Changanassery

Changanacherry
Changanasserry
Municipal Town

250px

Top left:Vazhappally Maha Siva Temple, Top right:Anchu Vilaku Lamps, Middle left:Saint Berchmans College, Middle right:Saint Mary's Metropolitan Cathedral, Bottom left:Vandipetta Boat Jetty, Bottom right:Main gate in Nair Service Society Headquarters
Changanacherry
Changanacherry
Coordinates: 9°28′00″N 76°33′00″E / 9.466667°N 76.55°E / 9.466667; 76.55Coordinates: 9°28′00″N 76°33′00″E / 9.466667°N 76.55°E / 9.466667; 76.55
Country India
State Kerala
District Kottayam
Government
 • Body Municipality
Elevation 11 m (36 ft)
Population (2001)
 • Total 51,960
Languages
 • Official Malayalam, English
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN 686101
Telephone code 0481
Vehicle registration KL 33
Waterways
Railway Station
Boat Jetty
Bus Station in Changanassery
Road network

Changanacherry is a municipality in Kottayam district in the state of Kerala, India.

Administration

The city is governed by the Changanacherry Municipal Council. Sri. Sebastien Mathew is the chairperson of the municipality and the vice chairperson is Smt. Suma Shine.[1]

It heads the taluk kachery(office). It also heads the Munsiff's court and the Judicial First class magistrate's court.[2]

Location

Changanassery is located 18 ks court.m south of Kottayam on the Main Central road. With a population of about 50,000, its population was already 36,000 as early as the 1951 census. The town is situated near the tripoint of Kottayam, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta districts.

History

The first recorded history on the origin of Changanacherry is obtained from the Sangam period literature. According to Sangam era documents, Uthiyan Keralathan (Perum Chorru Udiyan Cheralathan, Athan I, or Udiyanjeral - AD c. 130) is the first recorded Kera (Chera) dynasty ruler of the Sangam period in ancient South India. [3][4] He had his capital at a place called "Kuzhumur" in Kuttanad and expanded the kingdom northward and eastward from his original homeland (meaning izham or illam in Tamil). His lifetime is broadly determined to be between first and third century AD. His queen was Veliyan Nalini, the daughter of Veliyan Venman. Present day Changanacherry and Kuttanad was the capital of the Kera (Chera) dynasty at that time until it was burnt down by Karikala Chola changing the name of Kuzhumur to Chutta-nadu (burnt-land) which became kuttanad. Similarly, "Keralathan" is the Malayalam pronunciation of Tamil "Cheralathan" and the world "Keralam" may be a derivative version of "Chera-izham" or "Kera-illam" meaning Chera-homeland in tamil). Keralathan's descendant was Senguttavan Cheran (Chenguttavan means "brave-hearted" in malayalam) the towns of Chenganacherri and Chengana is named after him). Sengana-cherri means Sengan's town in old tamil. After the chera dynasty defeat the word cherri took on the concurrent meaning of the land of the defeated and eventually was equated to mean a slum in Chola kingdom.

Demographics

Syro-Malabar Catholic Archbishop's house

As of 2001 India census,[5] Changanacherry had a population of 51,960. Males constituted 48% of the population and females 52%. Changanacherry has an average literacy rate of 94%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with male literacy of 93.9% and female literacy of 94.1%. 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. A large percentage of population from Changanacherry resides abroad in the Gulf, Europe and America.

Tourist attractions

Churches

St. Mary's Syro-Malabar Metropolitan Cathedral (Valiyapally), St. Mary's Parel Syro-Malabar Catholic Church (Parelpally) The first Roman Catholic church in Changanacherry taluk is Thuruthy RC church.The first Madapplly church is St Pauls CSI church(Former CMS)Chooranoly, Mammood, St Johns Orthodox valiyappally Vakathanm.

Temples

Mosques

Puthur Masjid (Puthurpally) and Pazhaya Masjid (Pazhayapally) Hihayath Masjid (Puzhavath)

Anandashram

Anandasramam, Shri Narayana Guru of Kerala was involved with the ashram. Anandasramam was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi.

Other centers of worship

The notable worship centres near to Changanacherry are Ettumanoor Temple, Manarkadu Church, Chakkulathukavu Temple, Mannarshala Temple, Neerettupuram, Chettikulangara Temple, Mavelikkara, Chengannur Mahadeva Temple and Anikkattilammakshethram Temple. The Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Changanassery is the largest Catholic Diocese in India, established in 1887, Puthuppally St George Orthodox Church.

Politics

Changanacherry assembly constituency was a part of Kottayam (Lok Sabha constituency).[6] However, after the Delimitation Commission's Report in 2005 in order to retain Mavelikkara Lok Sabha Constituency, Changanacherry segment in Kottayam and the neighbouring constituencies in Alappuzha and Kollam districts were put together under Mavelikkara constituency.Almost last 4 decades Sri.C.F Thomas represented Chanaganacherry constituency in Kerala Legislative Assembly.

Notable Personalities from Changanasserry

Education

St. Berchmans College

The St. Berchmans College, also called SB College locally, was founded by the first bishop of the archdiocese of Changanacherry, Thomas Kurialacherry (January 14, 1873 – February 6, 1925), in the year of 1922. It is now affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala and has been reaccredited by NAAC at A+ level. As of 2014 the SB College had 16 departments and offered 35 courses for the students. It has a chapel, library, digital library and a research center. The alumni of SB occupy important positions in different parts of India as well as foreign countries like the United States, Germany, Austria, Kuwait, Qatar, Doha and the UAE.

Assumption College, is a NAAC re-accredited Autonomous women's college in Kerala, India. It is affiliated with Mahatma Gandhi University.The college offers both bachelor's and master's degrees in a variety of subjects.

NSS College

N.S.S College, Changanacherry, It is an aided college affiliated to the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam and is managed by Nair Service Society. Established in 1947, it is one of the largest colleges under Mahatma Gandhi University.

Subramanya Swamy temple

Sacred Heart High School

The Sacred Heart High School, also called SH School locally, Sacred Heart Higher Secondary School, also known as S.H., Changanacherry 9°26'44.4588N 76°33'3.888E is a pioneer among the recognized English Medium Schools in the unaided sector in Kerala, India. The school was founded by Fr. K.J. Antony Kaithara, a member of the Sacred Heart Institution, under the patronage of Mar Mathew Kavukattu, the late Archbishop of Changanacherry in 1964. The ICSE wing started in 2002, and it was raised to a junior college in 2008. The manager of the school is Very Rev. Monsignor Joseph Neduvilezham, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Chanagancherry; Rev. Fr. Joseph M. Cheruvelil is the Principal and Rev. Fr. Mohan Mundanthanjilil serves as the bursar of the school. Fr. O.J. Varghese was the principal for many decades. The motto of the school is Learn, Labour, Serve. It was mentioned in the Malayalam movie, Varnapakittu. The civil servant, Raju Narayana Swamy studied at S.H.

St Joseph College of Communication (SJCC), is the first university affiliated Media College in South India. SJCC is a Christian minority self-financing education institution affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. The college is the first of its kind in South India, offering career-oriented bachelor and master of arts degrees in Multimedia, Animation, Graphic Design, and Cinema & Television.

SJCC was founded in August 2004. SJCC was formally inaugurated by Sri Oommen Chandy, the Chief Minister of Kerala, in the presence of the founder, Archbishop Emeritus Mar Joseph Powathil on 2 July 2005.

Kristu jyoti group

Kristu Jyoti Higher Secondary School (ISO 9001-2008) the debut venture of all the CMI educational institutions owned and managed by Sacred Heart Monastery, Chethipuzha, Kerala is a part of St. Joseph’s Province Thiruvananthapuram run by the priests of the Congregation of Carmelities of Mary Immaculate (CMI).

Kristu Jyoti College of Management & Technology, Chethipuzha, affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University and approved by All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi (AICTE) was started in the year 2002.

References

  1. ↑ "Changanacherry Municipality".
  2. ↑ "Courts in changanacherry".
  3. ↑ Singh 2008, p. 384.
  4. ↑ Sen, Sailendra (2013). A Textbook of Medieval Indian History. Primus Books. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-9-38060-734-4.
  5. ↑ "Census of India 2001: Data from the 2001 Census, including cities, villages and towns (Provisional)". Census Commission of India. Archived from the original on 2004-06-16. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  6. ↑ "Assembly Constituencies - Corresponding Districts and Parliamentary Constituencies" (PDF). Kerala. Election Commission of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-10-30. Retrieved 2008-10-19.
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