Parvati Puthannar (

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

: 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 fl ...

that runs through the west coast of the

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 ...

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

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. A ...

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 Vamanapuram River is an long river in southern Kerala that flows through the northern parts of Thiruvananthapuram district. It is also the longest river in Thiruvananthapuram district. The river is also known as "Kollampuzhayaru" and "Attingalar ...

and finally to

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

. 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 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 ...

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

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

. 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 the Waterway 3 (NW-III).

References

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