Adoor

The history of Adoor is directly connected to the history of Kollam district. During the 1st century A.D, most of the places under Kollam district were ruled by Ay kingdom with their headquarters at south Travancore. It is known that in the rule of the Ay Kings, a Buddhist Monastery was there in Adoor. Some megalithic monuments like dolmens, dated back to Neolithic period have been discovered in the Enadimangalam village of Adoor Taluk.

Adoor was once part of Ilayidathu Dynasty and Pandalam dynasty. In 1741, Venad Maharaja Marthandavarma included Adoor to the Travancore Kingdom. King Marthandavarma once came to Adoor to hide from Ettuvettil Pillai (a wealthy family who tried to capture King Marthandavarma and to get hold of his throne) and sought the help from Chittundayil house but it was refused and then support and shelter was provided by the grandmother of Nellimuttil family at Adoor, in the later days, after he became the King he then made revenge to the Chittundayil house and granted help to the Nellimuttil house. During the rule of Dharmaraja, a notable event was the battle against Tippu Sultan, where travancore made alliance with the East India Company. During the rule of Rani Gowri Parvathy Bayi, in 1812 A.D, pandalam was annexed to the kingdom of Travancore. The Anantharamapuram market situated at Parakkode is known to be one of the oldest, largest and busiest market during the Travancore era. After India got its independence in 1947, the Maharaja of Travancore refused to join Indian Union, but later had to agree. On 1 July 1949, Travancore and Cochin States were integrated and the Maharaja of Travancore became Rajpramukh of Travancore-Cochin State. On 1 November 1956, The State of Kerala was formed integrating the earlier regions of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar. After that, Adoor was in Kollam district until a new 13th district called, the Pathanamthitta District came into existence as a separate administrative unit on the 1 November 1982. The newly formed Adoor Taluk comprised nine Villages of Kunnathur Taluk and 2 villages of Mavelikkara Taluk of former Kollam and Alappuzha districts. On 1 April 1990, Adoor municipality came into existence and the area under Adoor municipality is presently known as the Adoor Town.

Adoor was part of Central Travancore and was never directly under British Rule. Adoor was a major town of wealthy Hindu families and notable Saint Thomas Christian families. Adoor was never captured by King Marthanadavarma.

In 1914, the first school to be opened in Adoor was Adoor Malayalam School also known as present-day Adoor govt UP School.

In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi visited Adoor and laid the foundation stone of the present SNDP building situated near private bus stand. The message of khadi and charkha gained more attention during this time. It was during the 1940s, communism started emerging in Adoor. SNDP and NSS have given great contributions to the development of Adoor.

The Lord Ayyappa's famous Pandalam Palace is situated just 9 km (5.6 mi) away from Adoor. Adoor is at a distance of 90 km (56 mi) away from the Sabarimala Temple.

Adoor is located 44m above the sealevel and is situated in the south-western part of the Pathanamthitta district and also in the centre of South Kerala. Geographically, it is located between Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. Adoor thaluk shares its southwest borders with Kollam and Alappuzha districts.

The Adoor Thaluk has an area of 30,857 hectares, out of which 2082 hectares of land include Adoor town or urban area. The remaining 28,775 hectares belongs to rural area.

The landscape here consists of valleys, slopes and plains. The main soil types in this area are sandy soil, gravel soil, shrimp, cut stone and earthen soils.

Kallada River passes through Enath and Mannadi. Adoor Valyathodu passes through the heart of the town.

Adoor is part of the Pathanamthitta district and is one of the two major revenue divisions of Pathanamthitta. Before the formation of the Pathanamthitta district in 1982, Adoor belonged to the Kollam district. Adoor's Assembly Constituency is a part of the newly formed Pathanamthitta Loksabha with the present MP being Shri Anto Antony. The present MLA of Adoor is Shri Chittayam Gopakumar.

Adoor is famous for its contributions to arts and culture, as well as for being the birthplace of many well-known personalities. Adoor Bhasi, Adoor Bhavani, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Adoor Pankajam, Adoor Govindankutty, Naveen Bhaskar have given their remarkable contributions to the Malayalam film industry. The Kerala Institute of Folklore and Folk Arts is situated in Adoor.

Thrichengamagalam mahadevar temple's Moonnalam kettukazhcha

Parthasarathy Temple festival

Popular events in Adoor include Thrichendagamagalem Mahadevar Temple Kettukazcha ulsavam, Gajamela at Sree Parthasarathy Temple, Ecumenical Conventions of Christian churches, Ezhamkulam Thookkam in Ezhamkulam Devi Temple, Kalamala chandanakkudam is major festival of Muslims in central Travancore, Kodumon Chilanthy Temple, and others.

Adoor is famous for its contribution to Mollywood. Actors like Adoor bhasi, Adoor Pankajam, Adoor Bhavani, Film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Anchor Govindankutty, script writer Naveen Bhaskar have played significant roles in shaping today's Malayalam Film Industry. The 1998 mollywood movie Ilamura thammburan was shot at Adoor.

As of 2011 census,[4] Adoor town with an area of 2082 hectares and 7911 households has a population of 29,171 people, including NRI's. Out of which 13741 are males and 15430 are females. The population under the age of 6 is 2411. 3621 belong to Scheduled casts and 38 belong to Scheduled Tribe. The literacy rate of Adoor is 96.31%, which is higher than the state average of 94.00%. In Adoor, male literacy is 97.49%, while the female literacy rate is 95.27%. Adoor has a large population of NRIs, the majority of them working in middle-east countries. Majority of the population are Hindus followed by Christians and Muslims. Adoor is a peaceful town with people from all religions living in harmony

With an area of 30,857 hectares, the total population of Adoor Taluk is 3,02,936 with 141233 males, 161703 females. Nearly 90% of the population resides in rural regions and only 10% reside in the urban area.

Adoor is one of the places in Kerala that receives the heaviest rain. The summer season and rainy season occurs from April to July. The month of July receives a significant amount of rainfall of about 1,418 millimetres (55.8 inches). Humidity increases in the months of April and June. The winter season normally lasts from October to January. Slight mist and fog is sometimes present in Adoor. Moderate temperatures occur from February and March.

The Kerala State Seedfarm at Moonnalam established in 1960, has 10.25 ha of land and mainly deals with the cultivation of rice. The soil in Adoor is sandy, clay, loam and is very strongly acidic in nature. The minerals from rivers Achancovil, Kallada make the soil good for cultivation. Adoor is one of the biggest producers of high quality Rubber, coconuts, bananas, and tapioca. Mousambi is also grown here, and so is red coconut and red banana, sugarcane, ginger, turmeric, various vegetables and tubers.

College of Engineering Adoor

• College of Engineering Adoor
• Kendriya Vidyalaya Adoor
• Mount Zion Medical College, Adoor
• Sreenarayana Institute of Technology, Adoor
• MG University B. Ed Centre, Adoor
• Govt. Polytechnic College Adoor
• IHRD, Adoor
• Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School Adoor
• Govt. Girls Higher Secondary School Adoor

• Govt. General Hospital, Adoor
• Lifeline multispeciality hospital and fertility clinic, Adoor
• Mount Zion medical college Hospital, Adoor
• Hollycross Hospital, Adoor
• Maria Hospital, Adoor
• Mount Sinai Medical Centre, Paranthal
• Government Veterinary Hospital, Adoor

Adoor has at least four medical colleges within 40 km radius or one hour travel proximity. Famous Medical colleges and hospitals include Konni Government Medical College (28 km), Pushpagiri Medical College (31 km), Believers Church Medical College Hospitals (37 km) and Muthootu Medical Centre Pathanamthitta (18 km).

Adoor is a holy town and is well known throughout Kerala. Adoor is home to many places, including the Mannadi Temple. There are several places of worship in Adoor.

Temples

Parthasarathy Temple, Adoor

Trichendamangalam Mahadevar Temple

Sree Narayanapuram Mahavishnu Temple

Mannadi devi temple

• Parthasarathy Temple, Adoor
• Trichennamangalam Mahadevar Temple, Peringanad
• Mannadi Devi Temple
• Ezhamkulam Devi Temple, Ezhamkulam
• Chennampalli Sree Dharmasastha Temple
• Pattupurakkal Devi Temple
• Puthenkavil Bhagavathi Temple
• Sree Narayanapuram Mahavishnu Temple
• Mahalingeswara Temple
• Thevarayyathukavu sreeharihara temple, mithrapuram, A temple for Shiva and Vishnu (4 kilometers from Adoor town, towards pandalam route)
• Poothamkara Sree Dharmasastha Temple
• Chathannupuzha Bhattathrikovil Sree Mahadeva Temple
• Thengumthara Umamaheswara Temple Pazhakulam
• Bagavathi Thara Devi Temple Kunnathoorkara, Peringanad
• Punthalaveetil Devi Temple, Pazakulam
• Parakode Ammankovil, Kottamukal, Adoor

Churches

Marthashamuni Orthodox Church, Moonnalam

St. Thomas Malankara Syrian Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad

• St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kannamcode, Adoor (Global Pilgrimage Center)
• Marthashamuni Orthodox Valiyapally, Moonnalam
• St. Mary's Orthodox Church Karuvatta, Mathra Mariyam Pilgrim Centre
• St. Mary's Orthodox Syrian Cathedral
• Sacred Heart Malankara Catholic Church
• St. John Of The Cross Latin Catholic Church
• Mar Sleeve Church
• India Pentecostal Church of God, Adoor
• The Pentecostal Mission, Adoor
• Assemblies of God church, Adoor
• St. Paul's C. S. I. Church
• St. Thomas C. S. I. Church
• St. Mary's C. S. I. Church
• Immanuel Mar Thoma Church
• Kannamcodu Mar Thoma Church, Vellakulangara
• St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, Moonnalam

• Adoor Bhasi, actor
• Adoor Bhavani, actress
• Adoor Gopalakrishnan, director
• Adoor Prakash, Former kerala Minister, present Attingal MP
• Adoor Pankajam,
• Govindankutty, actor-anchor
• Gouri G Kishan, Actress

• http://www.adoormunicipality.in/

Media related to Adoor at Wikimedia Commons

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Adoor.