“You are in Perumthachan’s land,” almost every other person on the island of Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara situated in the Periyar river near Aluva is sure to tell a first-time visitor.
Uliyannoor wears its cloak of ancient heritage with a certain lightness, and immeasurable pride. The Uliyannoor Sree Mahadeva Temple, claimed to have been built by the master carpenter of the Parayipetta Panthirukulam lore, holds pride of place in most islanders’ narrations. The Vatta Sreekovil of the temple with its 68 wooden beams converging into a single dome above the sanctum is considered the mark of fine craftsmanship even today. Nearby is the Madathilappan Temple, which devotees believe was consecrated by Parasurama, drawing faithful from across the State.
The Madathilappan temple at Uliyannoor, which believers claim to have been consecrated by Parasurama.
Not far from the temple resides the family of thachans (carpenters), who claims to be the descendants of the legendary Perumthachan. “The place where the carpenters live used to be called aasharivalappu, and it was where people from other regions called at in search of carpenters,” says Sheela Gopalan, a member of the family. It was in September this year that the senior-most member of the family, Perumbadanna Narayanan, passed away, aged 92. His 54-year-old son Sivan P.N., who has stepped into his father’s shoes, says the younger generation is not too keen to practise the craft. “There are 22 families, the descendants of Perumthachan, in various parts of Ernakulam. Only three families continue to live in Uliyannoor,” he says. The families meet once every month at the Sri Uliyannoor Perumthachan Kuladevatha Temple and partake of rituals, he adds.
P.N. Sivan, a resident of Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara, is from a family of carpenters who claim to be the descendents of Perumthachan.
The name of the region itself is believed to be a nod to the Perumthachan legend, with uli being the Malayalam term for chisel, a carpenter’s tool. It could be a reference to the stories related to Perumthachan’s professional rivalry against his own son and of his chisel that came hurtling down, deliberately or accidentally, and ended his son’s life, while the two were engaged in work on the Mahadeva temple. The region near Uliyannoor was smaller, and separated by a small canal (the Vaduvathode, which encroachments have since made insignificant) and came to be known as Kunjunnikkara (kunju kara denoting a small region), says Abdul Muthalib, an islander and the Ernakulam district panchayat vice president.
There are also accounts that the Paankulam, the legendary pond of illusions capable of assuming different shapes based on the vantage point of the onlooker, a masterwork of Perumthachan, was situated on the island. Writer Rajan Chungath in his work Parayipetta Panthirukulam: Aithihyavum Charithravum , that attempts to find traces of history in the famed legend, states that a communication between Scott Brothers and Company and the British Residency in September 1864 mentions the presence of a special pond on the banks of the Aluva river that needed to be filled in order to facilitate the setting up of the proposed Shoranur-Ernakulam railway line.
The aqueduct bridge across the Periyar that allowed residents from Uliyannoor-Kunjunikkara to walk to Aluva for the first time.
The island today is home to around 1,200 families with the population comprising mainly Hindus and Muslims. There are four major mosques on the island, which also has a public health centre, a post office, and four anganwadis, spread across the two wards of Uliyannoor and Kunjunnikkara under the Kadungalloor grama panchayat. The Government Lower Primary School on the island is intrinsically linked to its history and came up on land donated by Palleri Mana, one of the 10 upper caste Hindu households that owned most of the land at Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara many decades ago, says Harish Palleri, a resident.
Most islanders are primarily farmers, engaged in the cultivation of vegetables including spinach, yam, and plantain. “Earlier, there was paddy and sugarcane cultivation on the island, but that declined over time,” says Hussain Chiramuriyal, a resident. Several soap factories on the island also provided jobs to a number of people in the past, but they fell to disuse and were wound up, he adds. It being a low-lying area and surrounded on all sides by the Periyar, Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara is prone to flooding, the worst of which was witnessed last year. Almost the entire island was inundated, and hundreds of acres of vegetable cultivation lost. Farmer C.A. Ali Kunju says he lost all his standing crops last year, but counts himself lucky as he had insured his crop, which helped him get back on his feet quicker. The 72-year-old farmer, who took up the hoe at the age of 15, says youngsters today are reluctant to take up farming. “Farming on the island will come to an end with my generation,” says he.
C.A. Ali Kunju, a farmer at Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara.
An all-women’s group engaged in farming on the island too comprises mostly senior citizens. Elamma, while toiling under a harsh sun, says she is 70 years old and has been a farm-hand for most of her life. “We need to come and work in the fields every day to sustain ourselves,” adds 78-year-old Kaalikutty.
The floods last year also affected the quality of water in the island’s many wells, the only source of drinking water here. “There is not a single piped water connection of the Kerala Water Authority on the island. Everyone here depends on well water,” says Uliyannoor ward member Nisha Biju. But, there has been a colour change in water in several wells after the floods, and the water appears contaminated in many areas, says Sheela. Kunjunnikkara ward member K.A. Shuhaib says piped water connection should soon reach the island with a ₹5-crore project, aided by MLA funds, getting government approval.
An all-women’s group engaged in farming at Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara near Aluva.
Muthalib, along with other old timers at Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara, says growing up on the island was not easy, and it was only in the early 1980s that the islanders were able to walk to Aluva for the first time, courtesy an aqueduct that came up as part of the Periyar Valley Irrigation Project around 40 years ago and the subsequent protests to convert it to a walkable bridge. Later, the structure was made motorable, and that is when the islanders bid goodbye to water transport as the primary means to access Aluva. Another bridge that came up recently connecting the island to Elookkara on the other side resulted in the complete stoppage of water transport maintained by the panchayat.
In February 2011, when the Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara bridge, connecting the island to Aluva opened, it was the realisation of a life-long dream for most residents, providing them hassle-free connectivity they desperately wished for. It is the bridge, they say, that ushered in development, the process of which was set in motion with the aqueduct, the first vital link. But, for what the bridge did not bring along with it, the residents seem most grateful for - the cacophony of the city nearby. For, at the other end of the bridge, the island of Uliyannoor-Kunjunnikkara exists even today, an oasis of calm, just a left turn and over a kilometre away from the bustling National Highway 544.
