Kudavattor

Cocoa pods in various stages of ripening

[1]

Kudavattoor
Village
Coordinates: 8°55′0″N 76°45′0″E / 8.91667°N 76.75000°E / 8.91667; 76.75000Coordinates: 8°55′0″N 76°45′0″E / 8.91667°N 76.75000°E / 8.91667; 76.75000
Country  India
State Kerala
District Kollam
Population (1998)
  Total 15,021
Languages
  Official Malayalam, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 691512
Telephone code 0474
Vehicle registration KL-2, KL-24, KL-02
Nearest city Trivandrum
Sex ratio 1:1.25 /
Literacy 94%%
Lok Sabha constituency Adoor
Climate temperate (Köppen)
Sree Maha Ganapati Temple
Pepper - the King of Spices - on a Pepper Vine

Kudavattor is a small village of the Kottarakara Taluk in the Kollam district of the Indian state of Kerala, well known for its agricultural atmosphere and natural beauty of the landscape. In the local Malayalam language, kuda means "umbrella" and vattor "round", thus it is common to see a special kind of traditional style umbrella in the area. A predominantly rural village, Kudavattor comes under the administration of the Veliyam Grama Panchayat made up of Marroor, Chirakarakonnam and Kudavattoor chandhamukku. The village is situated on the Kottarakara—Odanavattam—Kollam route, which provides access to Kollam via Kundara or Nedumankavu as well as to Kottarakara. The district headquarters of Kollam is 25 kilometres (16 mi) distant.

History

Kudavattor village was an important trade centre in the past. Originally surrounded by paddy fields, prior to independence this area was part of the Travancore kingdom. The quarry business in kudavattor helps many people to meet the day-to-day needs. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel.


Economy

The major occupation in Kudavattor is agriculture with the village producing paddy, vegetables, ginger, tapioca, coconut, pepper, honey, chena(elephant foot yam), kachil, peas and rubber. Rubber is common in Kudavatoor, while the natives of the village depend heavily on rice as a staple.

Paddy fields in Kudavattoor

Demographics

The population is mostly Hindus, from castes such as Nair, Ezhava, Parrayar, Vedan, Polyan and Nadaan. There are also some Muslim and Christian villagers. Kudavattor is a friendly place for people from all religions. People from Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradhesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradhesh work in Kudavattoor. For them Kudavattoor is like a "chotta Dubai".

Temples

The two main places of Hindu worship in Kudavattor are the Sivastha Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and the Chirakarakonnam Parbrhamam Temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Other temples found in the village include the Palakootu Devi and Nedumankavu temples.

Kottarakkara Sree Mahaganapathy Shethram[2] is a well-known ancient pilgrimage centre in South India. Centuries old, the site is the location of the most important Maha Ganapathi Temple in the state of Kerala. Allows admittance to non-Hindus, this temple is dedicated to the family of Lord Shiva and is located in Kottarakkara, 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Kollam. Its deities comprise Parama Shiva, Parvati Devi, Sree Maha Ganapati, Sree Murukan, Sree Ayyappan, and Nagaraja. Even though the main deity is Parama Shiva, the greatest priority is given to Sree Maha Ganapati. The main offerings of the temple are Unni Appam Udayasthamanapooja, Mahaganapathi homam and Pushpanjali.


Culture

Kottarakara was the birthplace of the Kathakali classical dance form developed by Kottarakkara Thampuran (the King of Kottarakkara), in competition with Krishnanattam, which had its origin in Kottayam.

Notable people

Nearby villages

The main villages that surround Kudavattoor are:

Education

Kudavattor LP School (classes one to four) is located near the Shivashatha Temple and commonly known as LPS Kudavattoor. Kudatvattor UP School (classes five to seven) is commonly known as UPS Kudavattoor. Both schools are aided by the government. Other nearby schools include: KRGPMS Odanavattom, MGM Kottarakara and Mylom.

Transportation

Transportation is mainly dependent on private buses as well as the state run KSRTC buses. It is well connected to the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram by KSRTC Fast Passenger (6:45 am KDVR TO TVM and 7:20pm TVM TO KDVR). Buses are also ply to the district headquarters of Kollam.

Kottarakkara Railway Station is located on the Kollam-Madurai railway line. The nearest airport is at Thiruvananthapuram. Kottarakkara railway station, which currently connects to Kollam and Punalur,which 30 mins away.

Buses ply from kollam to kottarakara via kudavattor. First bus to kollam --> Morning 5:20 am

Last Bus to kollam --> evening 8:00pm

Nearby towns

Nearby towns and their distances from Kudavattor:

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/18/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.