Puthenthope

There is little written historical record of Puthenthope's development but a strong oral tradition.

In the 16th century, the Dutch were looking for a strategic point to place their cannons, aiming at the Dutch ship movements in the Arabian Sea. They found a suitable place with tall coconut palms on the coastal area and dense forest throughout the inland. If they could build hills in between and place the cannons there, the ships could not see it but the people in the land could easily monitor. So to build the hills, the Dutch brought a group of Kusavans (potters) from Ambalappuzha, a place in the present Alappuzha district. They made the hills for the cannons to be placed. The Kusavans who came from Amplapuzha stayed back and continued with their occupation of pot making. The occupation of pot making was not suitable for many reasons–the unavailability of clay, the long walk through the forest to the nearest market, presence of notorious thieves on the forest way etc. They turned to another profitable occupation–fishing.

A journey through the coastal lines of Thiruvananthapuram reveals that there are no historical landmark sites as old as the Puthenthope mounds. The Portuguese influence can also be seen in the language spoken here. However, the Ambalapuzha link remained a mystery till the excavation of sand mounds in the late 1970s. During excavations, huge quantities of earthenware, believed to be used by the then people were discovered.

St. Francis Xavier came to India in the early 16th century and walked through the western coast of India preaching Christianity and converting people to Christianity. There is a strong assumption that he placed a cross near Njaramukham (Old name of Puthenthope) and prayed (present Pallimukku area). There is another belief that St. Francis heard about the death of his teacher St. Ignatius Loyola while he was near Njanramukham and so he placed the cross in his name.

There is a common belief that, some ladies from the family of the famous Ettuveettil Pillai, the Kazhakuttam Pillai, was given to the Mukkuva's of the area, after he being executed by Marthanda Varma. There are conflicting references but the most reliable historical reference points that these ladies from the eight families (ettu veedu) were gathered together and given to the mukkuva's on the northern border of Travancore kingdom, far away from the capital – a coastal area in the present Kayamkulam Taluk.

Fishing, once, might have been a profitable venture. The two pandakashalas, built close to the seashore, one near the Church and the other at Njaramugham, for processing and storing fish, have disappeared, but their remains account for the then flourishing fish trade.

During the heyday, people had established trade relations with Ceylon. The British East India Company had started its industrial expansions in Malaya and turning Singapore into a flourishing free port by the dawn of the 19th century and there was a big flow of human resources from China and India to these areas. That might have been a possible reason for Puthenthopians’ first journey out from his secluded land. Malaya and Singapore fell to the Japanese in 1941 and the Puthenthopinas who joined INA might have been those who were already in Singapore, rather than they going out from Puthenthope to join INA (INA was supported by Japan – it was not easy to join INA in British India and British Singapore). It was during the Second World War that our people joined British army as koolipattalam. The traveling of Puthenthopians to other parts of the world was purely on job hunt rather than any other social inevitability. Many people from Puthenthope have traveled to Malaysia and Singapore before and after the Second World War. It might have been from there that some Puthenthopians moved on to England, after the independence of these countries in 1957. British must have allowed some of their civil servants to accompany them on their withdrawal (a possible reason).

• Puthenthope being a coastal village, the traditional occupation is fishing.
• Coconut farming is a means of additional income.
• A large population are occupied in Middle East Countries.
• Qualified teachers and engineers are also predominantly seen.

Puthenthope is 3 km towards west from National Highway 47(Kaniyapuram) by road and 2.5 km from Kaniyapuram railway station. It is 16 km away from Trivandrum International Airport.

• Christmas
• Christmas Aquatic sports in the Beach
• Easter
• Parish Feast (Feast of St. Ignatious) - July August
• Parish Feast (Feast of Mama Mary offering Baby Jesus in the Church) - February
• Procession along the boundaries of Parish during February Parish feast
• Jaihind Cup

Puthenthope Beach

• The towering St.Ignatius Church which looks like a replica of St.Joseph's Cathedral, Trivandrum.
• Manmade hills -Thekkekkunnu and Vadakkekuunu
• Vast and beautiful beach of Puthenthope
• Wild Palms on Sea homestay at beachfront
• Palmleaves Beach Resort
• Sea Side Orchid Farm - a 10-acre orchid farm
• The Linta's Golden Beach Ayurvedic Resort

• The ancestral property is inherited to daughters unlike the other cultures
• Nowadays gradual changes can see in society ancestral property are inherited to sons and daughters like other cultures.

The Doctoral Hooding Ceremony of Dr. Leo Rajan Pereira in Washington DC USA.

Dr. Leo Rajan Pereira, a Canadian and the United States dual citizen born at Leyo Bhavan, Puthenthope earned his doctorate from the United States. His extensive research in quantitative analysis on New York Stock Market data from Q4 2007 to Q3 2018 had evidence that the Weak-form Efficient Market Hypothesis of Eugene Fama, the 2013 Nobel Prize Winner did not hold true in today's economic conditions in New York Stock Exchange. The powerful software program of IBM was employed for analyzing the vast number of data of corporations listed on NYSE and NASDAQ. After the approval of academia and industry leaders, Dr. Leo Rajan Pereira's dissertation titled “Implications of Non-tangible Assets and Macroeconomic Parameters on Long-Term Stock Performance” was copyrighted at U.S. Copyright and published at ProQuest. From Puthenthope Trivandrum, Dr. Leo Rajan Pereira is the first person who earned a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) from the United States.[1]

Joe Fernandez, the elder son of Antony Fernandez and Nicolasia Fernandez of Puthenthope is the present Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Lake Cowichan Town in British Columbia. He migrated to Canada in the late 60's from Singapore in pursuit of graduate degree in public administration. His father was also an eminent corporate executive in Singapore and educated at St. Xavier's College at Palayamkotta in 1910s.[2]

Shiela Fernandez, the elder daughter of Antony Fernandez and Nicolasia Fernandez of Puthenthope was the first Certified General Accountants (CGA) originally from Puthenthope lives in Toronto Canada. She was also migrated to Canada in 1972, graduated from Manitoba University and then became the CGA.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Puthenthope.

• Puthenthope.org
• Puthenthope.in
• Puthenthope info
• Puthenthope blog