Pathanamthitta

Pathanamthitta is a combination of two words Pathanam and Thitta which mean an array of houses on the river side. This district was formed on Ist November 1982 in the interest of the hastening process of development. It is presumed that the regions presently under the district were formerly under the Pandalam reign which had connections with the Pandya Kingdom.. Pathanamthitta, Adoor, Ranni, Konni and Kozhencherry are some of the important places taken from Kollam district, whereas Thiruvalla and Mallappally are the major places taken from Alappuzha district

Pathanamthitta now includes portions of the erstwhile Kollam Alappuzha and Idukki districts. Sabarimala is situated 72 km from Pathanamthitta town, 191 km from Thiruvananthapuram and 210 km from Kochi. It is the 'Sacred Abode of Lord Ayyappa' and one of the most important Hindu pilgrim centre in the country.The traditional route to Sabarimala is from Erumeli (40 km.). Other routes are from Vandiperiyar, Uppupara and Chalakkayam via Plappally. Aranmula is a little temple town in Pathanamthitta District, surrounded by undulating green hillocks and girdled by the holy river Pampa. The temple here is dedicated to Lord Krishna.Aranmula is also famous for its metal mirrors made of bell meta which is known as 'Aranmula Kannadi'.This is a unique art which is not found any where else in the world . It is believed that a divine visitation inspired a window of this village to discover a mysterious blend of bronze which could be waxed bright in to crystal clear mirror. Vasthuvidya Gurukulam is a unique institution for ancient Indian architecture and mural paintings. It is a school constituted by the state Cultural Department is situated at Aranmula, 16 km away from Pathanamthitta town. The main objective of the gurukulam is the preservation and promotion of vasthuvidya and mural paintings. A hill town, Konni is famous for timber trade and wild elephant training centre.This is a charming town with lush meadows and hills stands on the bank of river Achakovil. It is surrounded by clove and pepper plantations. Elephants trapped from the forest area are also tamed here

Pathamathitta claims to be first district in India to achieve 100 percent literacy rate and lowest population growth rate in the country.Pathanamthitta still has quite few settlements of aborigins called 'adivasis' deep in the forest area including areas like Thanithoddu, Chittar. The people from the settlements prefer not to be disturbed by the crowd from outside civilizations or lifestyles, but are indeed harmless.The headquarters of the Malankara Marthoma Syrian Church.The Sree Vallabha temple in Thiruvalla is perhaps the only one in Kerala where Kathakali is performed as a ritual offering everyday

Pathanamthitta is bordered by Idukki district on the east, Kottayam on the north, Kollam and Aalapuzha on west and south again by Kollam. The villages of Pathanamthitta provides great opportunity to develop,eco,cultural,health care,adventure,monsoon tourism.