Parvati Puthannar (

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 ...

: പാർവതി പുത്തനാർ) is a manufactured

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

that runs through the west coast of the

Thiruvananthapuram district Thiruvananthapuram District () is the List of districts of Kerala, southernmost district in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. The district was created in 1949, with its headquarters in the city of Thiruvananth ...

. It was named after Rani Parvathi Bai, who was the reigning queen of

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 ...

during the time it was created. "Puthannar" in

means "the new river". It was created primarily for connecting the Travancore capital to Kadinamkulam, the Vamanapuram River and finally to

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 ...

. This canal also has access to the king's boat landing place, ''Vallakadavu'', where the king's boathouse is located. It starts from the Kadinamkulam Lake in the north and flows south-east, parallel to the

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

coast. It finally ends in a small delta near Poonthura and empties into the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea () is a region of sea in the northern Indian Ocean, bounded on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf of Aden and Guardafui Channel, on the northwest by Gulf of Oman and Iran, on the north by Pakistan, on the east by India, and ...

. The delta formed by Parvathi Puthannar is known as Poonthura Pozhi. At first, its water was very clear and fresher than any river or other man-made canal in India. At that time Travancore was the only hygienic, clean city in India. However, Parvathi Puthannar is now polluted and most portions are not navigable, due to pollution and weeds. Parvathi Puthannar is part of the West Coast Canal which forms Waterway 3 (NW-III).

References

Canals in India Buildings and structures in Thiruvananthapuram district {{Thiruvananthapuram-geo-stub