Chathamangalam (ചാത്തമംഗലം), also known as Chathamangalam Hills, Kannur Theruvamala or just Theruvamala, is a hill station village and trekking spot in
Kannur district,
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
, India alongside the
Coorg
Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State.
It occupies ...
border of the neighbouring Karnataka state, which consists of a vast plain of green grasslands that made it earn the nickname Evergreen Chathamangalam. It is located in the border of
Cherupuzha,
Alakode and
Udayagiri Grama Panchayats.
Chathamangalam is situated almost 58 kilometers away from the district headquarters. Nearby major towns, namely Taliparamba and Payyannur, are at a distance of 35 and 40 kilometers respectively from Chathamangalam. Two major mountains in the region, namely Theruvamala and Thevarkunnumala, have an altitude of approximately 2500 meters from the sea level.
Places like
Thirumeni,
Thabore,
Cherupuzha, Prapoyil, Muthuvom, Padiyottuchal,
Udayagiri, Karthikapuram, Parappa(Alakode), Neduvode, Rayarome and
Alakode are visible from the hilltop.
Route from Kannur/Kasaragod to Chathamangalam Theruvamala Hills
1) Kannur-Taliparamba-Alakode-Neduvode-Chathamangalam (Theruvamala)
2) Kannur-Payyannur-Cherupuzha-Thirumeni-Chathamangalam (Theruvamala)
3) Kasaragod-Nileshwar-Cheemeni-Cherupuzha-Thirumeni-Chathamangalam (Theruvamala)
4) Kanhangad-Kunnumkai-Chittarikkal-Cherupuzha-Thirumeni-Chathamangalam (Theruvamala)
5) Vellarikundu-Bheemanadi-Chittarikkal-Cherupuzha-Thirumeni-Chathamangalam (Theruvamala)
6) Iritty-Chemperi-Alakode-Neduvode-Chathamangalam (Theruvamala)
7) Taliparamba-Alakode-Karthikapuram-Muthusseri-Thalathanni-Chathamangalam (Theruvamala)
One can get the location of Theruvamala on GOOGLE MAP by typing Chathamangalam (Kannur). Its geographical coordinates for GMAP is 12°14′44.1″N 75°26′50.7″E
Chathamangalam Waterfalls
Apart from the Theruvamala, the Chathamangalam Waterfalls is a treat to the eyes as well. It is a seasonal waterfalls with significant water currents from the month of June to September, located near Chathamangalam-Neduvode road.
Life and Culture
Most of the inhabitants of the village are farmers. Rubber, coconut,
rambutan
Rambutan (; taxonomic name: ''Nephelium lappaceum'') is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to Southeast Asia. It is closely related to s ...
, cashew, cocoa,
areca nut
''Areca'' is a genus of 51 species of palms in the family Arecaceae, found in humid tropical forests from the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia and India, across Southeast Asia to Melanesia. The generic name ''Areca'' is derived from a name u ...
, pepper, nutmeg, coffee and vegetables are cultivated here in abundance.
People here are very much active in politics and religious activities. Political parties with good number of supporters include the Indian National Congress, CPI(M) and Kerala Congress(M). Most of the villagers belong to
Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
lat, Ecclesia Syrorum-Malabarensium mal, മലബാറിലെ സുറിയാനി സഭ
, native_name_lang=, image = St. Thomas' Cross (Chennai, St. Thomas Mount).jpg
, caption = The Mar Thoma Nasrani Sl ...
followed by Malankara Catholicism and Hinduism. The most celebrated festivities are
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...
,
Onam
Onam ( ) is an annual Indian harvest festival celebrated predominantly by the Hindus of Kerala. A major annual event for Keralites, it is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events.
Onam commemorates Vamana ...
,
Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
and Vishu.
Places in Chathamangalam
*Alumbu (അളുമ്പ്)
*Maruthumpadi (മരുതംപാടി)
*Devarkunnu (ദേവർകുന്ന്)
*Theruvamala (തെരുവമല)
*Assissi Nagar (അസ്സീസ്സി നഗർ)
*Pookkad (പൂക്കാട്)
*Cherimavu (ചേരിമാവ്)
*Munderithattu (മുണ്ടേരിത്തട്ട്)
*Thalathanni (തലത്തണ്ണി)
Migration from Travancore
The famine after World War II and the misrule of Sir.
C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer incited a large scale migration of people from
Travancore
The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...
(South Kerala) to this area. The migration continued well into the 1970s and 80s. A vast majority of these migrants were
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
who had a completely different social and agricultural background. These hard working people brought new agricultural practices to this area. They introduced cash crops like
rubber
Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
and daily staples like
tapioca
Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the storage roots of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but wh ...
to the region.
The migrants also brought a new attitude to the region, one that challenged the established
Janmi
Jenmi is the term used to refer to the landed aristocracy of Kerala. They formed the landowning nobility as well as the landed gentry of the region during Medieval times, and the majority of the estates and feudal properties were owned by thi ...
-Kudian feudal system. The migrants bought large tracts of land outright from the Janmis and put down permanent crops heralding an era of prosperity for the area. The immigrants, despite their cultural and social difference, soon became an integral part of social fabric.
Early farming methods
Until the early 1950s, this region used outdated agricultural practices and depended on the
Indian monsoons for its irrigation needs. Agricultural land lay
fallow
Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycles ...
after harvest. At the beginning of the next growing season, the bushes that cover the land would be cleared and the plant material burned to prepare the land for the next cycle of rice cultivation. This method, known as 'punam krishi' allowed people to grow staples like rice and
black gram
''Vigna mungo'', also known as black gram, urad bean, urid bean, mash kalai, uzhunnu parippu, ulundu paruppu, minapa pappu, uddu, or black matpe, is a bean grown in South Asia. Like its relative, the mung bean, it has been reclassified from the ...
.
[K.S. MATHEW, MAHAVIR SINGH, JOY VERKEY. ''MIGRATION IN SOUTH INDIA''. Shipra Publications, 2005, First edition.]
Places of Worship
St.Jude's Chapel, Chathamangalam
St. Jude's Chapel is situated at the convergence of Theruvamala and Thevarkunnumala and is the combined worship place of Syro-Malankara and Syro-Malabar Christians residing in the area. Novena to St.Jude conducted in the church attract good number of pilgrims.
Road Connectivity
*Thirumeni-Chathamangalam-Neduvode: 6.1 km
*Chathamangalam-Chattivayal: 2.5 km
References
{{Kannur district
Villages near Payyanur