Paika is a small town from

Palai Pallai ( ta, பளை, si, පල්ලෙයි), also spelt Palai, is a small town in the Kilinochchi District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is located near the coast on the northern peninsula, approximately south-east of Jaffna. ...

on the Pala-Ponkunnam road of

Muvattupuzha Muvattupuzha () is a town in the midlands directly to the east of Kochi in Ernakulam district, Kerala, India. It is located about from downtown Kochi, and is a growing urban centre in central Kerala. The town is also the starting po ...

Punalur Punalur is a Municipality in Kollam district of Kerala State in India. It is the headquarter of the Punalur Taluk and Punalur Revenue Division. It's situated in the eastern part of Kollam district of Kerala, on the banks of the Kallada River an ...

SH:08, in

Kottayam district Kottayam (), is one of 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. Kottayam district comprises six municipal towns: Kottayam, Changanassery, Pala, Erattupetta, Ettumanoor, and Vaikom. It is the only district in Kerala that neither borders the A ...

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. It is part of

Meenachil Meenachil is the north-eastern region of Kottayam district in Kerala, south India. The name originates from Meenakshi, the Hindu Goddess. Pala is the main city in Meenachil. The arterial river of the district is also named Meenachil. Geogra ...

Taluka A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, known as one of the most fertile agricultural regions of

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 ...

. The town is well connected to the plantation towns of

Kanjirapally Kanjirappally is a taluk and a town in Kottayam district situated about away from the district capital, in the state of Kerala, India. Climate Kanjirappally has the highest number of rainy days in Kerala. It receives the highest amount of sum ...

Erattupetta Erattupetta is a municipal town located in Kottayam district, close to the place Aruvithura, state of Kerala, India,. It is located 38 km east of Kottayam, the district capital. Erattupetta Grama Panchayath was founded in 1964 and upgrad ...

and

Ponkunnam Ponkunnam (പൊൻകുന്നം) is a census town in Kerala, India, part of Kottayam district under Kanjirappally taluk. Ponkunnam literally means ''golden mountain'' (''ponn'' = gold, ''kunn'' = mountain). Nearby towns are Kanjirappalli ...

. The majority of residents are

Syrian Malabar Nasrani The Saint Thomas Christians, also called Syrian Christians of India, ''Marthoma Suriyani Nasrani'', ''Malankara Nasrani'', or ''Nasrani Mappila'', are an Ethnoreligious group, ethno-religious community of Indian Christians in the state of Ker ...

Catholic Christians continuing their traditions from the times of Saint Thomas, an apostle of Jesus Christ. This region is part of the mid-lands (adjacent to the high ranges) of south-eastern Kerala. The main income is from agriculture, mostly

rubber plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

Demographics

Many Syrian Catholic families of Kerala have origins around Meenachil that includes places like Pala, Paika, Edamattom,

Bharananganam Bharananganam, an important pilgrimage centre in South India, is located on the banks of the Meenachil River, away from Pala and from Plassanal, in Kottayam district in the state of Kerala. Bharananganam and surrounding places are hilly a ...

, Kuruvinal, Poovarany, Vilakkumadom, Thidanadu, Pinnakkanadu, Chettuthodu, Chengalam. The region is also credited to be the earliest place to experience agrarian expansion, initiated by a few Nasrani families of the region, as early as the 1840s. This trend of expansion later spread to other places in and around Meenachil and Kanjirapally Taluks. These expansions brought about major changes in the social and economic scene of Central Travancore.

Economy

Most of the Syrian Catholic families here are rubber estate owners. The Sabarimala Pilgrimage route passes through Paika. The 'Jubilee feast' of the shrine of Our Lady (St. Mary's shrine Paika is conducted during the second week of December. It attracts thousands of believers every year to this hamlet. Miles of colourful decorations along the pathways and processions led by traditional orchestra during the feast provide cynosure to the eyes. Bible Tableau and Two Wheeler Fancy Dress competitions are conducted in association with Jubilee Thirunal. Cultural programmes led by major troupes and play back singers in association with Jubilee celebrations also attract thousands of people. Inner Paika also has large tracts of rubber plantations owned by private families. The main income and prosperity of Paika is from the rubber plantations.

History and Etymology

The elders are of the opinion that the former name of Paika was Kottachery (kotta=basket; chery=place where people gather), and it was a thriving market in the past. The name Paika originated from "poika" meaning a small river, which runs on the side of Paika.

References

Villages in Kottayam district {{Kottayam-geo-stub