Place:Kottayam, Kottayam, Kerala, India

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Kottayam, is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west, Kottayam is a place that is known for extraordinary qualities. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-west Kerala. Kottayam is located in the basin of the Meenachil River at an average elevation of above sea level, and has a moderate climate. It is located approximately north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.

Many of the first Malayalam daily newspapers, like Deepika, Malayala Manorama, and Mangalam, were started and are headquartered in Kottayam, as are a number of publishing houses.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Travancore rule (1753 - 1949)

In 1817, the Church Missionary Society of England established CMS College as the first Western-style college in Kerala. It was welcomed by the Travancore government to provide administrators for the public bureaucracy

Kottayam has played its role in all the political agitations of modern times. The ‘Malayali Memorial ‘ agitation may be said to have had its origin in Kottayam. The Malayali Memorial sought to secure better representation for educated Travancoreans in the Travancore civil service against persons from outside. The Memorial, which was presented to the Maharaja Sri Moolam Thirunal (1891) was drafted at a public meeting held in the Kottayam Public Library. The event marked the beginning of the modern political movement in the State.^[1]

It was here that the famous Vaikom Satyagraha (1924–25), an epic struggle for eradication of untouchability, took place. Scheduled castes and other backward classes in Travancore were denied not only entry into temples, but also access to temple roads. Vaikom, the seat of a celebrated Siva Temple, was the venue of the symbolic satyagraha.

Indian Rule (1949 - Present)

Kottayam became a revenue division of Travancore.^[2] A fifth division, Devikulam, existed for a short period but was later added to Kottayam. At the time of the integration of the State of Travancore and Cochin in 1949, these revenue divisions were redesignated as districts and the Diwan Peshkars gave way to district collectors, with the Kottayam district established in July 1949.

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