Adoor
Adoor (sometimes spelled "Adur") is a Municipality in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala State, India. It is the headquarters of Adoor Taluk and Adoor Revenue Division. Adoor Taluk consists of two municipal towns: Adoor and Pandalam. Adoor is one among the only two revenue divisions of the Pathanamthitta district. The Adoor Revenue Division includes Kozhencherry (Pathanamthitta), Konni, and Adoor Taluks. The revenue division was previously located in the Kollam District. Adoor is located between the two major cities of Trivandrum and Kochi in south Kerala. The Kerala Institute of Folklore and Folk Arts is situated in Adoor. Etymology. Adoor (Ad -oor) in Malayalam translates as "Ad" means "separated" (adarnu) and "oor" means "place" or "land". So it means "adarnu kittiya ooru" in Malayalam and in English it means "An obtained separated land". History. The history of Adoor is directly connected to the history of Kollam district. During the 1st century A.D., most of the places in Kollam district were ruled by the Ay Kingdom, with their headquarters at south Travancore. It is known that during the rule of the Ay Kings, a Buddhist Monastery existed in Adoor. Some megalithic monuments like dolmens, dating back to the 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 two 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 Adoor Town. Adoor was part of Central Travancore and was never directly under British rule. Adoor was a major town of both wealthy Hindu families and notable Saint Thomas Christian families. Adoor was never captured by King Marthanadavarma. Adoor Dharma Hospital (now known as Adoor General Hospital) was established in the 1880s during Travancore rule. In 1914, the first school opened in Adoor: Adoor Malayalam School, known today as Adoor Govt. UP School. In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi visited Adoor and laid the foundation stone of the present SNDP building situated near a private bus stand. The message of  khadi and charkha gained more attention during this time. During the 1940s, communism started emerging in Adoor. SNDP and NSS have made great contributions to the development of Adoor. The Lord Ayyappa's famous Pandalam Palace is situated away from Adoor. Adoor is also at a distance of away from the Sabarimala Temple. Geography. Adoor is located above mean sea level and is situated in the southwestern part of the Pathanamthitta district and also in the centre of southern Kerala. Geographically, it is located between Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam. Adoor thaluk shares its southwest borders with Kollam and Alappuzha districts. Adoor  Taluk has an area of , of which include Adoor town and urban areas. The remaining belongs to rural areas. 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. Administration. 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. Municipality Wards. Adoor Town consists of 28 wards of Adoor Municipality. Demographics. As of the 2011 Census of India, Adoor town, with an area of and 7,911 households had a population of 29,171 people, including NRI's and out of which 13,741 were males and 15,438 were females. The population under the age of 6 was 2,411. 3,621 residents belonged to a scheduled caste and 38 belonged to a scheduled tribe. The literacy rate  of Adoor was 96.31%, which is higher than the state average of 94.00%. In Adoor, male literacy was 97.49% while the female literacy rate was 95.27%. Adoor has a large population of NRIs, the majority of them working in Middle Eastern 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 , the total population of Adoor Taluk is 3,02,936 with 141233 males and 161703 females. Nearly 90% of the population resides in rural regions and only 10% reside in the urban  area. Climate. 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 . 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. Crops. 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. Art. 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. 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 . Sports. Adoor Municipal Stadium. The demand for a sports stadium has been a decades long wish for the people at Adoor. An INR 15 crore stadium with international training facilities has been proposed. Last acquisition has been completed. Kodumon EMS Stadium. The Kerala government's vision of having stadium of international facilities in every district has been a boost for the sport lovers. Located in the Kodumon Gramapanchayat of Adoor Thaluk, the INR 15Cr stadium has a Football ground, Basketball and Volleyball courts,two Badminton courts, throw and jump facilities, audience gallery, flood lights, ground water drainage system , administrative block and restroom facilities. Hospitals. 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). Tourism. Veluthampi Dalawa Memorial Museum. Located at a distance of 10km from Adoor town at Mannadi, it is a historical museum dedicated to Veluthampi Dalawa, the Diwan of the mighty Kingdom of Travancore . He was one of the earliest freedom fighters to rebel against the British  rule. He is said to have committed suicide in the Mannadi temple after his strong revolt against the British Royal Army. The museum set up by the Archeological Department of India in 2010 has a gallery depicting the life of Veluthampi Dalawa. His statue in front of the museum is one of the major attraction. The two storied museum has an open air gallery, garden and a library. Landmarks. Adoor is home to many places of worship, including the Mannadi Temple. Transportation. Road. Adoor is a junction with major roads connecting it to Ernakulam, Trivandrum, Kayankulam, Punalur, Pathanamthitta and Kollam . The only means of transport in Adoor is roadways. There are two bus stands in Adoor. KSRTC bus stand has got 24 hours bus services with daily interstate, interdistrict and town connectivity. The municipal bus stand near bypass stations all private busses. KSRTC provides services to nearby states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Major services include super deluxe, superfast, and fast passengers to Mangalore, Manipal, Marthandam, Thalakkulam, Sulthan Batheri, Perikkalur, Kannur, Udayagiri, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Trivandrum. Bus services from other depots towards Bangalore (Scania), Sulliya (Super Deluxe), Batheri (Super Deluxe), Thenkasi (Fast Passenger), Pazhani (Super Fast, Fast Passenger) are also  available. Private bus services like Kallada, Kerala Lines, and Rukma have daily services towards Bangalore, Chennai, and other destinations from Adoor. Being the center of southern Kerala, Adoor has good highways and modern roads for travel and the shipment of goods. Adoor has the MC road (SH1) passing through it until Trivandrum and the National Highway 183A passing through Adoor connecting Pathanamthitta and other major places. Built during the era of the Travancore Dynasty, recently MC road from Kazhakoottam to Adoor was raised to the status of safety road. This is the first safety road project to be built in  Kerala. Adoor bypass starts from Nellimutilpadi in Adoor, passes through Moonnalam, and ends at Karuvatta in Adoor. The Kayamkulam-Punalur (SH8) road also passes through Adoor making it the centre of Kayamkulam and Punalur. KP Road connects Adoor to various places like Charummood, Pathanapuram. People mostly use MC-Road in Adoor for traveling to Trivandrum rather than using National Highway 66 to avoid traffic jams. This makes the MC-Road the most popular route for traveling to Trivandrum. The National Highway 183, which Starts from Kollam, passes through Adoor and ends at Theni in Tamil Nadu. There are plans to  bring ring roads within Adoor. The upcoming projects of renovating and expanding 110 crores Anayadi- Koodal road and 42crore Ezhamkulam - Kaipattoor road are under process. Airports. The nearest airport is at Thiruvananthapuram-Thiruvananthapuram International Airport which is away. There are plans to build a new airport for the district near Sabarimala. Railways. The nearest railway stations are Kayamkulam Junction Railway Station away, Chengannur Railway Station, Kottarakara Railway Station (21.5 km). A railway station was planned for Adoor but this plan was shifted to Mavelikkara. There are considerations about bringing a major junction railway station to Adoor. The proposed railway station  will have railway flyovers and nearly eight tracks with lines Kayamkulam-Punalur via Adoor, Chengannur-Thiruvananthapuram via Adoor. Notable people. Adoor Thaluk. Municipalities and Block Panchayats of Adoor Thaluk. With headquarters at Adoor town, the Adoor Thaluk consists of two Municipalities and two Block Panchayats. Pandalam Block Panchayat includes two Panchayats (Thumpamon, Pandalam Thekkekara) from Adoor Thaluk, while the remaining are under Kozhenchery Thaluk.