Changanassery

Changanacherry
Changanasserry
Municipal Town
250px
Top left:Vazhappally Maha Siva Temple, Top right:Anchu Vilaku Lamps, Middle left:Saint Berchmans College, Middle right:Saint Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, Bottom left:Vandipetta Boat Jetty, Bottom right:Main gate in Nair Service Society Headquarters
Changanacherry
Changanacherry
Coordinates: 9°28′00″N 76°33′00″E / 9.466667°N 76.55°E / 9.466667; 76.55Coordinates: 9°28′00″N 76°33′00″E / 9.466667°N 76.55°E / 9.466667; 76.55
Country India
State Kerala
District Kottayam
Government
 • Body Municipality
Elevation 11 m (36 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 1,27,971
 • Rank 16th
Languages
 • Official Malayalam, English
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN 686101
Telephone code 0481
Vehicle registration KL 33
Waterways
Railway Station
Boat Jetty
Bus Station in Changanassery
Road network

Changanasserry is a municipal town in Kottayam district in the state of Kerala, India. Changanassery is connected to high-range and Kuttanad. It is considered as one of the major educational and religious centres of Kerala with a 100% literate municipality. There are five colleges, eight higher secondary schools, one vocational higher secondary school and ten high schools within the four kilometre radius of the town, which makes Changanassery the educational centre of Kerala.

Geography

Changanassery is located 18 km south of Kottayam on the Main Central road. With a population of about 50,000 in 2001, its population was already 36,000 as early as the 1951 census. The town is situated near the tripoint of Kottayam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts.It had one of the leading markets in Kerala connecting the main three districts.

History

The first recorded history on the origin of Changanacherry is obtained from the Sangam period literature. According to Sangam era documents, Uthiyan Cheralathan (Perum Chorru Udiyan Cheralathan, Athan I, or Udiyanjeral - AD c. 130) is the first recorded Kera (Chera) dynasty - a branch of main Chera dynasty- ruler of the Sangam period in ancient South India. [1][2] He had his capital at a place called "Kuzhumur" in Kuttanad and expanded the kingdom northward and eastward from his original homeland (meaning izham or illam in Tamil). His lifetime is broadly determined to be between first and third century AD. His queen was Veliyan Nalini, the daughter of Veliyan Venman. Present day Changanacherry and Kuttanad was the capital of the Kera (Chera) dynasty at that time until it was burnt down by Karikala Chola changing the name of Kuzhumur to Chutta-nadu (burnt-land) which became kuttanad. Similarly, "Keralathan" is the Malayalam pronunciation of Tamil "Cheralathan" and the world "Keralam" may be a derivative version of "Chera-izham" or "Kera-illam" meaning Chera-homeland in Tamil). Keralathan's descendant was Senguttavan Cheran (Chenguttavan means "brave-hearted" in Malayalam) the towns of Chenganacherri and Chengana is named after him). Sengana-cherri means Sengan's town in old Tamil. After the chera dynasty defeat the word cherri took on the concurrent meaning of the land of the defeated and eventually was equated to mean a slum in Chola kingdom.

Governance

The city is governed by the Changanacherry Municipal Council. Sri. Sebastien Mathew is the chairperson of the municipality and the vice chairperson is Smt. Suma Shine.[3]

It heads the taluk kachery(office). It also heads the Munsiff's court and the Judicial First class magistrate's court.[4] Changanacherry assembly constituency was a part of Kottayam (Lok Sabha constituency).[5] However, after the Delimitation Commission's Report in 2005 in order to retain Mavelikkara Lok Sabha Constituency, Changanacherry segment in Kottayam and the neighbouring constituencies in Alappuzha and Kollam districts were put together under Mavelikkara constituency. Sri. Kodikunnil Suresh represents Mavelikkara constituency in Parliament and Sri. C. F. Thomas has been representing Changanacherry Constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly for almost the last 4 decades.

Demographics

Syro-Malabar Catholic Archbishop's house

As of 2011 India census,.[6] The total population of Changanassery UA/Metropolitan region is 127,987. The male population of which is 61,807 while female population is 66,180. The literacy rate of Changanassery Agglomeration is 97.56% which is higher than National Urban average of 85%. Literacy rate for male and female for Changanassery stood at 98.19% and 96.98% respectively. Total literates in Changanassery UA were 113,597 of which males were 54,901 and remaining 58,696 were females. The child (0-6 age) population of Changanassery UA is around 9.02% of total Changanassery UA population which is lower than National Urban average of 10.93%. Total children in Changanassery Urban region were 11,550 of which males were 5,895 while remaining 5,655 children were females. A large percentage of population from Changanacherry resides abroad in the Gulf, Europe, and America.

Transport

State run KSRTC runs bus services to nearby towns. Separate Private Bus Terminii are available for those traveling to Eastern High Range areas. Also, a combined bus station facility for both private and state buses travelling to Western Changanassery (Kuttanad), Southern Changanassery (Mavelikara) and Northern Changanassery (Kottayam) is available. There is a dedicated KSRTC bus station in the heart of the town. Govt Water Transport facilities are available to remote places and major towns nearby. Changanacherry railway station serves Western Changanassery(Kuttanad) and Eastern Changanassery(Karukachal).

Culture

Chanaganacherry is a notable Zone in Kottayam District where people speak pure Malayalam without a local accent.

Centres of Worship

This land is famous for unity in diversity. The notable worship centres near to Changanacherry are St. Marys church, Parel (Parel palli), Ettumanoor Temple, Manarkadu Church, Chakkulathukavu Temple, Mannarshala Temple, Chettikulangara Temple, Mavelikkara, Chengannur Mahadeva Temple and Anikkattilammakshethram Temple.

The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Changanassery is the largest Catholic Diocese in India, established in 1887, Puthuppally St George Orthodox Church, St Johns Orthodox Valiyappally Vakathanam.

The Holy Trinity Church since 1999 is a Christian Church that believes and follow the Bible as the only true foundation to Christian Faith.

Christians being the largest group: Christians are 48.03% of the population, Hindus are 46.92%, and Muslims are 4.80%.

Notable people


References

  1. ↑ Singh 2008, p. 384.
  2. ↑ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  3. ↑ "Changanacherry Municipality".
  4. ↑ "Courts in changanacherry".
  5. ↑ "Assembly Constituencies - Corresponding Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies" (PDF). Kerala. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  6. ↑ "Census of India 2011: Data from the 2011 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.

See also

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