History of Grama Panchayat
📜 History of Konni Grama Panchayat
Brief description of historical and cultural heritage
🏛️ History
The place name Konniyur or present-day Konni is derived from the Tamil word 'Kon-ti-ur', meaning the village where the king resides. This area has inextricably linked with the Pandalam royal family, a descendant of the Chempazhannur branch of the Pandya kingdom, and witnessed their rule for over a century and the construction of various koikkals (palaces).Places like Mallassery (wrestling), Vazhamuttam (swordplay), and Lakkur (archery) where soldiers were trained in martial arts, and the Muringamangalam Mahadevar Temple, established by Shaivite kings, testify to the historical importance of Konni. Konni, which was the center of the ancient trade forest route that stretched from Madurai to Chengannur, later came under the rule of Travancore in 996 Kollavarsham due to economic crises.Subsequently, Konni became notable in the field of forest management with the establishment of the Forest Office at the end of the 17th century and the famous elephant enclosure in 1810. The fame of this land, which started primary education in 1823 and English education in 1923, was spread all over the world by the famous philosopher Guru Nithya Chaitanyayati. Finally, Konni was formed into the modern local government system of today with the formation of a village union in 1948 and the first democratic panchayat committee in 1953.
Socio-cultural history
Konni was formerly known as Konniyur. The place name Konniyur and then Konni were derived from the Tamil word Kon-ti-ur, which means the village where the king resides. The history of Konni is inextricably linked with the ancient history of Pandalam and the Pandalam dynasty. The ancestors of the Pandalam dynasty were kings who ruled the Pandya kingdom.Historians have suggested that they reached Kerala in the year 79 of the Kolla era. When Pandalathu Thampuran came to stay in Kerala from the Pandya kingdom on the 11th day of the month of Kolla era 79, he was given a copper plate by Travancore. It is still under the control of the Pandalam royal family. It is written in the Kolezhuth and the text is in Malayalam. If so, that family must have settled in Pandalam and ruled the kingdom at least some time before Kollavarsham 79. So, it must be assumed that the Pandalam kingdom had come into existence at least twelve centuries ago. The Chempazhannur branch of the Pandya dynasty, which left the Pandya kingdom, is the ancestor of the Pandalam royal family. The Chempazhannur branch of the Pandya dynasty, which left Madurai, bought a village called Sivagiri (Tamil Nadu) and started living there. They had to leave Sivagiri and before reaching Kerala, they acquired property and settled in Tenkasi and Elanthurmaniyam.At that time, there was cooperation and marriage with the Venad kings. It must have been in that situation that they had to settle in Achankongavil and Konniyur in the Sahyasanukkal with the benefits of Venad. It is a fact recorded by many historians that this dynasty lived in Konniyur for more than a century.
According to another inscription, recorded by a younger king named Raja Rajavarma on the 17th day of the month of Meena in the year 345 of the Kolla era, it can be seen that even before the year 345 of the Kolla era, a koikkal was built in Konniyur and the women and children of the royal family were housed there. The Chempazhannur branch, which moved west from Achankovil, reached a place called Tura, crossed Achankovilar, and reached Manjakkadam via Karipanthokkad, Naduvath Moozhi, Vayakara, Kummannur, and Anakuthi. A koikkal was first built there. It is known as Koikkaleth near Manjakkadam. That is where everyone lived together in the beginning. As more people came, new koikkals were built. They settled in the koikkals built on the north bank of the river, namely Koikkalethu Koikkal, Naduvele Koikkal, Mathathil Koikkal, Munduvelikoikkal, Erattu Koikkal, and Puthiyakoikkal. They also built Brahmin temples and monasteries. The soldiers who came with them stayed in the nearby areas. The places like Gopuramthummannu and Palavanmadanna were used for their weapons training. A kalari was established on the iron soil for their training. Doctors were also stationed to treat those who were injured during the training.A medicinal garden and a pond were planted nearby. A Kali temple was also established at Puthiyakavil in Iravan, where the soldiers lived, for them to worship. Training centers were set up in nearby places to teach different martial arts. Mallassery was the place where wrestling was practiced. The place where sword fighting or swordplay was practiced became Vazhamutta and the place where archery was practiced became Lak Ur or Lakkur.
Konniyoor village was formed by the Pandya kings, who were Shaivite, centered around the Muringamangalam temple. The main places of worship built by the royal family members who lived in Konni for about three or four years were the Muringamangalam Mahadeva temple, the Puthiyakavu Bhagavathi temple, the Ayiramon Krishnaswamy temple, the Ilangavattom Sri Krishnaswamy temple, and the Aruvappulam Ellamkavu temple.There was a wide forest road from Madurai through Pampili and Achankovil areas of the old Shenkotta taluk to a place called Tura in the forest area and then through the northern part of Achankolavilar, Konniyur, Kumbazha and Pathanamthitta to reach the present-day M.C. Road in Chengannur. Apart from transportation, this road was also used for commercial purposes. It can still be seen that paving stones were placed at certain distances along the old road.In addition to the above-mentioned route, there was also a route from Konni to Pandalam along the northern shore of Achankopavilar (connecting the scientific temples of Kulathupuzha, Aryanka and Achankonavilar). It can be seen that a rich cultural community existed on the coastal area of Achankovilar, east of the Muringamangalam temple.Various settlements existed from Kakkara to Achankovil at that time. This is indicated by the presence of places of worship and other evidence. Kakkara, barely ten miles from Konni, Kondotty Yakshiyambalam under the Muringamangalam temple administration, Parakkulam, Attippara, Kachhara to the east, Chempala on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, Kodamala, southeast of Achankovil temple, and Kumarankudi, northeast of Karavoor, are ruined places of worship. There was a famous temple in Kodamala.This temple was built during the time when the Pandalam kings lived in Achankovil. Today, all that remains is the temple chamber, the fields where the people lived, and the flag used for the Kodamala Thevar festival. Although the temple was destroyed by enemy attacks, the artisans of old Konniyoor have saved the temple flag and are keeping it to this day.
Records have been found indicating that Udaya Marthanda Varma, the king of Travancore from 1775 to 1795, had given some lands to the king of Pandalam. The reason for giving them the administrative burden of a few villages may have been as a token of gratitude for Marthanda Varma's help in the war with the king of Kayamkulam.There are records that King Dharma requested financial assistance from the King of Pandalam during the war against Tipu. There are also some records that in order to pay off the war debt, the King of Pandalam gave the kingdom to a Nair chief named Kaliyan in the year 969 of the Kolla era for 26400/- as a pledge (money). Thus, the areas including Konniyur and Malayalapuzha came under the control of Kaliya. However, due to the unpaid dues, all the properties of Pandalam belonged to Travancore in the year 996.
It appears that the Divisional Forest Office and the associated Inspection Bungalow began operating in Konni in the last quarter of the 18th century. There are records that wild elephant trapping began in Konni in 1810. In connection with elephant trapping, an elephant enclosure was established for taming and training the elephants.There is a famous saying called Konni Munnuru. The meaning of this saying is that there were three hundred families in the eight villages of Konniyur. Perhaps the first Gram Sabha of Konni was a gathering of these families. The District Survey Report of Travancore, jointly completed in 1820 by Lieutenants Ward and Connor, was published in 1901. Accordingly, there were four pratikas in the then Pandalam district, namely Pandalam, Konniyur, Kakkad and Arakkulam. There are eight villages in the Konni pratika. There were only 326 houses in all the eight villages. There are many other interesting statistics in that historical record. The said document states that the number of paddy fields was only four and that toddy-charaya shops were available at that time (six). Other relevant information is as follows:- 49 places of worship of various religions, eight Vajiyambalams like Oottupura, Chungappura etc., total number of males 730, number of females 581, total population 1311.
In the Konni area, a Pathan named Minarwakhan Alikhan served under the rule of the Travancore king in the 1080s. Four Pathan families came to Konni with him. It is believed that the first Muslim church (a mosque on a rock) was established around 1080 AD. The first place of worship of the Christian denomination in this area was the Kizhavallur St. Peter's Orthodox Church, established in 1841. The Konni St. George's Orthodox Church is another prominent church. The first primary school was started in Konni in 1823 during the reign of Ayilyam Thirunal. The NSS English Medium School, which was started in 1923, opened the door to English education. Guru Nitya Chaitanyayati, a disciple of Nataraja Guru, is the philosopher who brought Konni's fame to the whole world. The Konni Village Union administration came into existence in 1948. The government nominated prominent individuals in the social field and formed a committee to administer the village union.The first president of the union was P.G.Raman Pillai of Pazhur. In the first Panchayat elections held in Thiruvananthapuram (1953), a committee with Dr. N.Damodaran Pillai as its president came into existence.