Teekoy

Teekoy
Village
Teekoy
Location in Kerala, India
Teekoy
Teekoy (India)
Coordinates: 9°42′0″N 76°47′0″E / 9.70000°N 76.78333°E / 9.70000; 76.78333Coordinates: 9°42′0″N 76°47′0″E / 9.70000°N 76.78333°E / 9.70000; 76.78333
Country  India
State Kerala
District Kottayam
Government
 • Type Gram panchayat
 • Body Panchayat samiti
 • Panchayat President K.C. James
Area
 • Total 27.19 km2 (10.50 sq mi)
Population (2001)
 • Total 10,272
 • Density 380/km2 (980/sq mi)
Languages
 • Official Malayalam, English
Time zone UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN 686580
Telephone code 04822
Vehicle registration KL-35
Nearest town(s) Vagamon, Erattupetta, Pala, Kottayam, Kanjirappally, and Thodupuzha
Lok Sabha constituency Pathanamthitta
Literacy 96.86%
Website www.teekoynews.com

Teekoy is a southern Indian village, situated in the eastern part of Kottayam district in Kerala state.

Teekoy is located 18 km east of the town Pala, and is 44 km north-east of the district capital Kottayam. It is between the towns of Vagamon, Poonjar, Erattupetta, and Thalanadu. The village is situated about 165 km north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

Geography

Teekoy is a typical Kerala village, which has a mixture of features of both midland countryside and the Malanad hill area, enveloped in greenery with a clean and unpolluted atmosphere. Teekoy as a village is medium- sized but as a panchayat is quite long. It covers many areas such as Aniyilappu, Mavadi, Vellikulam, Thalanad and Adukkom, stretching about 20 kilometres and reaching up to Vagamon town, at about three thousand feet above sea level. The place is known for its agriculture and landscape. It is full of hills and valleys in the middle of which flows the Meenachil river (made famous by Arundhati Roy's novel, The God of Small Things).

People

Large scale settlement in Teekoy began more than 100 years ago. It has resemblance to a tropical rain-forest area with all kinds of trees like teak and jackfruit are found in the Western Ghats region growing profusely besides coconut, rubber, arecanut, and other crops. The first large-scale rubber plantation in India was established in Teekoy. Most of the people are farmers and they cultivate rubber, elachi, ginger, cardamom, clove, nutmeg, turmeric, pepper, cashew and other spices. Considerable variety of medicinal plants also grow in Teekoy which have been used in making the traditional home remedies. A sizable proportion of the population are Syrian Christians (Syro-Malabar Catholic), but there are also a large minority of Muslims and Hindus. There is a small colony of converted Dalit Christians among the community as well. There are also some third and fourth generation Tamil people, descendants of workers who came to work in the rubber plantations in Teekoy many decades ago. Before Independence in 1947, Teekoy had some English people who had set up rubber plantation in the area. As a legacy of the colonial era, a cantiliver bridge still connects the two banks of the Meenachil river two kilometres above Teekoy town.

Culture

Teekoy is a rural but modern village with a predominantly hilly topography. It has a dominant village culture, with celebrating the annual festivals, feasts in church etc. Kerala's own culture exists here in vibrant form. There is only a moderate level of political activity, Indian National Congress and Kerala Congress (M) are the dominant parties and there is no social divisions over politics. Adv. Justine Jacob (Kerala Congress (M)) was the youngest President of Teekoy at his age of twenty seven.

People at Teekoy are educated and self-employed or employed either in government, private or abroad. This place is blessed different kind of educational institution and various industries. St. Mary's High School, now more than six decades old has played a vital role in providing education to the sons of Teekoy. Compared to other villages, the infrastructure is also better.

Places of worship

St Mary's Forane Church in Teekoy, Kerala.
  • St Mary's Syro-Malabar Forane Catholic Church
  • Teekoy Masjid Mosque
  • Sree Narayana Guru Mandhiram
  • Sree Karuvela Muthu Swami Kovil
  • St Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Church

Climate

Teekoy's climate has a heavy rain season and mild summer. Summer rains are not infrequent. With hills in the backdrop, it never gets very hot, and the climate tends towards windy and cool. Teekoy can't be considered as a rural village, the people are educated and employed. This place is blessed with different kind of educational institutions and various industries. Compared to other villages, the infrastructure is also better.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.