{{Infobox settlement , name = Chungam , native_name = , native_name_lang = , other_name = Chungom , nickname = , settlement_type = Neighborhood , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , pushpin_map = India Kerala#India , pushpin_label_position = right , pushpin_map_alt = , pushpin_map_caption = Location in Kerala, India , coordinates = {{coord, 9.600242, N, 76.51742, E, display=inline,title , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = {{flag, India , subdivision_type1 =

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

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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 ...

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District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

, established_title = , established_date = , founder = , named_for = , government_type = , governing_body = , unit_pref = Metric , area_footnotes = , area_rank = , area_total_km2 = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = , population_total = , population_as_of = , population_rank = , population_density_km2 = auto , population_demonym = , population_footnotes = , demographics_type1 = Languages , demographics1_title1 = Official , demographics1_info1 =

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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IST Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...

, utc_offset1 = +5:30 , postal_code_type = , postal_code = 686 001 , registration_plate = KL - 05 , blank1_name_sec1 = Nearest city , blank1_info_sec1 = Kottayam , blank2_name_sec1 = Literacy , blank2_info_sec1 = 98.34% , website = , footnotes = Chungam is a small junction in

city in

state, Southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The junction borders the

Meenachil river The Meenachil River or Meenachilaar (Malayalam: ), also known as Kavanar, Valanjar, is a river in Kerala. It is one of the most treacherous rivers in Kerala due to its flash floods, heavy undercurrents and woods and debris it carries from the m ...

, which is one of the medium range rivers, but well known through

Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. S ...

's famous book ''The God of Small Things''. Most of the events in the book took place in Chungam. Aymanam village, which is mentioned in the book, is about three kilometers away from Chungam. The oldest college and school in Kerala and India are here. The road that passes through Chungam is an alternate route to reach

Kottayam Medical College Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

Etymology

''Chungam'' is the

equivalent of ''tax''. So all the locations where the tax was collected came to be known as Chungam; indeed Kerala has a number of places with the same name.

Education

The CMS College and the CMS College Higher Secondary School; both around 200 years of age were built by the Rev. Benjamin Baily of the

Church Missionary Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. They were built with the generous help and assistance of Col. Munroe, the then Resident of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

, and HH Rani Gauri Laxmi Bhai, the reagent queen of the erstwhile Travencore state. CMS College is the ancient seat of learning in India. It once had the largest hall in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. The Great Hall, as it's called, is truly a work of art. The same place has one of Kerala's ancient

Seminaries A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

and one of the first Malayalam press too. The Orthodox Theological Seminary is the seat of the reformation that has changed the Kerala Syrian Christian Beliefs. The CMS press, one of the first of its kind in Kerala, was started by the Rev. Benjamin Bailey. He was not happy with the existing models and he made a new one with the help of a blacksmith and a carpenter and with an Encyclopaedia! The Press is also the first in South India. It still houses Bailie's ancient press, printing devices, and other published works. He is the one who has standardized the official Malayalam script and accent; thus making Malayalam more than a mere

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

ical variant of

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

. The CMS College Higher Secondary School is now housed in his ancient house. Bailey had made the Holy Trinity Cathedral; which is one of the biggest churches of the CSI church. Suburbs of Kottayam