Pothanikkad or Pothanicad is a village in

Ernakulam district Ernakulam, ; ISO: ''Eṟaṇākuḷaṁ'', in Malayalam: എറണാകുളം), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala, that takes its name from the eponymous city division in Kochi. It is situated in the central part o ...

in the

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 ...

n state of

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 ...

. It's also the first village to achieve 96.00% literacy in India. However, In 2011, literacy rate of Mallappally village was 96.92 % compared to 94.00 % of Kerala, the highest in India. In Mallappally Male literacy stands at 96.85 % while female literacy rate was 96.99 %. Back to the village, the name Pothanikkad derives from the

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 ...

words ''poth'', meaning buffalo, ''anaa'', meaning

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

, and ''kaddu'', meaning forest, as it was originally a forest with wild buffalos and elephants. Now, this small village has developed into one of the most educated and culturally advanced villages in Kerala. St. Mary's High School is the oldest high school in Pothanicad, where very prominent people in the society and many local politicians have been educated. St. John's Higher Secondary school Pulinthanam is a pioneering educational institution in the village. A government Lower Primary school and two other private Senior Secondary High schools, following CBSE curriculum, also provides better educational opportunities for the young community. Pothanikkad is 16 km away from Thommankuthu Water Falls

the nearest tourist location and approximately 22 km from well known

Thattekad Bird Sanctuary The Thattekkad Bird Sanctuary, covering an area of barely 25 km2, and located about 12 km from Kothamangalam (Kerala state, India), was the first bird sanctuary in Kerala. Salim Ali, one of the best known ornithologists, described t ...

near Kothamangalam. It is also known for churches like Pothanicad St. Mary's Jacobite Syrian Church, Ummanikkunnu St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Church and St Xavier's Catholic Church. The village is also known for the festival of ‘ilaneerattam’ hosted by the Thrikkeppadi Sri Mahadev Temple. Prominent Indian industrialist

C J George Chenayappillil John George is an Indian businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and managing director of Geojit Financial Services. Personal life George was born in Pothanikkad, a suburb of Ernakulam in the south Indian state of Ke ...

hails from Pothanikkad.

Demographics

India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Pothanikkad had a population of 19,309 with 9,620 males and 9,689 females.

References

Villages in Ernakulam district {{Ernakulam-geo-stub