Thevalakkara
| Thevalakkara Deva Loka Kara ( Area of GODS) | |
|---|---|
| village | |
  Thevalakkara | |
| Coordinates: 9°1′0″N 76°35′0″E / 9.01667°N 76.58333°ECoordinates: 9°1′0″N 76°35′0″E / 9.01667°N 76.58333°E | |
| Country |
 India |
| State | Kerala |
| District | Kollam |
| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 40,363 |
| Languages | |
| • Official | Malayalam, English |
| Time zone | IST (UTC+5:30) |
| PIN | 30524 |
| Telephone code | 0476287.... |
| Vehicle registration | KL- |
| Nearest city | Karunagappally |
| Lok Sabha constituency | Kollam |
| Vidhan Sabha constituency | Chavara |
Thevalakkara is a village in Kollam district in the state of Kerala, India.[1] Kollam district (formerly Quilon) is one of 14 districts of the state of Kerala, India. The district has a cross-section of Kerala's natural attributes; it is endowed with a long coastline, a major Arabian Sea seaport and an inland lake (Ashtamudi Lake). Kollam is the capital of Kerala's cashew industry. Plains, mountains, lakes, lagoons and backwaters, forests, farmland and rivers make up the topography of the district. The area had trading relationships with Phoenicia and Ancient Rome. About 30 percent of the district is covered by Ashtamudi Lake, [1] making it a gateway to the Kerala backwaters. The Thevalakara and Thekkumbagam panchyaths established the ancient korekini ("sea pointed inland") port of Tarsish in 1500 BC. kadappa a place at Thevalakara is where ship masts (Kadappa) were made for centuries.
Symphony Thevalakkara
One of the famous club in Kollam. click here for more details http://www.symphonyclub.org
Demographics
The natives believe that word thevalakara is derived from Devalokakara, i.e., the land of gods. The old name is Thevelikara. Books written by foreigners quoted Beckare). Thevalakkara is very famous in Kerala history connected with Portuguese attack in Thevalakara temples & orthodox church in 1544.
Kollam sea port was founded by Mar Abo with sanction from Udayamarthandavarma the Tamil king from Venad otherwise called Ay kingdom in 825 AD instead of re opening the inland sea port (kore-ke-ni kollam) near Backare (Thevalakara) also known as Nelcynda and Tyndis to The Romans and The Greeks and Thondi to the Taamils and is also the foundation of the new city. It is also believed that Mar Abo actually volunteered to the Chera king to create a new sea port town near at Kollam instead of his request for renewing the almost vanishing Tyndis or Nelcynda inland sea port (kore-ke-ni) at Kollam, lying idle without trade for a few centuries because of the Cheras being over run by pallavas in the 6th century AD ending the spice trade from Malabar coast. This allowed Mar Abo to stay for many decades in Chera kingdom and streamline Christian faith in the St. Thomas tradition with Syrian liturgy as reference to the Sanskrit and Vedic prayers thus strengthen the Vaishnavite stream of faith venerating the Virgin Born Human Manifesting of the Trinity in Jesus
Thevalakara had two old temples for Shiva and Devi. it was converted as Shiva temple after Adi shankara"s shivate revival in the early 9th century But was destroyed during a Portuguese attack on Nampoodiri vaishnavite Christians following syrian Liturgy in Worship at Thevalakara by Martim Ahonsa Desousa (1544). Devi temple was an oldkavu where Kadmattathachan Nambuthiri, the native disciple of Mar Abo tried to control a Yakshi (demon) and found no place to give her a stay around 40 Malayalam Era (865 AD). He came and prayed to the God and was able to control her. (she's still there in the temple compound). and it reconstructed by Aadithya Varmaraja under the supervision of Keralan Kumeran, the native naduvazhi and related tokumerakkanakka pillaiveedu . In 1472, keralan kumeran devoted valiya balikkallu to the temple as kanikka. The old vattezhuthu inscription shown there, proves this. Thevalakara church history is connected to the same Portuguese attack and Chaliyath Maraikkars attack. St. Francis Xavier and Alexis Menezis visited this Back Water coastline many times (rf. Joseph Mundadan, Richard. e. leche, gouva). Chaliyathu Maraikkar came in Thevalakkara in 1569 and propagated Islam among Low caste Hindus, then he constructed chaliyathu jumamasjid. Thevalakara is now famous for Mar Abo. He was a holy man and was considered as a spiritual Guru by swami Ayyappan who was a companion to kadamattathu Achan, the native Brahmin disciple of Mar Abo at chirapinchira Gurukulam near Karthikapally where they together studied Martial Arts including Kalari. His tomb is considered sacred. Now, it has announced as pilgrim center of the orthodox church with all religious thronging the shrine in February.Narayan M.G.S.,writes in Cultural Symbiosis that “ By the time of the Tarissa Christian Copper Plates of the 9th century, the Christians of Kerala who were just Nampoothiri Vaishnavites and Nairs were part and parcel of the local village community.” This means that they did not remain as a separate group but rather they intermarried with the Hindus of Kerala, and accepted the local cultural idioms. “The deity of the Tarsa Church was referred to the tevar. An important offering to the tevar was the sacred oil lamp as in the case of contemporary Brahmanical temples, is an indication to the fact that their conception of religion was shaped by local culture.
Nearby villages are Mynagappally, sastamkotta, Thekkumbagam, West Kallada, Panmana & chavara
References
- ↑ "Census of India : Villages with population 5000 & above". Retrieved 2008-12-10.