Devikulam () is a

Grama Panchayat Gram Panchayat () is a basic village-governing institute in Indian villages. It is a democratic structure at the grass-roots level in India. It is a political institute, acting as cabinet of the village. The Gram Sabha work as the general bod ...

and small hill station of about from

Munnar Munnar () is a town and hill station in the Idukki district of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around above mean sea level, in the Western Ghats mountain range. Munnar is also called the "Kashmir of South Indi ...

in the Idukki District of Kerala State, India. It lies above sea level.

Etymology

The name Devikulam is a conjunction of the words ''Devi'', from the goddess

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

and ''kulam'', meaning pond.

Demographics

As of 2011 Census, Devikulam

had a population of 23,709 among which 11,912 are males and 11,797 are females. The total number of families in the Panchayat limits were 6,166. The average sex ratio was 990, lower than the state average of 1084. In Devikulam, 8% of the population was under 6 years of age. Devikulam had an average literacy of 86.3%, lower than the state average of 94%.

History

According to legend, the goddess

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

of the ''

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

'' epic bathed in the beautiful Devikulam lake waters surrounded by lush, green hills, now named Sita Devi Lake. The lake draws tourists not only because of its sacredness but also for the curative powers of its mineral waters. Most of the inhabitants in this town speak

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 wa ...

. Nearby, are the scenic Pallivasal Waterfalls, dense, green tea plantations, and the natural vegetation of slim red and blue and yellow

gum tree Gum tree is a common name for smooth-barked trees and shrubs in several genera: * Eucalypteae, particularly: **''Eucalyptus'', which includes the majority of species of gum trees. **''Corymbia'', which includes the ghost gums and spotted gums. **' ...

Gallery

File:La cueillette du thé (Kerala, Inde) (13663515803).jpg, Devikulam estate File:Tribal temple at Rajakumari, Idukki district.jpg, Tribal Temple at Rajakumari

References

External links

Map of area
Hill stations in Kerala Populated places in the Western Ghats Villages in Idukki district Munnar {{Idukki-geo-stub