Chittar is a village in

Pathanamthitta district Pathanamthitta District (), is one of the List of districts of Kerala, 14 districts in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. The district headquarters is in the town of Pathanamthitta. There are four municipalitie ...

, located in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

state,

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is a Panchayat and is situated in the

Konni Konni may refer to: *Konni (dog), Russian President Vladimir Putin's dog (1999-2014) *Konni, Kerala, a town in Kerala state in India *Konni (Hausa state), a traditional Hausa state in south central Niger *Birni-N'Konni (shortened to Konni), a town ...

Thaluk. It is part of the Konni state legislative constituency and of the Pathanamthitta Lok Sabha constituency. Chittar was given the Nirmal Gram award from former president

Pratibha Patil Pratibha Devisingh Patil (born 19 December 1934), also known as Pratibha Patil Shekhawat, is an Indian politician and lawyer who served as the president of India from 2007 to 2012. She was the first woman to become the president of India. A m ...

Economy

Chittar is predominantly a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

township. Earlier famed for tea and coffee, nowadays swaying

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

trees have replaced them, fuelled by the fertile land and rich ecosystem. In addition to rubber cultivation,

pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a Tropical vegetation, tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been culti ...

tapioca Tapioca (; ) is a starch extracted from the tubers of the cassava plant (''Manihot esculenta,'' also known as manioc), a species native to the North Region, Brazil, North and Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast regions of Brazil, but which has ...

, nuts, ginger, and

pepper Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plants ** Black pepper ** Long pepper ** Kampot pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanacea ...

are cultivated. It was once a part of the demolished Nilakkal trade centre.

Location

Chittar lies in the eastern part of Pathanamthitta district.

Thiruvalla Thiruvalla, () also spelled Tiruvalla, is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality in Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, India. The town is spread over an area of and has a population of 52,883 people, down from 56,837 in 2001. It is also the H ...

, which is 53 km away, has the nearest railway station and access to NH 183.

Pathanamthitta Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality, city in southern Kerala, India, spread over an area of . It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37,538 (as of 2011 census). The Hindu pilgrim centre Sab ...

is 29 km to the east.

Administration

The panchayath of Chittar was formed on 30 September 1970 by partitioning the Vadaseerikkara and Seethathodu panchayaths in Ranni taluk. For administrative convenience, the panchayath is divided into 13 wards. #Pambini #Panniyar #Manakkayam #Chittar #Chittar thottam #Meenkuzhi #Kulangaravali #Vayyattupuzha #Manpilavu #Neelipilavu #kattachira #Chittar thekkekkara #Kodumudi Before becoming part of Konni legislative assembly Chittar was represented by the Ranni legislative assembly. Chittar's

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

constituency also changed from

Idukki Idukki (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district co ...

to Pathanamthitta.

Education

Chittar has one Government High School, two higher secondary education facilities, in addition to several middle schools and lower primary schools. Chittar also has a college. Important schools: *Govt. L.P.S. Chittar Estate *L.P.School Neeliplavu, *Holy Family Public School, *Govt. H. S. S., Chittar, *Govt. Model L. P. S., Chittar, *V. K. N. M. V. H. S. S, Vayyattupuzha *Komala Vilasm School, Padayanippara *Little Angels English Medium High School karikayam *Royal Parallel College, Chittar *Santhinikethan College Chittar. Nearby Colleges: *SNDP Arts College, Ettichuvadu - Meenkuzhi, chittar *Caarmel Engineering College, R-Perunad *Ideal Parallel College, Chittar *Musalliar Engineering College, *Malayalappuzha *Mount Zion Engineering College, Kadammanitta *Pushpagiri Medical College, Tiruvalla *Muthoot Nursing College, Pathanamthitta *St. Thomas College, Ranni, *Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta *Mar Ivanios ITC, Seethathodu

Population

The people of Chittar are mainly agriculturists and plantation workers. People began settling down in Chittar about 75 years ago. The people mainly belong to

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

religions. There are several places of religious worship in Chittar. In many of the families based in Chittar, there are large numbers of people working outside Kerala as well as outside India. The new generation is highly educated and well placed in different parts of the world.includes merchant navy engineers,doctors,civil engineers and well known scientists. K.C. Raghunatha Pillai is the vehicle director for the Chandrayaan-2 mission, Sreejith bhadran, merchant navy engineer officer at shipping corporation of India are few examples India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Chittar had a population of 33977 with 16498 males and 17479 females. File:Pomegranate in Chittar.jpg, Pomegranate in Chittar

References