Pathanamthitta District

Pathanamthitta District (), is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala. The district headquarters is in the town of Pathanamthitta. There are four municipalities in Pathanamthitta: Adoor, Pandalam, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvalla.

According to the 2011 Census of India, the population was 1,197,412, making it the third least populous district in Kerala (out of 14), after Wayanad and Idukki. Pathanamthitta has been declared the first polio-free district in India. The district is 10.03% urbanised. Pathanamthitta is one of the richest districts in India with just 1.17% poverty as of 2013, which places the district among top 5 districts in India with least poverty.

Etymology

The district's name is a combination of two Malayalam words, and , which together mean 'array of houses on the river side'. The district capital is located on the banks of the river Achankovil.

History

It is presumed that the regions that form the district were formerly under the rule of Pandalam, which had connections with the Pandya kingdom. When Pandalam was added to the princely state of Travancore in 1820, the region came under Travancore administration. The Nedumpuram Palace near Thiruvalla belongs to Valluvanad Royal family, who were originally the rulers of Angadippuram in present-day Malappuram district.

The district was formed on 1 November 1982 as a reward to K. K. Nair, who was the then Pathanamthitta MLA, by K. Karunakaran. The formation was done by incorporating various portions of the erstwhile Kollam, Alappuzha and Idukki districts. While the taluks Pathanamthitta, Adoor, were taken from Kollam district, Ranni, Konni and Kozhencherry from Idukki district, Pandalam and Thiruvalla were taken from Alappuzha district.

Cultural revival

Pathanamthitta being also a land of culture and learning could bring forth the literary talents of two centuries together in single volume named ''Desathuti: Pathanamthitta Kavithakal''. Unnikrishnan Poozhikkad collected 184 poems of different poets of Pathanamthitta starting from 18th century..

Geography

Pathanamthitta is a landlocked district, located at , spanning over an area of . The district is bordered by the districts Kottayam and Idukki districts in the north, Alappuzha district in the west, Kollam district in the south. To the east it borders the Tenkasi district of the Tamil Nadu state. Devar Mala is the highest point in Pathnamthitta District.

The district can be divided into three natural geographical regions: the highland, the midland and the lowland. The highland stretches through the Western Ghats, where the hills are tall and covered with thick forests. Western Ghats maintains an average altitude of around 800 m. It descends to the smaller hills of midland in the centre and finally to the lowland. The lowland with its abundance of coconut trees, lies along the eastern borders of Alappuzha district. (western part of Tiruvalla Taluk)

Forest

Pathanamthitta district has a reserve forest area of . This is approximately 50% of the total district area. The forest area can broadly be classified as evergreen, semi-evergreen and moist deciduous. The forest is the main source of raw materials for wood based industrial units. Timber is the most important produce.

Rivers

Three important rivers flow through the district. These rivers originate from various mountains of the Western Ghats mountain range. The Pamba (), which is the third longest river in Kerala, has its origin in Pulachimala. The Achankovil river () originates from Pasukida Mettu, and Manimala river () originates from the Thattamalai hills. A small portion of Kallada river also falls in the southern border of the district. Pamba, Achankovil and Manimala rivers together drain more than 70% of the total area of Pathanamthitta.

Administration

The district headquarters is at Pathanamthitta town. The district administration is headed by the District Collector. She is assisted by five Deputy Collectors holding charges of general matters, revenue recovery, land acquisition, land reforms and election.
Under the three tier system of panchayat in rural areas, Pathanamthitta has one district panchayat, 9 block panchayat and 57 grama panchayats.
Under the single tier system in urban areas, there are 4 municipalities in the district.

As per the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008, Pathanamthitta has five Assembly constituencies, down from eight. However, the district was unified into a single Parliamentary constituency, thus contributing a seat to the Lok Sabha. The Pathanamthitta parliamentary constituency is formed by including all the five state legislative assembly constituencies of the district along with two other assembly constituencies in the neighbouring Kottayam district.

Pathanamthitta town is the administrative headquarters of the Pathanamthitta district. The district is divided into two revenue divisions- Thiruvalla and Adoor.

Municipal towns

There are 4 municipal towns in the district. They are:

Legislative representation

There is a Lok Sabha constituency in Pathanamthitta: Pathanamthitta.

There are five Kerala Legislative Assembly seats in Pathanamthitta district.

Taluks

The district is divided into two revenue divisions which together incorporate six Taluks within them.

*Taluks in the Thiruvalla Revenue Division are:

*Taluks in the Adoor Revenue Division are:

Revenue villages

Pathanamthitta district is divided into 70 revenue villages for the ease and decentralisation of its revenue administration. They are further incorporated into 6 taluks as eludicated below.

Thiruvalla Taluk

* Eraviperoor
* Kadapra
* Kaviyoor
* Kavumbhagom