Thiruvananthapuram
A decade before the first (unreliable) census was taken in erstwhile Travancore during 1830s, Ward and Conner in their survey memoirs gave glimpses of the population in Travancore. These may possibly be estimates rather than data obtained through enumeration. This data indicate that Kazhakuttam had a population of around 2,500 in 1820. Of these, around 1,100 were Nairs, 400 Ezhavas, 300 Brahmins/Ambala Vasis, 300 Dalits, 200 Muslims and a few Tamils and Christians. There were about 1,000 houses, about 250 cattle, 250 reservoirs or wells, 18 religious buildings and four public buildings. While Kulathoor and Pallippuram had around 25 toddy/arrack shops each, they were conspicuously absent in Kazhakuttam.
Different communities can be traced in and around Kazhakuttam. The construction work of the Kazhakuttam temple is believed to have caused migration of various communities to this place.
Goldsmiths in the vicinity of the temple hold the view that they are descendants of ‘Pandi Kannalan’, a sculptor from Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. It is said that he brought along with him his family deity Chempakavalli Amman and installed her at a spot around one km away from the south Gopura of the Mahadeva temple.
There was a settlement of ironsmiths, who were possibly making arms for Ettuveettil Pillamar, in Vaidyan Kunnu, in Karyavattam campus, which is now occupied by the Technopark Centre.
G. Vijayaraghavan, founder CEO of the Technopark, in his reminiscences confirms that remains of a foundry was located when earth was dug up for construction of the park centre.
Kanis, a prominent community found in the hilly terrain in and around Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam, had a settlement in Karyavattam. Their settlement was in a place called ‘Kundettukonam’, which was acquired for establishing the University Campus in 1963. The ‘Ayiravilli Kavu’ in Kundettukonam (in a valley behind Botany Department in North campus) had to be abandoned by the community. They claim that their ancestor Kochan Kani had held 12 acres of land, which had paddy fields nourished by Kundettukonam Chira. Even today, Kani families live around the nearby Perinchirakonam, where an ‘Ayiravilli Thamuran’ Devi Temple is the rallying point.
Sobha, Viswambharan and Rev Samuel represent communities that used to live in the place that is now the campus of Kerala University at Karyavattom
S. Viswambharan who retired from the Treasury Department is one of the senior-most members of the community. He laments that his 50-year-old struggle to conduct worship in his ancestral temple has not succeeded.
Pulayas were an essential presence in any farmlands. They toiled in the farms to reap rich harvests, but were terribly exploited under the feudal social system. Their settlement in Karyavattam was in the area near the present Malayalam Department. Sobha, now a casual labourer in the Karyavattam campus, recalls her ancestors –Veluthan and Vellachi– who lived in the area till 1963. They were evicted amidst protests (which saw Veluthan in jail) and compensated with a mere eight cents of land in Kazhakuttam. Veluthan had under his control a ‘Kutti-Chathan’, which, finally, was consecrated in a Kavu (sacred groove) near Karyavattam Sastha temple.
Muslims (noted as numbering 200 in 1820s) had their major place of worship in Vadakkum Bhagam in Kazhakuttam. It is estimated to be at least 400 years old and holds a Makbara of Rawuthar Oliyulla, a Muslim saint. The mosque attracts devotees from all communities and members of the Jamath cooperate with the annual festival of Mahadeva temple, on the day Vadakkum Bhagam is responsible for the fete. As if to mark the communal harmony, the junction between the mosque and the temple is called Ambalapally. There is another impressive mosque in Karyavattam, in Ambalathinkara, founded in 1905.
Christians are a prominent community in Karyavattam in Kazhakuttam. Even though Christians were living in Kazhakkuttam much earlier (as seen by the statistics of Ward and Coner), in 1909 that there was a surge in Nadar Christians as the community got organised. Samson Upadeshi and his wife Dabora Ashatti arrived on the scene in 1909, and stayed in Kuravan Vilakom. It is yet another reference to a community that possibly had settlements here. Many of his relatives and friends migrated to Karyavattam and the community grew in numbers. Kazhakuttam Mission Hospital was established in 1909.
At around the same time, a church was established on the spot where the campus cafeteria (near State Bank building) stands today. It was demolished in 1963 and soon rebuilt in Ambalathinkara. Their cemetery was in the spot where the University’s School of Business stands today. Nadars had among them experts in Kalari and Vaidyam. Vaidyan Kunnu, where Technopark centre stands today, was home to such a Vaidyan family. Son of Samspon Upadeshi, Rev Samuel, led the church for many decades from 1946 onwards.
The Latin church in Karyavattam dates back to 1936. It was in Thara Poika in Thundathil where the church was established and Manuvel, son of Kali and Mala of Kundothmughal, was the first to be baptised. In 2012, a new church building was opened in Karyavattam junction.
The third part of the series tracing the history and development of Kazhakuttam
