Pallam

Pallam
—  village  —
Pallam Location of Pallam in Kerala and India
Coordinates	9°32′5″N 76°31′5″E
Country	India
State	Kerala
District(s)	Kottayam
Time zone	IST (UTC+05:30)
Codes • Vehicle • KL-

Pallam (Pallom), is a small village in the Kottayam district of Kerala state, south India. It is near Kottayam town.

Religion

The village has a mix of predominantly Hindu and Christian residents.

St. Paul's Orthodox Church, which has a history of over 150 years, St. John the Baptist CSI Church with its unique architecture (may be influenced by the leanings of the Orthodox Syrian Christians who joined the newly found CSI Church by the Church Mission Society from Britain, St. Ignatius JSO Church (Kallooparamb Pally), and St. Andrew's CSI Church and Valiyaveettil Devi Temple, Pakkil Sasta Temple (believed to have been consecrated by Parasurama), Mavilangu Mahalakshmi Temple are the major attractions of Pallam. The Thiruvarpu temple is also located nearby.

St. Mathew's Church is a Roman Catholic church in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottar, and was established in 1939.

Syrian Christians have a significant presence here. They seem to have come to Pallam after the arrival of the Pallam Royal family of the Thekkum Koor Dynasty. They also settled there to purify the oil bought from the market; in those days Syrian Christians were appointed to act as the comptrollers and purchase agents of royal house-holds, partly due to their mythical ability to touch and purify oil.

The 'Parekadavil' family is also ancient Syrian Christian family at Pallam. Parekadavil Kuriala Mani or Mani 'Ashaan' as he was popularly called, was one of the early graduates in Pallam from the 1900's with a B.A. degree and Licentiate in Teaching, who went on to become an Inspector of Schools at Kottayam. His daughter, the venerable Miss Alice Mani, was the first woman from the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church to be conferred with the Bachelor of Divinity degree, and went on to be one of the longest serving Indian head-mistresses of the Buchanan Girls High School at Pallam.

The 'Ennakkal' family is also another ancient Syrian Christian Family from and at Pallom . It houses many famous persons like EC George Sudharshan (scientist)

Among the prominent Syrian Christian families in Pallam are the 'Edathumpadickal' family, which literally means resident of the left gate of the Edathil Palace. Mathu (Mathew) of Edathumpadickal was the Commander of Royal Army Pallam, known as Akambadi Naayakan Mathu. The 'Pulluparambil' and 'Kannampuram' families were very active in the administrative activities of the erstwhile State of Travancore-Cochin, as well as in the setting up of activities by the English Missionaries.

These predominant Syrian Christian families are believed to be branches of descendants of the first four Brahmin families who believed the Gospel and embraced Christianity, as preached by Saint Thomas, one of the twelve disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Education

Prior to the arrival of CMS Missioners itself, this place was famous for education. There had some prominent Gurus ( teachers) who used to follow Gurukul Education System . Ulahannan Asan of Aaryattuparampil was one among them who was the teacher of Catholicose Mar Baselios Geevarghese II .Later he joined hands with CMS Missioeries to start English Education at Pallom

This is the place where one of the earliest schools were set up in Kerala, CMS Middle school (Currently CMS Higher Secondary School) and the Buchanan Institutions started by Henry Baker. The Buchanan Teacher Training School helped a lot in the spread of education, especially among the lower echelons of society, through the dedicated teachers trained there. The region benefited a lot from the early exposure to English education and the first graduate in Kerala is supposed to belong to this village.

The village has kindergarten, primary and secondary schools. The C.M.S. (erstwhile Church Mission Society, currently under CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese Society) runs separate schools for boys and girls. The main playground for soccer is in the boy's school. St. Paul's C.B.S.E. School is run by the St. Paul's Orthodox Church.

Features

The Bishop Jacob Memorial CSI Hospital is located in Pallam. Its rooms were built by contributions from many better suituated families in India and equipment was financed by donations from Germany. It is near the Buchanan High School and Buchanan Teachers Training Institute, which are all located in a spacious campus and belong to the Church of South India, Madhya Kerala Diocese.

When electricity generation started in the erstwhile State of Travancore-Cochin, the first power house was set up in Pallam. The first stretch of HT transmission lines also passed through this village (Pallivasal to Pallam and then on to Kundara).

This village also houses the famous Toddy shop, popularly known as the "Karimpumkala Toddy Shop". Toddy is the sap of the coconut (palm) tree, a healthy drink which can become heady when fermented. It was the common man's drink, but the "Shop" was more famous for its fish, beef, shrimp and chicken preparations which were consumed along with Kappa (tapioca-a root vegetable). The blue "fresh water shrimp" is considered to be a real delicacy here.

Haley Mathew, son of Kallooparambil Mathachan of the 'Edathumpadickal' family, was a pioneering planter was a great patron of "Vallom Kali" - the native boat race. The 'Kallooparamban' snake boat has won many a laurel in boat races such as the "Nehru Trophy" boat race (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1992, 1993), etc.

Several government offices are located in the village and it is also the heart of electrical distribution system of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). The village and its environs are rich with the emerald greenery of paddy fields.

The State Highway, M.C. Road, runs through the village. Most State Corporation buses use this route. The main junctions on this highway for Pallam are Pallam Power House, Pallam Borma, Pallam Buchanan, Pallam Post Office and Pallam Mavilangu.

The language is Malayalam as is prevalent in the rest of the state.

The western side of the village consists of the famed Kerala backwaters. It is also the site of a very old light-house, known as Munroe light, set up by Col. Munroe, the erstwhile British Resident of Travancore. The village is a very calm and quiet place, although it is just 7 km. from the town of Kottayam.

Well known families in Pallam include Parekadavil,kalapurackal,koithara,Edathumpadickal, Pathiyil, Chirayil(Purackal), Plamparambil, Anjilimoottil, Azhipurakal,Ennakal, Aryattuparampil,Palakkudiyil, Madackal, Kunnuthara, Pulluparambil,Velloothottam,Kannampuram, Peedika Parambil, Parayil,, Malathusseril, Mattakkatt, Parapuram etc.

Some famous medical doctors from Pallom are the late Dr.Liza Chacko, Ph.D., formerly Professor and Head of the Department of Anatomy, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Dr.Chinoy Chacko, formerly Professor of Pathology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, and Mrs.Chinoy Chacko, formerly Head of the Nursing College, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Dr. Ammini Philip and Dr. Mary.