Perumkadavila
Grama Panchayat

Perumkadavila Grama Panchayat

Perumkadavila Grama Panchayat is a Grama Panchayat with an area of 17.54 sq. km, located within the Perumkadavila Block limits of Neyyattinkara Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district. Perumkadavila Panchayat came into existence in 1953. The headquarters of the Perumkadavila Block, which consists of nine Panchayats, as well as the headquarters of the Grama Panchayat, are located at Perumkadavila.

History

Administrative History

Perumkadavila is a hilly Panchayat situated in the northern part of Neyyattinkara Taluk, at the southern end of Thiruvananthapuram district. Perumkadavila Panchayat came into existence in 1953, and an eight-member governing committee under the leadership of Sri. P. K. Kumaran Nair took charge after taking the oath of office on August 15. The first Perumkadavila Panchayat consisted of the Keezharoor and Perumkadavila Villages.

On August 1, 1971, the Keezharoor Village was separated to form Aryankode Panchayat, while the Perumkadavila Village was retained and the Perumkadavila Panchayat was reorganized. Just as Aryavila became Amara-vila and Maharajamuttom became Marayamuttom, “Perumkadavila,” which had become a trading centre when the Aryans who came through Aryankavu for trade established their settlement at Aryankode, later came to be known as Perumkadavila.

The headquarters of the Perumkadavila Block, consisting of nine Panchayats, and the headquarters of the Grama Panchayat are located at Perumkadavila. The Block Office building was inaugurated in 1957 by Sri. E. M. S. Namboodiripad, the first Chief Minister of Kerala.

The Grama Panchayat office initially functioned in a rented building, and its own building was constructed in 1962. In 1994, the Panchayat office building was expanded into its present form. A centre that had functioned for malaria eradication later became the Perumkadavila Primary Health Centre.

The Amaravila–Ottasekharamangalam Road, which came into existence in 1968, is the main transportation route in the Panchayat. Electricity had reached Perumkadavila through Kattakkada as early as the 1960s. The main market of the Panchayat is situated at Marayamuttom.

The first Perumkadavila Panchayat, with the Keezharoor and Perumkadavila Villages under its jurisdiction, came into existence on August 15, 1953. On August 1, 1971, the portion of Perumkadavila Panchayat belonging to Keezharoor Village, comprising the Chemboor, Edaval, Mylachal, Keezharoor and Chilambara Wards, was separated and a new Panchayat named Aryankode Panchayat was formed.

The reorganized Perumkadavila Panchayat consisted only of the wards belonging to the remaining Perumkadavila Village, namely Angode, Perumkadavila, Aruvippuram, Marayamuttom, Chulliyoor and Thattiyoor. From August 1, 1971, to 1979, the Panchayat was administered by an Administrative Committee.

Socio-Economic History

Perumkadavila Panchayat is situated 10 kilometres north of Neyyattinkara, the hometown of Swadeshabhimani K. Ramakrishna Pillai and Veeraraghavan, on the Thiruvananthapuram–Kanyakumari route. The Neyyar River, which passes through this Panchayat, originates in the Agasthyavanam and flows into the Arabian Sea. The Neyyar is an inexhaustible source of clean water for this Panchayat and Kunnathukal Panchayat.

In the 90th year of the Kollavarsham era, a conflict took place with Chulliyoor as its centre, led by a few individuals who failed to understand that humanity is the only human caste and that all other caste names are imagined caste identities. The elderly people used to refer to this incident as the “90th Riot.” There was also a situation in the Panchayat in which Harijans were denied entry into tea shops and barber shops.

Chadachi Marthandan Pillai, associated with the history of Marthanda Varma, was a resident of Chulliyoor in this Panchayat. In connection with the conflict between Marthanda Varma and the Ettuveettil Pillamar, the Maharaja, while travelling, lost his way and stopped at a place where he did not know which direction to take. This place came to be known as Maharajamuttom, and later as Marayamuttom.

The place where the Maharaja forgot his “mala” (garland) on the banks of the pond came to be known as Malakulangara. The area of Mattamkode–Shankaran Kuzhi came to be known as Aruvippuram in connection with the activities of Sree Narayana Guru, who worked towards social enlightenment.

About half a century ago, the travel writer S. K. Pottekkatt visited Aruvippuram. In his book “Gadya Mekhala,” he described his visit as follows:

“Aruvippuram! From Neyyattinkara town, vehicles could travel for three miles along a road that seemed to come there by mistake. Leaving the vehicle there and walking through the narrow paths of that remote village, one could see pottery settlements, farmers’ houses and huts of labourers scattered across the compounds. Crossing streams, field boundaries and sandy stretches, the narrow pathway passing through that impoverished and secluded village ended on the banks of a stream. It was the Neyyar, flowing from Agasthyarkoodam. High hills stood on the other side. The entire upper portion of those hills was covered with forests and rocky formations.”

From this, it is evident that in the early days, the people of Aruvippuram travelled to distant places through the route connecting Chembarathivila–Thozhukkal with Neyyattinkara.

Aruvippuram, which was then a forested area, had only a few houses. The Aruvippuram Prathishta, with which Sree Narayana Guru began his programme of activities in 1888, is located in this Grama Panchayat.

The first meeting of the SNDP Yogam was also held at Aruvippuram in 1903. The first disciple of Sree Narayana Guru, “Ayyappan Pillai” of the Valiyaparambil Mannarathala family of Marayamuttom, was a native of Perumkadavila Panchayat.

Vishwamahakavi Kumaran Asan stayed at Aruvippuram in the Panchayat for a long period and composed poems there.

A large number of the leaders of Kerala’s social and cultural renaissance came to Aruvippuram in preparation for sounding the call for the creation of a new Kerala. Many prominent personalities, including the social reformer Dr. Palpu, the leading figure of the rationalist movement Sahodaran Ayyappan, the leader of the oppressed sections Ayyankali, T. K. Madhavan, John Yesudas, K. Kelappan, and C. Kesavan, also visited Aruvippuram.