Parassala (പാറശ്ശാല) is a small town located near the border of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a 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 regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

.It comes under

Thiruvananthapuram district Thiruvananthapuram District (), is the southernmost district in the Indian state of Kerala. The district was created in 1949, with its headquarters in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, which is also Kerala's administrative centre. The present d ...

at southern tip of

. It is situated 34 km south of state capital

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, bordering

Demographics

A part of earlier generation of the population were involved in the collecting of palmyra nectar and

fermenting Fermentation is a metabolic process that produces chemical changes in organic substrates through the action of enzymes. In biochemistry, it is narrowly defined as the extraction of energy from carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen. In foo ...

to produce alcoholic drinks. The typical nectar collected on pots from atop

palmyra Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early seco ...

trees are also used for making '

karupatti Jaggery is a traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, and Africa. It is a concentrated product of cane juice and often date or palm sap without separation of the molasses and crystals, and can ...

' which is known for its medicinal properties. Three generations before, the people of Parassala have achieved socio-economic development because of the establishment of various educational and health care organizations by various religious groups and government.

Health

The major hospitals in the town are Govt Taluk Hospital, Saraswathy Multispeciality Hospital and SP Multispeciality Hospital. Then a government Sidha hospital,a government

Ayurvedha Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population repor ...

hospital,a government Veterinary hospital, a government homoeo dispensary and Telhara Homoeo care have given drastic change to the rustic image of this old town. The panchayat also holds a Medical College at Karakonam.

Education

Prominent educational institutions in Parassala are Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Evans Higher Secondary School, Teachers Training Institute, Government Women ITI, Saraswathy College of Nursing, CSI Institute of Legal Studies,CSI B.ed College, Samuel LMS Upper primary school and Sree Krishna Pharmacy College.

Notable People

• Parassala B. Ponnammal, recipient of Padma shri, an elderly woman who was the first female singer in the famous Navarathri Mandapam of Thiruvananthapuram during 2006 comes from this town.

Politics

Parassala assembly constituency is part of Thiruvananthapuram (Lok Sabha constituency). The former late deputy speaker of the

Kerala Legislative Assembly The Kerala Legislative Assembly, popularly known as the Kerala Niyamasabha, is the State Assembly of Kerala, one of the 28 states in India. The Assembly is formed by 140 elected representatives. Each elected member represents one of the 140 c ...

, Sundaran Nadar, is from Parassala. The current MLA is C.K.Hareendran. Now, from November 2015, local self election conducted by state election commission and won Left Democratic front and Com. Manju Smitha elected as panchayat President. Parassala comes under Thiruvananthapuram Constituent Assembly and Mr.

Shashi Tharoor Shashi Tharoor (; ; born 9 March 1956 in London, England ) is an Indian former international civil servant, diplomat, bureaucrat and politician, writer and public intellectual who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, ...

is the current MP.

Religion

Parassala Sree Mahadeva Temple is one of the foremost centres of worship in south Kerala and the temple is situated at the tiny village of Parassala adjoining the

Tamil Nadu boundary. Here the deity, Lord Siva is facing the west, which is considered as a rare

phenomenon A phenomenon (plural, : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influe ...

, and devotees even from far off places attend the

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognitio ...

. It was built by Mallen Chembakaraman Delava of Venad royal family. The temple is centuries old and the structure is rare stone architecture and Parvathy devi and Vighneswara are the upadevathas. The temple is famous for its rare rites and ceremonies and from time immemorial entry was allowed to all sects in the community irrespective of caste or creed and significantly arayas – a backward community have the privilege of participation for the commencement of important rituals in the temple from ancient times onwards and the Lord render blessings to all irrespective of caste, colour or creed. Parassala, the holy place is well known for communal harmony. Elankam Bhuvaneswary temple is another religious attraction in Parassala. Abbs Memorial Church

Many Christian worship places are there in Parassala. That includes a good number of RC (Roman Catholic), ECI, CSI, Lutheran, Pentecost Church of God Zionkunnu and

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

churches. Church of El-Shaddai at Anchali Jn. is a Pentecostal worship centre. There are also a good number of Muslim brothers in this constituency, which depicts the communal harmony of the place. One of the most famous Christian Church in Parassala is St. Peter's Church located in Hospital Junction built in 1604 by the Portuguese, very recently renovated and the Abbs Memorial Church, built in the 1850s by the English missionary

Rev. John Abbs Rev. John Abbs (1810–1888) was an English missionary sent out to Southern India by the London Missionary Society. He spent 22 years in Travancore, a period rarely exceeded by European missionaries in India at that time. He was the husband of Lo ...

. The church

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

is called "Abbs Echoes" with their main vision stated as "To produce the echoes of The Great Missionary Abbs."

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved ...

is also active in this area since 1975. Southern Kurisumala is the location of a famous Christian pilgrim location, which is not only visited by Christians, but by other religious people also. Parassala is famous for the HARE KRISHNA temple located in Neduvanvila, which is part of

International Society for Krishna Consciousness The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement or Hare Krishnas, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhakti ...

. Local women from all walks of life and religion gather here as part of women empowerment. This centre houses a go-shala (shelter for cows) and anganvadi ( school for toddlers).

Transport

Air

The nearest airport to Parassala is Trivandrum International Airport in

. It is 33 km from Parassala town.

Rail

The nearest station is Parassala

Climate

The Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as

Tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(Am). Parassala has heavy rains during June–August due to the southwest monsoon. There is no proper winter season as temperature do not fall below . In summer, the temperature rises to a maximum of and in the winters. Record high temperature in neighbouring

is . Annual average rainfall is .

References

{{Thiruvananthapuram district Villages in Thiruvananthapuram district Internal borders of India