAVANCORE - First edition ...

. In 1749,

Marthanda Varma Anizham Thirunal Marthanda Varma (Malayalam: ; 1706 – 7 July 1758) was the founding monarch of the southern Indian Kingdom of Travancore (previously Venadu) from 1729 until his death in 1758. He was succeeded by Rama Varma ("Dharma Raja") ...

of Venadu captured Thekkumkoor and annexed it into

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

. After 1956, Pampady became a part of the Travancore-Cochin state. Old records dating back to ME 352 (AD 1176), kept with Kaithamattom Illam in Velloor, shed light on the history of Pampady. It details human inhabitation roughly 1,000 years ago. Up until the middle of 16th Century, Pampady was ruled by the king of Thekkumkoor. Pampady had three portions, Velloor, Pampady and Thekkan Pampady. Major areas of Thekkan Pampady were owned by Kongoor Pallimana.

Transportation

National highway 183 (Previously named National Highway 220) passes through the middle of Pampady city. It is also connected to

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 ...

, Ponkunnam,

Kanjirappally Kanjirappally is a taluk and a town in Kottayam district situated about away from the district capital, in the state of Kerala, in southwestern India. Etymology Climate Kanjirappally has the highest number of rainy days in Kerala. It receiv ...

, Pala, Pallickathode and

Karukachal Karukachal is a fast-growing town in Changanassery Tehsil, Taluk in Kottayam district of Kerala States and territories of India, state in India. The name "Karukachal" was coined from the words "Karuka"(''Karukapullu'' in Malayalam) which is a t ...

. Local railway stations include the Kottayam railway station (16km) and Changanacherry railway station (22km). The nearest international airport is Cochin International Airport (90km).

Places of worship

There are multiple temples located in the town, including Cheruvallikavu Devi temple, Pampady Mahadeva temple, St.John's Orthodox Cathedral Pampady and Alampally Sreekrishnaswamy temple. Catholic churches nearby include St. Mary's Malankara Catholic Church, St. Mary's Simhasana Cathedral, Devamatha Syro Malabar Catholic Church, Holy Immanuel CSI Church in Pampady, St. Simon's Jacobite Church in Velloor, St. Thomas Orthodox Church, South Pampady and Martha Mariam Jacobite Church Pampady East.

Education

Schools located Pampady are managed by the Block Resource Centre. There are multiple high schools and higher educational institutions throughout the town, along with a number of primary schools.

Culture

The Malayalam writer Ponkunnam Varkey was born in Pampady. Navalokam is an active cultural forum functioning within Pampady. There is an Arts Society located in the town, along with a cultural programmes in the Community Hall every month. Deepa Arts Club was an active club in the 1970s, and was affiliated with Manorama Balajanasakhyam. They used to participate in the Balalokam program of

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

Government Institutions

The Pampady Block is located at Pallickathode about 9km from Pampady city. Pampady has multiple government and semi government institutions including the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, the Police Circle Inspector Office, a BSNL exchange, a Panchayath office and a KSEB Sub-station.

Notable people

*Ponkunnam Varkey, writer * Pampady John Joseph, Dalit activist and the founder of the socio-religious movement Cheramar Mahajan Sabha *

Thomas Kurian Thomas Kurian (born 1966) is an Indian-American business executive and Chief executive officer, Chief Executive Officer of Google Cloud Platform, Google Cloud (under Alphabet Inc.) since 2019. In 2024, Gold House recognized him as one of the most ...

, business manager and CEO of Google Cloud * George Kurian, CEO of

NetApp NetApp, Inc. is an American data infrastructure company that provides unified data storage, integrated data services, and cloud operations (CloudOps) solutions to enterprise customers. The company is based in San Jose, California. It has ranked ...

* Baiju N Nair, prominent automotive and travel journalist

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Site of Pampady Dayara
Cities and towns in Kottayam district