Thiruvananthapuram district
Encyclopedia
Thiruvananthapuram District is the southernmost district of the Indian state of Kerala
. It came into existence in the year 1957. The headquarters is the city of Thiruvananthapuram
(Trivandrum) which is also the capital city of Kerala
.
The district has an area of 2192 km², and a population of 3,307,284 (as per the 2011 census), the second most populous district in Kerala after Malappuram district. It is the densest district in Kerala with 1,509 people per square kilometer. It is divided into four taluks
, Thiruvananthapuram
, Chirayinkeezhu
, Neyyattinkara
, Nedumangadu
. The urban bodies in the district are the Thiruvananthapuram
Corporation, Varkala
, Neyyattinkara
, Attingal
and Nedumangad
municipalities.
Thiruvananthapuram district is situated between north latitudes 8º 17' and 8º 54' and east longitudes 76º 41' and 77º 17'. The southern most extremity, Kaliyikkavila, is 56 km away from Kanyakumari
, the "land's end of India". The district is 33.75% urbanised.
.
The city gets its name from the word, Thiru-anantha-puram, meaning the "Abode of Lord Ananta". The name derives from the deity
of the Hindu
temple
at the center of the Thiruvananthapuram city
. Anantha is the serpent Shesha
on whom Padmanabhan or Vishnu
reclines. The district was officially referred to as Trivandrum in English until 1991, when the government decided to reinstate the city's original name Thiruvananthapuram in all languages.
In 1684, during the regency of Umayamma Rani
, the English East India Company obtained a sandy spit of land at Anchuthengu
near Varkala
on the sea coast about 32 km north of Thiruvananthapuram
city, with a view to erecting a factory and fortifying it. The place had earlier been frequented by the Portuguese and later by the Dutch. It was from here that the English gradually extended their domain to other parts of Travancore
.
Modern history begins with Marthanda Varma
, 1729 CE -1758 CE, who is generally regarded as the Father of modern Travancore
. Thiruvananthapuram was known as a great center of intellectual and artistic activities in those days.
Thiruvananthapuram literally means City of Lord Anantha. The name derives from the deity of the Hindu temple at the center of the Thiruvananthapuram city
. Anantha is the mythical thousand hooded serpent- Shesha on whom Padmanabhan or Vishnu
reclines. The temple of Vishnu reclining on Anantha, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
, which dates back to the 16th century, is the most recognizable iconic landmark of the city as well as the district. Along with the presiding deity of Sri
Padmanabha
, this temple also has temples inside it, dedicated to Lord Krishna
and Lord Narasimha, Lord Ganesha
, and Lord Ayyappa.The temple was built by King Marthanda Varma of the Travancore Royal family when, in 1745, he shifted the Travancore capital from Padmanabhapuram
, which is now in Tamil Nadu
.King Marthanda Varma
started reigning as 'Padmanabha Dasa', the servant and representative of Lord Padmanabha—perhaps a nobler variant of the 'Divine Right Theory' that the West is familiar with . The vast temple complex, with its tall Gopuram
decorated with detailed carvings reflected in the huge temple tank, is today a center of attraction for the pious, the tourist and the merely curious.
The city was the capital of the Travancore
state before the independence
. Consequent to the recommendations of the state Reorganization Commission, the Vilavancode taluk from Thiruvananthapuram was merged with Tamil Nadu
along with three other southern taluks of Thovala, Agastheewaram and Kalkulam from Travancore
and the state of Kerala
came into being on 1 November 1956.
is situated between North
latitude
s at 8.17° & 8.54° and East
longitude
s 76.41° & 77.17°. The southern most extremity, Parassala
is just 54 km away from the Southern Peninsular tip of India, Cape Comorin (Kanya Kumari). The district stretches 78 km along the shores of the Arabian Sea
on the West, Kollam district
lies on the North with Tirunelveli
and Kanyakumari district
s of Tamil Nadu
on the East and South respectively.
Unlike the flat Kerala
coast, at the northern coastal region of the district, cliff
s are found adjacent to the Arabian Sea
at Varkala
. It is the only part in southern Kerala that cliffs were found. These tertiary sedimentary formation cliffs are considered as a unique geological feature.It is known among geologists as the "Varkala Formation" and a geological monument as declared by the Geological Survey of India
.
The district can be divided in to three geographical regions, Highlands, Midlands, and Lowlands. Chirayinkeezhu
, and Thiruvananthapuram
Taluks lies on the midland and lowland regions, while the Nedumangad Taluk lies in the midland and highland regions, and the Neyyattinkara Taluk stretches over all the three regions.
The highland regions on the east and the north-east comprises the Western Ghats
and this area is ideal for major cash crops like rubber
, tea, cardamom
and other spices. Timber trees like Teak
and Rosewood
are grown in this region. The Ghats maintain an average elevation of 814 meters. The part Agasthyarkoodam which is the second highest peak in the Western Ghats
(1869 meters above sea level) lies in the district. The forests in the tail end of Western Ghats
form the most diverse and unknown ecosystem in Peninsular India.
The midland region lying between the Western Ghats and lowlands is made up of small and tiny hills and valleys. This is an area of intense agricultural activities. This region is rich in produces like paddy
, tapioca
, rubber
, eucalyptus
, spices and cashew
. The lowlands are comparatively narrow, consisting of river
s, deltas
and seashore. This area is densely covered with coconut
trees. Water bodies cover about 55.25 km² while forest area is estimated to be 498.61 km².
area of 495.145 km² and vested forest area of 3.534 km² spreading over three ranges, the Kulathupuzha
range in the north,Palode range in the middle and the Paruthipalli range in the south. These forests may be broadly classified into three categories, namely, Southern tropical wet ever green forests
, Southern tropical and semi ever green forests and Southern tropical moist deciduous forests
. Social forestry programmes are being implemented under the World Bank aided Kerala Social Forestry Project, National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) and Rural Fuel Wood Schemes to assist small and marginal farmers.
Among the three rivers in the district, the Neyyar (56 km), the southernmost river of the Kerala
state, has its origin in the Agasthyamala, the second highest peak in the Western Ghats
. Karamana
river (67 km) originates from Vayuvanthol (vazhuvanthol), another mountain in western ghats and the Vamanapuram River have their origin from Chemunji Mottai of the Western Ghats.There are 10 major back waters
in the district. The major lake
s are Veli, Kadinamkulam, Anchuthengu(Anjengo), Kaappil, Akathumuri
and the Edava-Nadayara lakes. Besides these, there is a fresh water lake at Vellayani in Thiruvananthapuram taluk, which has the potential to become the major water sources of the Thiruvanthapuram city in future.
. The large forest reserves favourably affect the climate and induce rains. Cold weather is experienced in the mountain ranges
whereas lower down, the weather is bracing and is generally hot in the coastal regions. The mean maximum temperature is 95 °F (35 °C) and the mean minimum temperature is 69 °F (20 °C).
As the district stretches from north to south with the Arabian Sea
in the west side, relative humidity
it is generally high. It rises up to about 95% during South-West monsoon
.
The total annual average rainfall in the district about 1500 mm per annum. The southwest monsoon, from June to September is the principal rainy season. The district receives most of its annual rainfall in this season. The second rainy season is the North-East monsoon.It is from October to November.
The district also gets thunderstorm rains in the pre-monsoon months of April and May.
December to February are the coolest months.The average temperature goes down to 69 °F (20 °C) in these months. It is generally considered as the Winter season. The summer season will starts in February and continues till May. The average temperature goes up to 95 °F (35 °C) in these months.
and Leisure
, Information Technology
, Agriculture
and Education
.
The modern economy of Thiruvananthapuram is depended on the media and IT sector. India's first animation park, The Kinfra Animation Park
, is situated in the district. IT companies having global fame like NeST Software
, Infosys
, TCS
, McKinsey & Company
, Ernst & Young Shared Services
, Allianz Cornhill, Tata Elxsi
, UST Global etc., have campus in Thiruvananthapuram Technopark. The present day economy of the district is growing with the contributions from more professionals in the fields Information Technology
, Medical and Biotechnology
. The district contributes 80% of software exports from Kerala
.
At present the economy is growing with the contributions from more professionals in the fields of Information Technology
, and Medical/Biotechnology
. Technopark
was established for the development of electronics and information technology
in the state. It is India's first industrial park
dedicated to electronics
, software, and IT ventures. Started 1990, the campus at Thiruvananthapuram
city covers an area the 300 acres (728,000 m²) campus with 4.5 million ft² (420,000 m²) of built-up space available currently and another 600,000 ft² (55,000 m²) more of built up space coming up, is now home to over 200 companies from numerous countries. Around 30,000 IT professionals are working here.
Thiruvananthapuram was rated as the best 2nd tier metro with IT/ITES infrastructure, and second in terms of availability of human talent. The district contributes 80% of software exports from the state.
units employ 9262 people with an investment of Rs.34,394 lakhs (as at 31 March 2003). In 2002 there were 901 registered working factories. They include oil mills, cashew factories, cotton textiles
, saw mills
, printing units
, rubber industrial units, chemical units, match factories, general engineering units and automobile workshops. The S.M.S.M. Institute in Thiruvananthapuram is a major institution through which the products of the handicraft industries
are marketed. As of 31 March 2003, there were 28,918 small scale industrial units employing 115,597 people in the district. In agro based industries, 4544 people work, 3080 work in forest based
, 980 in animal husbandry based
, 5057 in pesticide based
, 1282 in chemicals based, 4708 in engineering based
, 3075 in manufacturing and building materials section and 6192 in other industries. Of these SSI
units, 1323 are Scheduled castes and scheduled tribe units and 6065 are women units. There is an industrial estate at Pappanamcode and an industrial development centre at Kochuveli.
Traditional industries such as coir and hand loom are now faced with several problems. The main varieties of coir produced are Anchuthengu and Muppiri. Handloom weaving is prevalent at Balaramapuram, Amaravila, Kulathur and Chirayinkeezhu
. It is estimated that clothes worth Rs.95,000,000 are annually produced in the handloom sector. There are 20 Hantex (Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society) depots and five showrooms in the district.
Keltron Kerala state Electronics Development Corporation
has made inroads into electronic markets throughout the country. The opening of many private Television channels in the state, made Thiruvananthapuram the home of several studios and related industries.
is the most important crop cultivated in the wet lands. Tapioca
and pulses are the important dry land crops. Coconut
, one of the most important crops of the district, is cultivated in an area of 843.08 km² and the annual production is about 516 million nuts. Rubber
cultivation is mainly confined to Nedumangad taluk. At present, there are about 269.99 km² of rubber plantations and the annual production is estimated at 30,717 tonnes. Newly introduced agricultural development schemes have opened new vistas in this field. Fresh schemes are introduced in every panchayat with a view to maximise yield per unit area by exploiting the production potential of paddy and vegetables. Cashew is grown in 21.84 km² of land and the production is about 1745 tonnes. Pepper cultivation covers an area of 50.9 km² and the yield is about 1824 tonnes. Soil conservation projects are being implemented with subsidy and loans.
and the District Livestock Farm at Kudappanakunnu, the Dry Stock Farm at Palode, the Intensive Poultry Block at Pettah, Clinical lab, broiler farm, piggery, veterinary sub centres, veterinary Biological Institute, Disease Investigation Office, Livestock Disease Control unit and the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
are the major animal husbandry institutions in the district.
At present there are 23 veterinary hospitals 76 veterinary dispensaries and 144 such centres in the district.
In Thiruvananthapuram, milk is being distributed to consumers from the dairy at Ambalathara. There are 376 dairy co-operatives besides, 294 Anand model co-operatives. Kerala Livestock Development and Milk Marketing Board (K.L.D. & M.M.B.) and the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing federation (MILMA) strive to improve production. Nearly 147,000 litres of milk is being collected and distributed daily through the co-operative societies.
for a distance of 78 km, offering immense scope for the development of fisheries as an important source of earning foreign exchange. Varkala
, Anchuthengu, Marianad, Poonthura
, Vizhinjam
and Poovar
are some of the major fishing centres. The fishermen population is about 200,000 and the catch is around 32,000 tonnes. Anchovies, sardine
, catfish
, perches
, mackerel
, tuna
and carangidae
are the important species caught in this area. Introduction of mechanised fishing crafts and modern fishing gear has augmented the fish catch. There are 42 fishermen villages and the total number of households engaged in fishing is about 40,000.
Development activities and welfare programmes are implemented by the Department of Fisheries, Matsyafed
, Fish Farmers Development Agency (FFDA), and Brackish Water Fish Farmers Development Agency (BWFFDA). The inland catch is significant in the district. The newly launched people oriented fish farming scheme aims at fish cultivation in 2.05 km² of public ponds. All the 78 panchayats in the district are readied to adopt the scheme under the guidance of local bodies. The coastal fisheries belt is divided into 42 fisheries villages and most of such villages have fishermen welfare societies formed under the Kerala Fisheries Welfare Society Act of 1980.
. He is assisted by Five Deputy Collectors holding charges of general matters, land acquisition, revenue recovery, land reforms and election.
The District Collector also holds the charge of the District Magistrate and is assisted by the Additional District Magistrate (Deputy Collector, General) and the Revenue Divisional Officer. The district has only one revenue division, which is headed by
the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO). He is also the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
There are four taluks, namely, Neyyattinkara
,Thiruvananthapuram, Nedumangad
and Chirayinkeezhu
, each headed by a Tahsildar.
There are 120 villages under the 4 taluks of the district. The names of the taluks, their head quarters & the Villages under them are given in the box above.
Consequent to the 73rd amendment of the Constitution and the new Panchayat Raj-Nagarapalika Act, the Kerala Panchayat raj Act came into being on 23 April 1994.Thiruvananthapuram district has one district panchayat, 12 block panchayats
and 78 grama panchayats
.
The Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat has already worked out some notable developmental schemes in the agricultural, water supply and educational sectors. The District Panchayat president is also the chairman of the District Planning Committee
and the District Rural Development Agency
.
There are two parliamentary constituencies in the district. They are Chirayinkeezhu
with constituency number 19 and Thiruvananthapuram
with constituency number 20.
near Parippally
in the north, covering a distance of 80 km within the district. The MC Road covers
a distance of 55 km and passes through Kesavadaspuram, Vembayam
, Venjaramoodu, Kilimanoor
and Nilamel
in the north. PWD maintains about 1552 km of road in the district. Local bodies maintain 9500 km of road. There are 116 bridges in Thiruvananthapuram District.
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation
operates 20 units: nine depots, seven sub depots, and four operating centres in Thiruvananthapuram district. The corporation plies 1308 buses in 1171 schedules, transporting 11 lakh commuters daily.
The rail transport in the district is operated by Southern Railway zone
of Indian Railways
.
Thiruvananthapuram is connected to the rest of the country by broad gauge
railway line. Eighty two km of railway line passes through the district.
There are currently 20 railway stations are in the district, including the Trivandrum Central station.
to Kottapuram
in Kozhikode district
, which was made possible by the two tunnels of 282 meters and 721 meters, constructed in 1877 and 1880 respectively at Varkala
is now defunct. Projects and schemes are underway for reviving these waterways.
The container transhipment project proposed at Vizhinjam
also holds prospects for reaching the district by sea
.
Trivandrum International Airport has direct flights to many international cities like Kuwait
, Dubai
, Dammam
, Singapore
, Malé
, Colombo
, Sharjah
, Muscat
, Bahrain
, Doha
, Jeddah
and Abu Dhabi
. It is linked with Chennai
, Delhi
, Mumbai
, Hyderabad, Bangalore
and Kolkatta by domestic flights.
According to the 2011 census
Thiruvananthapuram district has a population
of 3,307,284, roughly equal to the nation of Uruguay
or the US state of Connecticut
. This gives it a ranking of 103rd in India (out of a total of 640
). The district has a population density of 1509 PD/sqkm . Its population growth rate
over the decade 2001-2011 was 2.25 %. Thiruvananthapuram has a sex ratio
of 1088 females
for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate
of 92.66 %.
Language :
Malayalam is the mother tongue. Thiruvananthapuram city is more cosmopolitan with people speaking various languages like Malayalam, English, Tamil
, Hindi
, Tulu
, and a minor percentage speak Gujarati
.
Religion and Caste :
Hindus (69.80%) constitute the majority of the population followed by Christians(17.68%) and Muslims(12.52%). The Hindu community lies grouped on the basis of castes and sub castes as elsewhere in the state. The Brahmins, Nairs, Ezhavas, Nadars scheduled castes and 11 tribes form the majority of the Hindu community. Christians belong mainly to the Latin Catholic Church, the Church of South India
and the Syriac Orthodox Church
. The Muslim community also forms a major division of the total population. Economic, social and other ties bind the members of different religious groups at the local level. People live in peace and amity, influencing and being influenced by the culture of one another.
Socio-Economic Conditions :
More than 50% of the total population depend on agriculture
for their livelihood. Agricultural labourers constitute 42% of the total labour class. Most of the people are engaged in low remunerative pursuits which require very little capital. Political and social consciousness, coupled with the efforts of the social, religious and cultural leaders, have helped to pull down the age-old feudal order. Economic changes have also affected the social life and attitude of the people.
, translated Kalidasa
’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam
into Malayalam which won him the title of Kerala Kalidasa . He is also regarded as the father of modern Malayalam prose.
The contributions of A. R. Raja Raja Varma
(1863–1918), known as ”Kerala Panini”, marked an important stage in the development of Malayalam literature. Another notable writer is C. V. Raman Pillai
(1858–1922), who was a novelist par excellence
Mahakavi Kumaran Asan
(1873–1924) and Mahakavi Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer
(1877–1949) were the two outstanding poets from Thiruvananthapuram. Kumaran Asan
was the true representative of the cultural renaissance. Ulloor was not only a poet, but also a scholar, researcher and historian.
Shabdatharavali, the comprehensive dictionary in Malayalam was written by Sreekanteswaram Padmanabha Pillai
who hailed from here. The two all-time great social reformers in Kerala Narayana Guru
and Chattampi Swamikal
also were born here. They contributed much to the Malayalam literature through their books.
A strong film culture prevails in the district. The city is home to animation companies like Toonz India Ltd
and Tata Elxsi Ltd
. The Kinfra Film and Video Park
is located near Technopark
and is an advanced film and animation production facilities in India.
The Malayalam film industry
was earlier based in Chennai
(Madras). It slowly started moving to and get rooted in Thiruvananthapuram towards the end of 1970s. The Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), which was established in 1975 by the Government of Kerala, accelerated this re-planting. As a result, many studios and related industries started popping up in and around Thiruvananthapuram.
The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is held in November/December every year and is acknowledged as one of the leading such events in India.
The district becomes festive mood during the festival season of Onam
in August/September, and during the tourist season later in the year. The state government
conducts the tourism week celebrations every year during Onam with cultural events taking place at various centres in the city. The other major events include the annual flower show in the Thiruvananthapuram City
, the Attukal Pongala
, Varkala Sivagiri pilgrim at December,the Kaalioottu in Sarkara Devi Temple
, near Chirayinkeezh,the Navarathri
festival at the Poojamandapam near Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple, The Aaraat of Padmanabha Swamy Temple, the Beemapally Uroos
, Vettucaud Perunaal
etc.
and ginger
are cultivated on a large scale on the hilly tracts. Nedumangad taluk is one of the biggest centres of
cultivation and trade of pepper and other hill produces. A major portion of the district comes under the middle plain and the region is under the cultivation of coconut
, paddy
, tapioca
, tuber crops, plantain
s and vegetabless.
The forests of the district abound in a variety of animals & birds and are excellent wild life habitats. Elephant
s, bison
s, monkey
s and rare species of reptiles have the place of prominence in them. The Neyyar reservoir
and nearby areas abound in wild life. Nestled in the lap of the Western Ghats
, a wildlife sanctuary is quickly growing over an area of nearly 777 km² around this reservoir. The forest under the Kulathupuzha range is the habitat of rare species of snakes and lizards. Mammals are well represented in the district. Nilgiri Langur
(Kasi Fohnii), the Lion-tailed Macaque
(Macaca Silenus), the Nilgiri brown mongoose
(Herpestes fuscus) and the Malabar civet
(Moschothere Civettina) are characteristic to this region. Carnivore
s include tiger
, wild cat
, jackal
, leopard
and wild dog
. Sloth bear
, gaur
, a few species of deer
and elephants
are also seen. Reptiles include snakes, lizards, crocodile
s and tortoise
s. There are about 75-80 species of snakes in this area and some of them are very poisonous.
, beaches, lagoons, and wild life sanctuaries are present in the district.
Foreign tourists are flocking to Thiruvananthapuram, a major destination for chartered flights to India for Medical tourism
, as there are more than fifty recognised Ayurveda centres in and around the city. This is primarily due to Ayurveda's immense popularity in the West. Medical tourism is further promoted by world class modern medicine hospitals in the city. Recuperation facilities are available at five star beach resorts and hill stations nearby.
Thiruvananthapuram district is a major academic hub. The University of Kerala is located in Thiruvananthapuram City
in the district. The number of Arts and Science colleges in the district is 20 and the strength of students is estimated to be 15,926. The University of Kerala has its research and higher education centres at Kariavattom
.
Trivandrum Medical College
, the premier health institute of the state is also one of the finest in the country. It is being upgraded to the status of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences
(AIIMS). The College of Engineering, Trivandrum
is the main engineering college in Thiruvananthapuram.
The schools in the district are classified as Government, Aided and Unaided schools. There are currently 1129 schools are in the district. The government schools are run directly by the state government and follow the syllabus prescribed by the state government. The aided schools also follow the state syllabus. In addition to this, there are four Kendriya Vidyalaya
s run directly by the Central government, which follow the CBSE syllabus, and private schools run by educational trusts or boards which follow CBSE and/or ICSE
syllabus and/or NIOS
syllabus and/or state syllabus. The first International school in Kerala, the Trivandrum International School
, was started in August 2003.
in the year 1789. Now, more than 30 newspapers are being published from the district. The Hindu
, The New Indian Express
, Malayala Manorama
, Mathrubhoomi, Kerala Kaumudi
, Desabhimani
, Deepika, Madhyamam, Janmabhoomi and Metro Vaartha are a few of the newspapers that are being published from Thiuruvananthapuram.
Several weeklies, fortnightlies, monthlies, bi-monthlies and quarterlies are published from various parts of the district. The Information and Public Relations Department
is the main agency of the Government to disseminate information to the public and to provide feedback.
Most Malayalam TV channels are based in Thiruvananthapuram. The government owned Doordarshan
began broadcasting from here in 1981. Asianet
, the first private Malayalam channel, began its telecasts in 1991 from Thiruvananthapuram
.
There are so many radio stations in the district.Most of them broadcasts from Thiruvananthapuram City
. All India Radio
has an AM (1161 MHz) and an FM (Ananthapuri FM; 101.9 MHz) station in the city. FM radio channels broadcast from Thiruvananthapuram are Ananthapuri FM (AIR) 101.9 MHz, Big FM 92.7 MHz, Club FM 94.3
MHz, Radio Mirchi
98.3 MHz, Red FM
93.5 MHz and Radio DC
90.4 MHz.
The Radio DC broadcasts at Low power CRS. So the is channel only available at 15 km radius of the broadcasting station.
The wireline telephone
services are provided by BSNL, Reliance
and Tata Indicom
. The main GSM networks operating in the district are BSNL CellOne
, Airtel, Aircel
, Tata Docomo
, Uninor
, Idea Cellular
, Vodafone
, Reliance
, Videocon
and Virgin Mobile
. The main CDMA providers are Reliance
, MTS and Tata Indicom
. Major broadband internet services are provided by BSNL DataOne
, Asianet Dataline and Siti Cable
.
The most popular games in the district are football and cricket. Basketball, badminton
and volleyball
are also popular, mostly in schools. The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram City
. The Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium
, in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram
, is a prominent football stadium and has hosted both national and international level matches. The University Stadium
has hosted two international cricket matches. This stadium is under the University of Kerala and is equipped with synthetic tracks for athletics games. The Central Stadium, which has facilities for athletics, football, basketball, volleyball and cricket practice nets.The Jimmy George
Sports Complex, is another major sports establishment in the district.
, Perumkadavila, Athiyanoor, Nemom
, Thiruvananthapuram Rural, Kazhakuttom, Vellanad, Nedumangad, Vamanapuram, Kilimanoor, Chirayinkeezhu and Varkala. The District Rural Development Agency co-ordinates the work in these blocks. Several welfare schemes like Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
, Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
, Total Sanitation Scheme (TSS), Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), Prime Minister’s Grama Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Indira Awaaz Yojana (IAY) etc. are carried out in the blocks.
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
. It came into existence in the year 1957. The headquarters is the city of Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
(Trivandrum) which is also the capital city of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
.
The district has an area of 2192 km², and a population of 3,307,284 (as per the 2011 census), the second most populous district in Kerala after Malappuram district. It is the densest district in Kerala with 1,509 people per square kilometer. It is divided into four taluks
Tehsil
A Tehsil or Tahsil/Tahasil , also known as Taluk and Mandal, is an administrative division of some country/countries of South Asia....
, Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram taluk
Thiruvananthapuram Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the western part of the Thiruvananthapuram district...
, Chirayinkeezhu
Chirayinkeezhu taluk
Chirayinkeezhu Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the northern part of the Thiruvananthapuram district.It comprises 29 villages and two municipalities...
, Neyyattinkara
Neyyattinkara taluk
Neyyattinkara Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It situated in the Southern part of the Thiruvananthapuram district...
, Nedumangadu
Nedumangad taluk
Nedumangad Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It situated in the eastern part of the Thiruvananthapuram district...
. The urban bodies in the district are the Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
Corporation, Varkala
Varkala
Varkala is a coastal town and municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district situated in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located 50 kilometres north-west of Thiruvananthapuram and 37 km south-west of Kollam city.Varkala is the only place in southern Kerala where cliffs are found adjacent to...
, Neyyattinkara
Neyyattinkara
Neyyattinkara is municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. The name Neyyattinkara in Malayalam literally means the shore of Neyyar River. Neyyar River flows from Agasthyarkoodam , the highest peak in southern end of the Western Ghats. The taluk has a total...
, Attingal
Attingal
Attingal is a town and a municipality in the Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala state, India, bounded by the Mamom and Vamanapuram rivers. It is situated 30 km to the north of state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.-Demographics:...
and Nedumangad
Nedumangad
Nedumangad is a municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located around 20 km to the north-east of Thiruvananthapuram city on the Thiruvananthapuram — Thenmala State Highway...
municipalities.
Thiruvananthapuram district is situated between north latitudes 8º 17' and 8º 54' and east longitudes 76º 41' and 77º 17'. The southern most extremity, Kaliyikkavila, is 56 km away from Kanyakumari
Kanyakumari
Kanyakumari is a town in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is also sometimes referred to as Cape Comorin. Located at the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, it is the geographical end of the Indian mainland. The district in Tamil Nadu where the town is located is called Kanyakumari...
, the "land's end of India". The district is 33.75% urbanised.
Origin of name
The district have the same name of its headquarter city, ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
.
The city gets its name from the word, Thiru-anantha-puram, meaning the "Abode of Lord Ananta". The name derives from the deity
Deity
A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....
of the Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temple
Hindu temple
A Mandir, Devalayam, Devasthanam, or a Hindu temple is a place of worship for followers of Hinduism...
at the center of the Thiruvananthapuram city
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
. Anantha is the serpent Shesha
Shesha
In Hindu tradition, Shesha or Sheshanaag is the king of all nagas, one of the primal beings of creation, and according to the Bhagavata Purana, an Avatar of the Supreme God known as Sankarshan. In the Puranas, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly...
on whom Padmanabhan or Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
reclines. The district was officially referred to as Trivandrum in English until 1991, when the government decided to reinstate the city's original name Thiruvananthapuram in all languages.
History
Thiruvananthapuram city and several other places in the district loom large in ancient tradition, folklore and literature.In 1684, during the regency of Umayamma Rani
Umayamma Rani
Aswathi Thirunal Umayamma, popularly known as Umayamma Rani, was the Regent of Venad from 1677 to 1684 on behalf of her nephew Rajah Ravi Varma who ruled thereafter till 1718.-State of Venad:Venad or Travancore was at that time in a state of turmoil...
, the English East India Company obtained a sandy spit of land at Anchuthengu
Anchuthengu
Anchuthengu, formerly known as Anjengo, is a coastal town in the Thiruvananthapuram District of Kerala.This was an old Portuguese settlement lies between Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram, near Varkala. Literally the word ‘Anjuthengu’ means 'five coconut palms.’ The whole land is cultivated with...
near Varkala
Varkala
Varkala is a coastal town and municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district situated in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located 50 kilometres north-west of Thiruvananthapuram and 37 km south-west of Kollam city.Varkala is the only place in southern Kerala where cliffs are found adjacent to...
on the sea coast about 32 km north of Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
city, with a view to erecting a factory and fortifying it. The place had earlier been frequented by the Portuguese and later by the Dutch. It was from here that the English gradually extended their domain to other parts of Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
.
Modern history begins with Marthanda Varma
Marthanda Varma
Marthanda Varma , was the founder of the Indian Hindu feudal kingdom of Travancore from Venad SwaroopamHe ruled from 1729 till his death in 1758, having succeeded his maternal uncle Dharma Raja.King Marthanda Varma is usually credited as the "founder of Kingdom of Travancore" from...
, 1729 CE -1758 CE, who is generally regarded as the Father of modern Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
. Thiruvananthapuram was known as a great center of intellectual and artistic activities in those days.
Thiruvananthapuram literally means City of Lord Anantha. The name derives from the deity of the Hindu temple at the center of the Thiruvananthapuram city
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
. Anantha is the mythical thousand hooded serpent- Shesha on whom Padmanabhan or Vishnu
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
reclines. The temple of Vishnu reclining on Anantha, the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple
Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in Thiruvananthapuram, India. The shrine is currently run by a trust headed by the royal family of Travancore. The temple is one of 108 Divya Desams – principal centres of worship of the deity in Vaishnavism...
, which dates back to the 16th century, is the most recognizable iconic landmark of the city as well as the district. Along with the presiding deity of Sri
Sri
Sri , also transliterated as Shri or Shree or shre is a word of Sanskrit origin, used in the Indian subcontinent as polite form of address equivalent to the English "Mr." in written and spoken language, or as a title of veneration for deities .-Etymology:Sri has the root meaning of radiance, or...
Padmanabha
Vishnu
Vishnu is the Supreme god in the Vaishnavite tradition of Hinduism. Smarta followers of Adi Shankara, among others, venerate Vishnu as one of the five primary forms of God....
, this temple also has temples inside it, dedicated to Lord Krishna
Krishna
Krishna is a central figure of Hinduism and is traditionally attributed the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita. He is the supreme Being and considered in some monotheistic traditions as an Avatar of Vishnu...
and Lord Narasimha, Lord Ganesha
Ganesha
Ganesha , also spelled Ganesa or Ganesh, also known as Ganapati , Vinayaka , and Pillaiyar , is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in the Hindu pantheon. His image is found throughout India and Nepal. Hindu sects worship him regardless of affiliations...
, and Lord Ayyappa.The temple was built by King Marthanda Varma of the Travancore Royal family when, in 1745, he shifted the Travancore capital from Padmanabhapuram
Padmanabhapuram
Padmanabhapuram a city and a municipality near Thuckalay in Kanniyakumari district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.-History:Padmanabhapuram was the old capital of the princely state of Travancore in India...
, which is now in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
.King Marthanda Varma
Marthanda Varma
Marthanda Varma , was the founder of the Indian Hindu feudal kingdom of Travancore from Venad SwaroopamHe ruled from 1729 till his death in 1758, having succeeded his maternal uncle Dharma Raja.King Marthanda Varma is usually credited as the "founder of Kingdom of Travancore" from...
started reigning as 'Padmanabha Dasa', the servant and representative of Lord Padmanabha—perhaps a nobler variant of the 'Divine Right Theory' that the West is familiar with . The vast temple complex, with its tall Gopuram
Gopuram
A Gopuram or Gopura, is a monumental tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of any temple, especially in Southern India. This forms a prominent feature of Koils, Hindu temples of the Dravidian style. They are topped by the kalasam, a bulbous stone finial...
decorated with detailed carvings reflected in the huge temple tank, is today a center of attraction for the pious, the tourist and the merely curious.
The city was the capital of the Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
state before the independence
Indian independence movement
The term Indian independence movement encompasses a wide area of political organisations, philosophies, and movements which had the common aim of ending first British East India Company rule, and then British imperial authority, in parts of South Asia...
. Consequent to the recommendations of the state Reorganization Commission, the Vilavancode taluk from Thiruvananthapuram was merged with Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
along with three other southern taluks of Thovala, Agastheewaram and Kalkulam from Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
and the state of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
came into being on 1 November 1956.
Geography
The districtDistrict
Districts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
is situated between North
North
North is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.North is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west.By convention, the top side of a map is north....
latitude
Latitude
In geography, the latitude of a location on the Earth is the angular distance of that location south or north of the Equator. The latitude is an angle, and is usually measured in degrees . The equator has a latitude of 0°, the North pole has a latitude of 90° north , and the South pole has a...
s at 8.17° & 8.54° and East
East
East is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.East is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of west and is perpendicular to north and south.By convention, the right side of a map is east....
longitude
Longitude
Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east-west position of a point on the Earth's surface. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees, minutes and seconds, and denoted by the Greek letter lambda ....
s 76.41° & 77.17°. The southern most extremity, Parassala
Parassala
Parassala is a small but busy town in India, at the the southern end of Kerala, bordering Tamil Nadu. Malayalam and Tamil language is spoken by the residents.-Parassala town:The name of Parassala became more popular after the rise of Prof. Parassala B...
is just 54 km away from the Southern Peninsular tip of India, Cape Comorin (Kanya Kumari). The district stretches 78 km along the shores of the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
on the West, Kollam district
Kollam district
-Climate:Kollam's temperature is almost steady throughout the year. The average temperature ranges from 25 to 32 degrees Celsius. Summer usually runs from March until May; the monsoon begins by June and ends by September. Kollam receives an annual average rainfall of around...
lies on the North with Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli District
Tirunelveli District is a district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Tirunelveli is the district headquarters. A unique feature of this district is that it encompasses all five geographical traditions of Tamil Literature; kurinji , mullai , marudham , neithal and palai...
and Kanyakumari district
Kanyakumari District
Kanyakumari District ) is a district of Tamil Nadu state, India and is the southernmost land area of mainland India.The district is the second most urbanised district in Tamilnadu, next only to Chennai and ahead of Coimbatore. It also has the highest literacy and education levels in the...
s of Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
on the East and South respectively.
Unlike the flat Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
coast, at the northern coastal region of the district, cliff
Cliff
In geography and geology, a cliff is a significant vertical, or near vertical, rock exposure. Cliffs are formed as erosion landforms due to the processes of erosion and weathering that produce them. Cliffs are common on coasts, in mountainous areas, escarpments and along rivers. Cliffs are usually...
s are found adjacent to the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
at Varkala
Varkala
Varkala is a coastal town and municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district situated in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located 50 kilometres north-west of Thiruvananthapuram and 37 km south-west of Kollam city.Varkala is the only place in southern Kerala where cliffs are found adjacent to...
. It is the only part in southern Kerala that cliffs were found. These tertiary sedimentary formation cliffs are considered as a unique geological feature.It is known among geologists as the "Varkala Formation" and a geological monument as declared by the Geological Survey of India
Geological Survey of India
Geological Survey of India , established in 1851 is a government organization in India which is an attached office to the Ministry of Mines of Union Government of India for conducting geological surveys and studies. It is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and the second oldest...
.
The district can be divided in to three geographical regions, Highlands, Midlands, and Lowlands. Chirayinkeezhu
Chirayinkeezhu taluk
Chirayinkeezhu Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the northern part of the Thiruvananthapuram district.It comprises 29 villages and two municipalities...
, and Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
Taluks lies on the midland and lowland regions, while the Nedumangad Taluk lies in the midland and highland regions, and the Neyyattinkara Taluk stretches over all the three regions.
The highland regions on the east and the north-east comprises the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
and this area is ideal for major cash crops like rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
, tea, cardamom
Cardamom
Cardamom refers to several plants of the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the ginger family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to India and Bhutan; they are recognised by their small seed pod, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds...
and other spices. Timber trees like Teak
Teak
Teak is the common name for the tropical hardwood tree species Tectona grandis and its wood products. Tectona grandis is native to south and southeast Asia, mainly India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Burma, but is naturalized and cultivated in many countries, including those in Africa and the...
and Rosewood
Rosewood
Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. All rosewoods are strong and heavy, taking an excellent polish, being suitable for guitars, marimbas, turnery , handles, furniture, luxury flooring, etc.In general,...
are grown in this region. The Ghats maintain an average elevation of 814 meters. The part Agasthyarkoodam which is the second highest peak in the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
(1869 meters above sea level) lies in the district. The forests in the tail end of Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
form the most diverse and unknown ecosystem in Peninsular India.
The midland region lying between the Western Ghats and lowlands is made up of small and tiny hills and valleys. This is an area of intense agricultural activities. This region is rich in produces like paddy
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
, rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
, eucalyptus
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia...
, spices and cashew
Cashew
The cashew is a tree in the family Anacardiaceae. Its English name derives from the Portuguese name for the fruit of the cashew tree, caju, which in turn derives from the indigenous Tupi name, acajú. It is now widely grown in tropical climates for its cashew nuts and cashew apples.-Etymology:The...
. The lowlands are comparatively narrow, consisting of river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s, deltas
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
and seashore. This area is densely covered with coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
trees. Water bodies cover about 55.25 km² while forest area is estimated to be 498.61 km².
Forests
Thiruvananthapuram district has a reserve forestReserve forest
You may be looking for forest reserve, a generic term associated with protected forest areas, which is also used as a specific term for protected forests in some countries...
area of 495.145 km² and vested forest area of 3.534 km² spreading over three ranges, the Kulathupuzha
Kulathupuzha
Kulathupuzha is a village in the Kollam district of Kerala state, India. This town is situated on the Thiruvananthapuram - Shenkottai road. Kulathupuzha is 62 km away from Thiruvananthapuram and 64 km away from Kollam....
range in the north,Palode range in the middle and the Paruthipalli range in the south. These forests may be broadly classified into three categories, namely, Southern tropical wet ever green forests
South Western Ghats montane rain forests
The South Western Ghats montane rain forests are an ecoregion of southern India, covering the southern portion of the Western Ghats range in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, at elevations over 1000 meters...
, Southern tropical and semi ever green forests and Southern tropical moist deciduous forests
South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests
The South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of southern India. It covers the southern portion of the Western Ghats range and the Nilgiri Hills between 250 and 1000 meters elevation in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu states.-Setting:The ecoregion...
. Social forestry programmes are being implemented under the World Bank aided Kerala Social Forestry Project, National Rural Employment Programme (NREP) and Rural Fuel Wood Schemes to assist small and marginal farmers.
Rivers
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
state, has its origin in the Agasthyamala, the second highest peak in the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
. Karamana
Karamana
Karamana is a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram , the capital city of Kerala, India. It is one of the most densely populated, but green part of Thiruvananthapuram. The land of Karamana is made fertile by the river, Karamana River which starts from the southern tip of the Western Ghats at "Agastyakoodam"...
river (67 km) originates from Vayuvanthol (vazhuvanthol), another mountain in western ghats and the Vamanapuram River have their origin from Chemunji Mottai of the Western Ghats.There are 10 major back waters
Kerala Backwaters
The Kerala backwaters are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast of Kerala state in southern India. The network includes five large lakes linked by canals, both manmade and natural, fed by 38 rivers, and extending virtually half the length of Kerala state...
in the district. The major lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s are Veli, Kadinamkulam, Anchuthengu(Anjengo), Kaappil, Akathumuri
Akathumuri
Akathumuri is a scenic lakeside village in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, India.It is connected by road and rail. The railway station is not an important one, in the Thiruvananthapuram - Kollam route; only passenger trains halt here. Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is the nearest...
and the Edava-Nadayara lakes. Besides these, there is a fresh water lake at Vellayani in Thiruvananthapuram taluk, which has the potential to become the major water sources of the Thiruvanthapuram city in future.
Climate
The climate of Thiruvananthapuram district is generally hot tropicalTropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
. The large forest reserves favourably affect the climate and induce rains. Cold weather is experienced in the mountain ranges
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
whereas lower down, the weather is bracing and is generally hot in the coastal regions. The mean maximum temperature is 95 °F (35 °C) and the mean minimum temperature is 69 °F (20 °C).
As the district stretches from north to south with the Arabian Sea
Arabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
in the west side, relative humidity
Relative humidity
Relative humidity is a term used to describe the amount of water vapor in a mixture of air and water vapor. It is defined as the partial pressure of water vapor in the air-water mixture, given as a percentage of the saturated vapor pressure under those conditions...
it is generally high. It rises up to about 95% during South-West monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
.
The total annual average rainfall in the district about 1500 mm per annum. The southwest monsoon, from June to September is the principal rainy season. The district receives most of its annual rainfall in this season. The second rainy season is the North-East monsoon.It is from October to November.
The district also gets thunderstorm rains in the pre-monsoon months of April and May.
December to February are the coolest months.The average temperature goes down to 69 °F (20 °C) in these months. It is generally considered as the Winter season. The summer season will starts in February and continues till May. The average temperature goes up to 95 °F (35 °C) in these months.
Economy
The economy of Thiruvananthapuram district mostly consists of TourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
and Leisure
Leisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....
, Information Technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, Agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and Education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
.
The modern economy of Thiruvananthapuram is depended on the media and IT sector. India's first animation park, The Kinfra Animation Park
Kinfra Film and Video Park
Kinfra Film and Video Park is India’s first industrial park catering exclusively to the infotainment industry has matured into a complete ecosystem for the digital animation and cinema sector...
, is situated in the district. IT companies having global fame like NeST Software
NeST Software
NeST Software is a technology company which offers customized software and hardware development services for engineering applications and product development services for customers worldwide. NeST Software, is a division of SFO Technologies and part of the NeST Group of companies...
, Infosys
Infosys
Infosys Limited, formerly Infosys Technologies Limited is a global technology services company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It is the second largest IT exporter in India with 133,560 employees as of March 2011. It has offices in 33 countries and development centers in India, China,...
, TCS
Tata Consultancy Services
Tata Consultancy Services Limited is a global IT services, business solutions and outsourcing company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It is the largest provider of information technology in Asia and second largest provider of business process outsourcing services in India...
, McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company, Inc. is a global management consulting firm that focuses on solving issues of concern to senior management. McKinsey serves as an adviser to many businesses, governments, and institutions...
, Ernst & Young Shared Services
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
, Allianz Cornhill, Tata Elxsi
Tata elxsi
- Introduction : is a technology-led design services company and part of the $70 billion Tata Group. Headquartered in Bangalore and with a global delivery footprint through offices and centers in India, the US, the UK, Japan and Germany, Tata Elxsi is a company focused on delivering outsourced...
, UST Global etc., have campus in Thiruvananthapuram Technopark. The present day economy of the district is growing with the contributions from more professionals in the fields Information Technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, Medical and Biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
. The district contributes 80% of software exports from Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
.
Information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
, and Medical/Biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
. Technopark
Technopark Kerala
Technopark is a technology park in Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala, India. The park is dedicated to IT ventures. It is the first and largest technology park in India....
was established for the development of electronics and information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
in the state. It is India's first industrial park
Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
dedicated to electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
, software, and IT ventures. Started 1990, the campus at Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
city covers an area the 300 acres (728,000 m²) campus with 4.5 million ft² (420,000 m²) of built-up space available currently and another 600,000 ft² (55,000 m²) more of built up space coming up, is now home to over 200 companies from numerous countries. Around 30,000 IT professionals are working here.
Thiruvananthapuram was rated as the best 2nd tier metro with IT/ITES infrastructure, and second in terms of availability of human talent. The district contributes 80% of software exports from the state.
Industry
In Thiruvananthapuram district there are 2 Central sector, 14 state sector, 1 co-operative sector, 4 joint sector and 60 private sector medium and large scale industries. The Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC)Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation
Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd. is the industrial and investment promotion agency of the Government of Kerala , for the promotion and development of medium and large scale units in the State of Kerala...
units employ 9262 people with an investment of Rs.34,394 lakhs (as at 31 March 2003). In 2002 there were 901 registered working factories. They include oil mills, cashew factories, cotton textiles
Cotton mill
A cotton mill is a factory that houses spinning and weaving machinery. Typically built between 1775 and 1930, mills spun cotton which was an important product during the Industrial Revolution....
, saw mills
Sawmill
A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....
, printing units
Offset printing
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface...
, rubber industrial units, chemical units, match factories, general engineering units and automobile workshops. The S.M.S.M. Institute in Thiruvananthapuram is a major institution through which the products of the handicraft industries
Handicraft
Handicraft, more precisely expressed as artisanic handicraft, sometimes also called artisanry, is a type of work where useful and decorative devices are made completely by hand or by using only simple tools. It is a traditional main sector of craft. Usually the term is applied to traditional means...
are marketed. As of 31 March 2003, there were 28,918 small scale industrial units employing 115,597 people in the district. In agro based industries, 4544 people work, 3080 work in forest based
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
, 980 in animal husbandry based
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
, 5057 in pesticide based
Pesticide
Pesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
, 1282 in chemicals based, 4708 in engineering based
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, 3075 in manufacturing and building materials section and 6192 in other industries. Of these SSI
Strategic Sustainable Investing
Strategic sustainable investing is an investment strategy that recognizes and rewards leading companies that are moving society towards sustainability...
units, 1323 are Scheduled castes and scheduled tribe units and 6065 are women units. There is an industrial estate at Pappanamcode and an industrial development centre at Kochuveli.
Traditional industries such as coir and hand loom are now faced with several problems. The main varieties of coir produced are Anchuthengu and Muppiri. Handloom weaving is prevalent at Balaramapuram, Amaravila, Kulathur and Chirayinkeezhu
Chirayinkeezhu
Chirayinkeezhu is a village in Thiruvananthapuram district situated in the Indian state of Kerala.This is the birth place of the Malayalam actors Shri. Prem Nazir and Bharath Gopi.-Places:The Sarkara Devi Temple is situated at Chirayinkeezhu...
. It is estimated that clothes worth Rs.95,000,000 are annually produced in the handloom sector. There are 20 Hantex (Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society) depots and five showrooms in the district.
Keltron Kerala state Electronics Development Corporation
Keltron
Keltron, Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited, is a public sector electronics company located in Kerala, a state in India. It is headquartered at the capital city of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram...
has made inroads into electronic markets throughout the country. The opening of many private Television channels in the state, made Thiruvananthapuram the home of several studios and related industries.
Agriculture
Agriculture has been the primary occupation of the people of the district. Cultivable land may be classified as wet, dry, garden and plantations. PaddyRice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
is the most important crop cultivated in the wet lands. Tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
and pulses are the important dry land crops. Coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
, one of the most important crops of the district, is cultivated in an area of 843.08 km² and the annual production is about 516 million nuts. Rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
cultivation is mainly confined to Nedumangad taluk. At present, there are about 269.99 km² of rubber plantations and the annual production is estimated at 30,717 tonnes. Newly introduced agricultural development schemes have opened new vistas in this field. Fresh schemes are introduced in every panchayat with a view to maximise yield per unit area by exploiting the production potential of paddy and vegetables. Cashew is grown in 21.84 km² of land and the production is about 1745 tonnes. Pepper cultivation covers an area of 50.9 km² and the yield is about 1824 tonnes. Soil conservation projects are being implemented with subsidy and loans.
| Major Agricultural Products | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Products | Area under cultivation (km²) | Production (tonne) | |||
| Rice Rice Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies... |
113.68 | 19610 | |||
| Pepper Black pepper Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed... |
50.90 | 1824 | |||
| Ginger Ginger Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal.... |
1.08 | 313 | |||
| Cashew nut | 21.84 | 1745 | |||
| Tapioca Tapioca Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,... |
252.53 | 500101 | |||
| Coconut Coconut The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word... |
843.08 | 516 million nuts | |||
| Arecanut | 7.17 | 456 million nuts | |||
| Tea Tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world... |
9.65 | 608 | |||
| Rubber Rubber Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined... |
269.99 | 30717 | |||
| Source : Farm Guide 2000 | |||||
Irrigation
The Neyyar Irrigation Project, commissioned in 1959, irrigates an area of 116.65 km² in Thiruvananthapuram. Neyyar is the source of water for the reservoir. The length of the dam is 294.13 meters and the height is 50.6 metres. The catchment draining into the reservoir, covering an area of 140 km² of forest land, receives an annual average rainfall of about 2260 mm from two monsoons. The total length of the main canal and its branches is 266 km.Animal husbandry and dairy
The Regional Poultry FarmPoultry farming
Poultry farming is the raising of domesticated birds such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese, for the purpose of farming meat or eggs for food. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry meat, and 68 percent of eggs are produced in ways that are described as...
and the District Livestock Farm at Kudappanakunnu, the Dry Stock Farm at Palode, the Intensive Poultry Block at Pettah, Clinical lab, broiler farm, piggery, veterinary sub centres, veterinary Biological Institute, Disease Investigation Office, Livestock Disease Control unit and the SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a non-profit animal welfare organization originally founded in England in 1824 to pass laws protecting carriage horses from abuse. SPCA groups are now found in many nations, where they campaign for animal welfare, assist in cruelty to animals...
are the major animal husbandry institutions in the district.
At present there are 23 veterinary hospitals 76 veterinary dispensaries and 144 such centres in the district.
In Thiruvananthapuram, milk is being distributed to consumers from the dairy at Ambalathara. There are 376 dairy co-operatives besides, 294 Anand model co-operatives. Kerala Livestock Development and Milk Marketing Board (K.L.D. & M.M.B.) and the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing federation (MILMA) strive to improve production. Nearly 147,000 litres of milk is being collected and distributed daily through the co-operative societies.
Fisheries
Thiruvananthapuram district stretches along the shores of the Arabian SeaArabian Sea
The Arabian Sea is a region of the Indian Ocean bounded on the east by India, on the north by Pakistan and Iran, on the west by the Arabian Peninsula, on the south, approximately, by a line between Cape Guardafui in northeastern Somalia and Kanyakumari in India...
for a distance of 78 km, offering immense scope for the development of fisheries as an important source of earning foreign exchange. Varkala
Varkala
Varkala is a coastal town and municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district situated in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located 50 kilometres north-west of Thiruvananthapuram and 37 km south-west of Kollam city.Varkala is the only place in southern Kerala where cliffs are found adjacent to...
, Anchuthengu, Marianad, Poonthura
Poonthura
Poonthura is a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, India. It is on the landing path of flights to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport.-Location:...
, Vizhinjam
Vizhinjam
Vizhinjam is a locality of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. Kovalam beach is just 3 km from Vizhinjam. The areas in and around Vizhinjam are known for its Ayurvedic treatment centers and internationally acclaimed beach resorts. As of 2001, the population was 18,566...
and Poovar
Poovar
Poovar is a small coastal village in the Trivandrum district of Kerala state, south India. This village is almost at the southern tip of Trivandrum and there is only one last village Pozhiyoor which mark the end of kerala. This village has a beautiful beach which attracts tourists. There are also...
are some of the major fishing centres. The fishermen population is about 200,000 and the catch is around 32,000 tonnes. Anchovies, sardine
Sardine
Sardines, or pilchards, are several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines are named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, around which they were once abundant....
, catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
, perches
Perch (disambiguation)
Perch may refer to:*Perch , a surname *The USS Perch, multiple ships with the name*Perch , antique unit of measure of length, area or volume, depending on context, used in medieval France and the British Isles...
, mackerel
Mackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
, tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
and carangidae
Carangidae
Carangidae is a family of fish which includes the jacks, pompanos, jack mackerels, and scads.They are marine fish found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans...
are the important species caught in this area. Introduction of mechanised fishing crafts and modern fishing gear has augmented the fish catch. There are 42 fishermen villages and the total number of households engaged in fishing is about 40,000.
Development activities and welfare programmes are implemented by the Department of Fisheries, Matsyafed
Matsyafed
Matsyafed, the Kerala State Co-operative Federation for Fisheries Development Ltd., is the Apex Federation of 654 Primary Fisherman Co-operative Societies spread over 10 districts of Kerala, South India...
, Fish Farmers Development Agency (FFDA), and Brackish Water Fish Farmers Development Agency (BWFFDA). The inland catch is significant in the district. The newly launched people oriented fish farming scheme aims at fish cultivation in 2.05 km² of public ponds. All the 78 panchayats in the district are readied to adopt the scheme under the guidance of local bodies. The coastal fisheries belt is divided into 42 fisheries villages and most of such villages have fishermen welfare societies formed under the Kerala Fisheries Welfare Society Act of 1980.
Divisions and Administration
The headquarters of the district administration is at Vanchiyoor, Thiruvananthapuram.The district administration is headed by the District collectorDistrict collector
The District Collector is the district head of administration of the bureaucracy in a state of India. Though he/she is appointed and is under general supervision of the state government, he/she has to be a member of the elite IAS recruited by the Central Government...
. He is assisted by Five Deputy Collectors holding charges of general matters, land acquisition, revenue recovery, land reforms and election.
| No | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Neyyattinkara Neyyattinkara Neyyattinkara is municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. The name Neyyattinkara in Malayalam literally means the shore of Neyyar River. Neyyar River flows from Agasthyarkoodam , the highest peak in southern end of the Western Ghats. The taluk has a total... |
69467 |
| 2. | Nedumangad Nedumangad Nedumangad is a municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located around 20 km to the north-east of Thiruvananthapuram city on the Thiruvananthapuram — Thenmala State Highway... |
56138 |
| 3. | Varkala Varkala Varkala is a coastal town and municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district situated in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located 50 kilometres north-west of Thiruvananthapuram and 37 km south-west of Kollam city.Varkala is the only place in southern Kerala where cliffs are found adjacent to... |
42273 |
| 4. | Attingal Attingal Attingal is a town and a municipality in the Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala state, India, bounded by the Mamom and Vamanapuram rivers. It is situated 30 km to the north of state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.-Demographics:... |
35648 |
The District Collector also holds the charge of the District Magistrate and is assisted by the Additional District Magistrate (Deputy Collector, General) and the Revenue Divisional Officer. The district has only one revenue division, which is headed by
the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO). He is also the Sub-Divisional Magistrate.
There are four taluks, namely, Neyyattinkara
Neyyattinkara
Neyyattinkara is municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. The name Neyyattinkara in Malayalam literally means the shore of Neyyar River. Neyyar River flows from Agasthyarkoodam , the highest peak in southern end of the Western Ghats. The taluk has a total...
,Thiruvananthapuram, Nedumangad
Nedumangad
Nedumangad is a municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located around 20 km to the north-east of Thiruvananthapuram city on the Thiruvananthapuram — Thenmala State Highway...
and Chirayinkeezhu
Chirayinkeezhu taluk
Chirayinkeezhu Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the northern part of the Thiruvananthapuram district.It comprises 29 villages and two municipalities...
, each headed by a Tahsildar.
There are 120 villages under the 4 taluks of the district. The names of the taluks, their head quarters & the Villages under them are given in the box above.
| No | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Chirayinkeezhu Chirayinkeezhu taluk Chirayinkeezhu Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the northern part of the Thiruvananthapuram district.It comprises 29 villages and two municipalities... |
Attingal Attingal Attingal is a town and a municipality in the Thiruvananthapuram district, Kerala state, India, bounded by the Mamom and Vamanapuram rivers. It is situated 30 km to the north of state capital of Thiruvananthapuram.-Demographics:... |
29 |
| 2. | Nedumangad Nedumangad taluk Nedumangad Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It situated in the eastern part of the Thiruvananthapuram district... |
Nedumangad Nedumangad Nedumangad is a municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located around 20 km to the north-east of Thiruvananthapuram city on the Thiruvananthapuram — Thenmala State Highway... |
28 |
| 3. | Neyyattinkara Neyyattinkara taluk Neyyattinkara Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It situated in the Southern part of the Thiruvananthapuram district... |
Neyyattinkara Neyyattinkara Neyyattinkara is municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. The name Neyyattinkara in Malayalam literally means the shore of Neyyar River. Neyyar River flows from Agasthyarkoodam , the highest peak in southern end of the Western Ghats. The taluk has a total... |
29 |
| 4. | Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram taluk Thiruvananthapuram Taluk is a Taluk in Thiruvananthapuram district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is situated in the western part of the Thiruvananthapuram district... |
Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland... |
30 |
Consequent to the 73rd amendment of the Constitution and the new Panchayat Raj-Nagarapalika Act, the Kerala Panchayat raj Act came into being on 23 April 1994.Thiruvananthapuram district has one district panchayat, 12 block panchayats
Block Panchayat
Block panchayat is a local government body at the tehsil or Taluka level in India. It works for the villages of the Tehsil or Taluka that together are called a Development Block. The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the Gram Panchayat and the district administration. There are a number of...
and 78 grama panchayats
Gram panchayat
Gram panchayats are local self-governments at the village or small town level in India. As of 2002 there were about 265,000 gram panchayats in India. The gram panchayat is the foundation of the Panchayat System. A gram panchayat can be set up in villages with minimum population of 300...
.
The Thiruvananthapuram District Panchayat has already worked out some notable developmental schemes in the agricultural, water supply and educational sectors. The District Panchayat president is also the chairman of the District Planning Committee
District Planning in Kerala
District Planning is the process of planning covering all local governments in a district based on a district level development policy and integrating the district and sub-district plans of all the local governments into a consolidated district plan which will later be integrated with the state plan...
and the District Rural Development Agency
District Rural Development Agencies (India)
District Rural Development Agencies are district level development execution and monitoring agencies created under the Indian Societies Registration Act. Substantial sums of rural development funds of government of India were transferred and routed through them under various Centrally...
.
There are two parliamentary constituencies in the district. They are Chirayinkeezhu
Chirayinkil (Lok Sabha constituency)
Chirayinkil Lok Sabha constituency was a Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala, dissolved in 2008.-Assembly segments:Chirayinkil Lok Sabha constituency was composed of the following assembly segments:#Varkala#Attingal#Kilimanoor Assembly Constituency...
with constituency number 19 and Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
with constituency number 20.
Road Transport
The National Highway 47 stretches from Kaliyikkavila at the southern extremity to NavaikulamNavaikulam
Navaikulam is a village in Thiruvananthapuram district in the state of Kerala, India.The term “navaya” means “the place where Vedic scriptures are taught”. Therefore, it is believed that Navaikulam was an ancient center of excellence and wisdom...
near Parippally
Parippally
Parippally is a village town in Kollam district, Kerala, India. It is 27 km away from Kollam city along the NH47. It is the boundary of Kollam district and Trivandrum District. There are 4 major roads which connects Madathara, Paravoor, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram. Only 10 kilometers from here to...
in the north, covering a distance of 80 km within the district. The MC Road covers
Main Central Road
The Main Central Road is the arterial State Highway in the Travancore region of Kerala state, India. It is designated as SH 1 by the Kerala Public Works Department.The highway was built by Raja Kesavadas, Dewan of Travancore...
a distance of 55 km and passes through Kesavadaspuram, Vembayam
Vembayam
Vembayam is a village in Thiruvananthapuram district in the state of Kerala, India.-Demographics: India census, Vembayam had a population of 19405 with 9416 males and 9989 females....
, Venjaramoodu, Kilimanoor
Kilimanoor
Kilimanoor is a census town in the state of Kerala, India. It is located on MC/SH 1 Road, 36 km from the city of Thiruvananthapuram .The town area is administered by 2 grama panchayats, pazhayakunnummel and kilimanoor grama panchayat....
and Nilamel
Nilamel
Nilamel is a town located in Kollam District of Kerala, India. It lies on the M C Road and is 45 km from Thiruvananthapuram and 24 km from Kottarakara.-Origin of name:...
in the north. PWD maintains about 1552 km of road in the district. Local bodies maintain 9500 km of road. There are 116 bridges in Thiruvananthapuram District.
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation
Kerala State Road Transport Corporation is the state-run bus company in Kerala, India. It is one of the oldest state run public bus transport services in India.-History:...
operates 20 units: nine depots, seven sub depots, and four operating centres in Thiruvananthapuram district. The corporation plies 1308 buses in 1171 schedules, transporting 11 lakh commuters daily.
Railways
Southern Railway Zone (India)
The Southern Railway is the earliest of the 16 zones of the Indian Railways created in independent India. It was created on April 14, 1951 by merging three state railways namely Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway, the South Indian Railway, and the Mysore State Railway. The South Indian Railway...
of Indian Railways
Indian Railways
Indian Railways , abbreviated as IR , is a departmental undertaking of Government of India, which owns and operates most of India's rail transport. It is overseen by the Ministry of Railways of the Government of India....
.
Thiruvananthapuram is connected to the rest of the country by broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
railway line. Eighty two km of railway line passes through the district.
There are currently 20 railway stations are in the district, including the Trivandrum Central station.
Water Transport
The district’s eastern coastline and its rivers and lakes, provide ample scope for water transport. The waterway from ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
to Kottapuram
Kottapuram
Kottapuram is a part of the Thrissur district and at the southernmost border of the Kodungallur municipality. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Kottapuram which is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Verapoly, has its see here....
in Kozhikode district
Kozhikode district
Kozhikode District , formerly Calicut, is a district of Kerala state, situated on the southwest coast of India. The city of Kozhikode, also known as Calicut, is the district headquarters. The district is 38.25% urbanised...
, which was made possible by the two tunnels of 282 meters and 721 meters, constructed in 1877 and 1880 respectively at Varkala
Varkala
Varkala is a coastal town and municipality in Thiruvananthapuram district situated in the Indian state of Kerala. It is located 50 kilometres north-west of Thiruvananthapuram and 37 km south-west of Kollam city.Varkala is the only place in southern Kerala where cliffs are found adjacent to...
is now defunct. Projects and schemes are underway for reviving these waterways.
The container transhipment project proposed at Vizhinjam
Vizhinjam
Vizhinjam is a locality of Thiruvananthapuram city in the Indian state of Kerala. Kovalam beach is just 3 km from Vizhinjam. The areas in and around Vizhinjam are known for its Ayurvedic treatment centers and internationally acclaimed beach resorts. As of 2001, the population was 18,566...
also holds prospects for reaching the district by sea
Ship transport
Ship transport is watercraft carrying people or goods . Sea transport has been the largest carrier of freight throughout recorded history. Although the importance of sea travel for passengers has decreased due to aviation, it is effective for short trips and pleasure cruises...
.
Airways
Services are being operated by domestic and international airlines from the Trivandrum International Airport.Trivandrum International Airport has direct flights to many international cities like Kuwait
Kuwait
The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab state situated in the north-east of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south at Khafji, and Iraq to the north at Basra. It lies on the north-western shore of the Persian Gulf. The name Kuwait is derived from the...
, Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
, Dammam
Dammam
Dammam is the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the most oil-rich region in the world. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province and several government departments are located in the city. Dammam is the largest city in the Eastern Province and third largest in Saudi...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Malé
Malé
Malé , is the capital and most populous city in the Republic of Maldives. It is located at the southern edge of North Malé Atoll . It is also one of the Administrative divisions of the Maldives. Traditionally it was the King's Island, from where the ancient Maldive Royal dynasties ruled and where...
, Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Sharjah
Sharjah (city)
Sharjah is the third largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula.Sharjah is the seat of government of the emirate of Sharjah...
, Muscat
Muscat, Oman
Muscat is the capital of Oman. It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. As of 2008, the population of the Muscat metropolitan area was 1,090,797. The metropolitan area spans approximately and includes six provinces called wilayats...
, Bahrain
Bahrain
' , officially the Kingdom of Bahrain , is a small island state near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. The population in 2010 stood at 1,214,705, including 235,108 non-nationals. Formerly an emirate, Bahrain was declared a kingdom in 2002.Bahrain is...
, Doha
Doha
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, Jeddah
Jeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
and Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
. It is linked with Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
, Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, Hyderabad, Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
and Kolkatta by domestic flights.
Demographics
2011 census of India
The 15th Indian National census was conducted in two phases, houselisting and population enumeration. Houselisting phase began on April 1, 2010 and involved collection of information about all buildings...
Thiruvananthapuram district has a population
Demographics of India
The demographics of India are inclusive of the second most populous country in the world, with over 1.21 billion people , more than a sixth of the world's population. Already containing 17.5% of the world's population, India is projected to be the world's most populous country by 2025, surpassing...
of 3,307,284, roughly equal to the nation of Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
or the US state of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. This gives it a ranking of 103rd in India (out of a total of 640
Districts of India
A district is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. Districts are further subdivided, in some cases into Sub-Divisions, and otherwise directly into tehsils or talukas.District officials include:...
). The district has a population density of 1509 PD/sqkm . Its population growth rate
Family planning in India
Family planning in India is based on efforts largely sponsored by the Indian government. In the 1965-2009 period, contraceptive usage has more than tripled and the fertility rate has more than halved , but the national fertility rate is still high enough to cause long-term population growth...
over the decade 2001-2011 was 2.25 %. Thiruvananthapuram has a sex ratio
Sex ratio
Sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. The primary sex ratio is the ratio at the time of conception, secondary sex ratio is the ratio at time of birth, and tertiary sex ratio is the ratio of mature organisms....
of 1088 females
Women in India
The status of women in India has been subject to many great changes over the past few millennia. From equal status with men in ancient times through the low points of the medieval period, to the promotion of equal rights by many reformers, the history of women in India has been eventful...
for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate
Literacy in India
Literacy in India is key for socio-economic progress, and the Indian literacy rate grew to 74.04% in 2011 from 12% at the end of British rule in 1947. Although this was a greater than sixfold improvement, the level is well below the world average literacy rate of 84%, and India currently has the...
of 92.66 %.
Language :
Malayalam is the mother tongue. Thiruvananthapuram city is more cosmopolitan with people speaking various languages like Malayalam, English, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Tulu
Tulu language
The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...
, and a minor percentage speak Gujarati
Gujarati language
Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language, and part of the greater Indo-European language family. It is derived from a language called Old Gujarati which is the ancestor language of the modern Gujarati and Rajasthani languages...
.
Religion and Caste :
Hindus (69.80%) constitute the majority of the population followed by Christians(17.68%) and Muslims(12.52%). The Hindu community lies grouped on the basis of castes and sub castes as elsewhere in the state. The Brahmins, Nairs, Ezhavas, Nadars scheduled castes and 11 tribes form the majority of the Hindu community. Christians belong mainly to the Latin Catholic Church, the Church of South India
Church of South India
The Church of South India is the successor of the Church of England in India. It came into being in 1947 as a union of Anglican and Protestant churches in South India. With a membership of over 3.8 million, it is India's second largest Christian church after the Roman Catholic Church in India...
and the Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church
The Syriac Orthodox Church; is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church based in the Eastern Mediterranean, with members spread throughout the world. The Syriac Orthodox Church claims to derive its origin from one of the first Christian communities, established in Antioch by the Apostle St....
. The Muslim community also forms a major division of the total population. Economic, social and other ties bind the members of different religious groups at the local level. People live in peace and amity, influencing and being influenced by the culture of one another.
Socio-Economic Conditions :
More than 50% of the total population depend on agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
for their livelihood. Agricultural labourers constitute 42% of the total labour class. Most of the people are engaged in low remunerative pursuits which require very little capital. Political and social consciousness, coupled with the efforts of the social, religious and cultural leaders, have helped to pull down the age-old feudal order. Economic changes have also affected the social life and attitude of the people.
Culture
Thiruvananthapuram witnessed a cultural renaissance in twentieth century. Kerala Varma Valiakoi Thampuran (1845–1914), who spent a major part of his life in ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
, translated Kalidasa
Kalidasa
Kālidāsa was a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language...
’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam
Abhijñānaśākuntalam
Abhijñānashākuntala or Abhijñānaśākuntalam) , is a well-known Sanskrit play by Kālidāsa. Its date is uncertain, but Kalidasa is often placed in the period between the 1st century BCE and 4th century CE....
into Malayalam which won him the title of Kerala Kalidasa . He is also regarded as the father of modern Malayalam prose.
The contributions of A. R. Raja Raja Varma
A. R. Raja Raja Varma
A. R. Raja Raja Varma or A R. Rajaraja Varma was an Indian poet, grammatician and Professor of Oriental Languages at Maharaja's College, Trivandrum. He wrote widely in Sanskrit and Malayalam...
(1863–1918), known as ”Kerala Panini”, marked an important stage in the development of Malayalam literature. Another notable writer is C. V. Raman Pillai
C. V. Raman Pillai
Cannankara Velayudhan Raman Pillai was one of the great Indian novelists and playwrights and the greatest novelist and pioneering playwright and journalist in Malayalam...
(1858–1922), who was a novelist par excellence
Mahakavi Kumaran Asan
Kumaran Asan
N. Kumaran Asan , also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan , was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala, South India...
(1873–1924) and Mahakavi Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer
Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer
Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer , commonly known as Ulloor was a famous Malayalam poet and a noted historian. Ulloor was one of the famous triumvirate poets of Kerala, South India in the first half of the 20th century....
(1877–1949) were the two outstanding poets from Thiruvananthapuram. Kumaran Asan
Kumaran Asan
N. Kumaran Asan , also known as Mahakavi Kumaran Asan , was one of the triumvirate poets of Kerala, South India...
was the true representative of the cultural renaissance. Ulloor was not only a poet, but also a scholar, researcher and historian.
Shabdatharavali, the comprehensive dictionary in Malayalam was written by Sreekanteswaram Padmanabha Pillai
Sreekanteswaram Padmanabha Pillai
Sreekanteswaram G. Padmanabha Pillai , popularly known as Sreekanteswaram, was a lexicographer and scholar best known for his Malayalam dictionary Sabdatharavali....
who hailed from here. The two all-time great social reformers in Kerala Narayana Guru
Narayana Guru
Sri Nārāyana Guru , also known as Sree Nārāyana Guru Swami, was a Hindu saint, sadhuand social reformer of India. The Guru was born into an Ezhava family, in an era when people from backward communities like the Ezhavas faced much social injustices in the caste-ridden Kerala society...
and Chattampi Swamikal
Chattampi Swamikal
Sree Vidyadhiraja Parama Bhattaraka Chattampi Swamikal was a Hindu sage and social reformer. His thoughts and work influvenced the launching of many social, relegious, literary and political organizations and movements in Kerala and for the first time gave voice to those who were...
also were born here. They contributed much to the Malayalam literature through their books.
A strong film culture prevails in the district. The city is home to animation companies like Toonz India Ltd
Toonz India Ltd
Toonz Animation India Pvt. Ltd. is an animation company in India. It is the animation arm of the Singapore-based Toonz Group, which has diverse interests in production and distribution of live-action feature films, digital and gaming content, licensing and merchandising, and media-related...
and Tata Elxsi Ltd
Tata elxsi
- Introduction : is a technology-led design services company and part of the $70 billion Tata Group. Headquartered in Bangalore and with a global delivery footprint through offices and centers in India, the US, the UK, Japan and Germany, Tata Elxsi is a company focused on delivering outsourced...
. The Kinfra Film and Video Park
Kinfra Film and Video Park
Kinfra Film and Video Park is India’s first industrial park catering exclusively to the infotainment industry has matured into a complete ecosystem for the digital animation and cinema sector...
is located near Technopark
Technopark Kerala
Technopark is a technology park in Thiruvananthapuram , Kerala, India. The park is dedicated to IT ventures. It is the first and largest technology park in India....
and is an advanced film and animation production facilities in India.
The Malayalam film industry
Malayalam cinema
The Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic than films from other parts of India. Malayalam cinema has...
was earlier based in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
(Madras). It slowly started moving to and get rooted in Thiruvananthapuram towards the end of 1970s. The Kerala State Film Development Corporation (KSFDC), which was established in 1975 by the Government of Kerala, accelerated this re-planting. As a result, many studios and related industries started popping up in and around Thiruvananthapuram.
The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) is held in November/December every year and is acknowledged as one of the leading such events in India.
The district becomes festive mood during the festival season of Onam
Onam
Onam is a Hindu festival celebrated by the people of Kerala, India. The festival commemorates the Vamana avatar of Vishnu and the subsequent homecoming of the legendary Emperor Mahabali. It falls during the month of Chingam and lasts for ten days...
in August/September, and during the tourist season later in the year. The state government
Government of Kerala
The Government of Kerala is a democratically elected body that governs the State of Kerala, India for a period of 5 years. The state government is headed by the Governor of Kerala as the nominal head of state, with a democratically elected Chief Minister as real head of the executive. The state...
conducts the tourism week celebrations every year during Onam with cultural events taking place at various centres in the city. The other major events include the annual flower show in the Thiruvananthapuram City
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
, the Attukal Pongala
Attukal
Attukal is a Hindu pilgrimage centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It is situated about two kilometres to the south east from Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram City....
, Varkala Sivagiri pilgrim at December,the Kaalioottu in Sarkara Devi Temple
Sarkara Devi Temple
Sarkaradevi Temple is one of the most important temples in South India. It is situated South of the Chirayinkeezhu Taluk ....
, near Chirayinkeezh,the Navarathri
Navarathri
Navratri, Navaratri, or Navarathri is a Hindu festival of worship of Shakti and dance & festivities. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi are worshiped...
festival at the Poojamandapam near Sri Padmanabha Swamy Temple, The Aaraat of Padmanabha Swamy Temple, the Beemapally Uroos
Beemapally
Beemapally, a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram , is right under the flight path of planes landing at the Thiruvananthapuram airport.The mosque at Beemapally is famous for the annual Urus. It is a good shopping area too...
, Vettucaud Perunaal
Vettucaud
Vettucaud is located on the north-west coast of Thiruvananthapuram. The Madre-de-Deus church is situated here. This church is popularly known as Vettucaud Palli....
etc.
Flora and fauna
The district has a rich variety of plants ranging from rare orchids, medicinal plants and spices to hedge plants, tuber crops, plants yielding edible fruits and fibre. Aromatic plants and spices such as pepperBlack pepper
Black pepper is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a peppercorn when dried, is approximately in diameter, dark red when fully mature, and, like all drupes, contains a single seed...
and ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
are cultivated on a large scale on the hilly tracts. Nedumangad taluk is one of the biggest centres of
cultivation and trade of pepper and other hill produces. A major portion of the district comes under the middle plain and the region is under the cultivation of coconut
Coconut
The coconut palm, Cocos nucifera, is a member of the family Arecaceae . It is the only accepted species in the genus Cocos. The term coconut can refer to the entire coconut palm, the seed, or the fruit, which is not a botanical nut. The spelling cocoanut is an old-fashioned form of the word...
, paddy
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
, tapioca
Tapioca
Tapioca is a starch extracted Manihot esculenta. This species, native to the Amazon, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and most of the West Indies, is now cultivated worldwide and has many names, including cassava, manioc, aipim,...
, tuber crops, plantain
Plantain
Plantain is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa. The fruit they produce is generally used for cooking, in contrast to the soft, sweet banana...
s and vegetabless.
The forests of the district abound in a variety of animals & birds and are excellent wild life habitats. Elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
s, bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
s, monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s and rare species of reptiles have the place of prominence in them. The Neyyar reservoir
Neyyar Dam
Neyyar dam is a gravity dam on the Neyyar River in Thiruvananthapuram district of Kerala, South India, located on the foot of the Western Ghats about 30 km from Thiruvananthapuram. It was established in 1958 and is a popular picnic spot...
and nearby areas abound in wild life. Nestled in the lap of the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
, a wildlife sanctuary is quickly growing over an area of nearly 777 km² around this reservoir. The forest under the Kulathupuzha range is the habitat of rare species of snakes and lizards. Mammals are well represented in the district. Nilgiri Langur
Nilgiri Langur
The Nilgiri langur is a lutung found in the Nilgiri Hills of the Western Ghats in South India. Its range also includes Kodagu in Karnataka,Kodayar Hills in Tamil Nadu and many other hilly areas in Kerala and Tamil nadu. This primate has glossy black fur on its body and golden brown fur on its head...
(Kasi Fohnii), the Lion-tailed Macaque
Lion-tailed Macaque
The lion-tailed macaque is an Old World monkey that is endemic to the Western Ghats of South India.-Physical Characteristics:...
(Macaca Silenus), the Nilgiri brown mongoose
Mongoose
Mongoose are a family of 33 living species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also referred to as "mongooses" or "mongoose-like"...
(Herpestes fuscus) and the Malabar civet
Malabar Civet
The Malabar Large-spotted Civet , is a civet. It is also known as the Malabar Civet and called Jawadi Veruku - ജാവാദി വെരുകു് in Malayalam and Chirathe Bekku in Kannada. The species was once common along the lowland coastal tracts of Kerala and Karnataka in South India...
(Moschothere Civettina) are characteristic to this region. Carnivore
Carnivore
A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
s include tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
, wild cat
Wild cat
The wildcat is a small cat with several subspecies and a very broad distribution, found throughout most of Africa, Europe, and southwest and central Asia into India, China, and Mongolia. It is a hunter of small mammals, birds, and other creatures of a similar or smaller size. Sometimes included is...
, jackal
Jackal
Although the word jackal has been historically used to refer to many small- to medium-sized species of the wolf genus of mammals, Canis, today it most properly and commonly refers to three species: the black-backed jackal and the side-striped jackal of sub-Saharan Africa, and the golden jackal of...
, leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
and wild dog
Dhole
The dhole is a species of canid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the only extant member of the genus Cuon, which differs from Canis by the reduced number of molars and greater number of teats...
. Sloth bear
Sloth Bear
The sloth bear , also known as the labiated bear, is a nocturnal insectivorous species of bear found wild within the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear evolved from ancestral brown bears during the Pleistocene and shares features found in insect-eating mammals through convergent evolution...
, gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
, a few species of deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
and elephants
Indian Elephant
The Indian Elephant is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant, and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, Elephas maximus has been listed as endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years...
are also seen. Reptiles include snakes, lizards, crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
s and tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
s. There are about 75-80 species of snakes in this area and some of them are very poisonous.
Tourism
Tourism has also contributed heavily to the economy of Thiruvananthapuram. The entire tourism package of the state such as hill stations, back watersKerala Backwaters
The Kerala backwaters are a chain of brackish lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast of Kerala state in southern India. The network includes five large lakes linked by canals, both manmade and natural, fed by 38 rivers, and extending virtually half the length of Kerala state...
, beaches, lagoons, and wild life sanctuaries are present in the district.
Foreign tourists are flocking to Thiruvananthapuram, a major destination for chartered flights to India for Medical tourism
Medical tourism
Medical tourism is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of travelling across international borders to obtain health care...
, as there are more than fifty recognised Ayurveda centres in and around the city. This is primarily due to Ayurveda's immense popularity in the West. Medical tourism is further promoted by world class modern medicine hospitals in the city. Recuperation facilities are available at five star beach resorts and hill stations nearby.
Education
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
in the district. The number of Arts and Science colleges in the district is 20 and the strength of students is estimated to be 15,926. The University of Kerala has its research and higher education centres at Kariavattom
Kariavattom
Kariavattom is a town near Trivandrum in Kerala, India.-Geography:Kariavattom is approximately 14 km north of Trivandrum on NH 47, between Pangappara and Kazhakuttam...
.
Trivandrum Medical College
Trivandrum Medical College
Trivandrum Medical College is located in Thiruvananthapuram city, the capital of Kerala state, India. It was founded in 1951, and was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. This is the oldest and most prestigious medical college in Kerala. It is being upgraded to the...
, the premier health institute of the state is also one of the finest in the country. It is being upgraded to the status of an All India Institute of Medical Sciences
All India Institute of Medical Sciences
All India Institute of Medical Sciences is a premier medical college and teaching hospital based in New Delhi, India. The Institute operates autonomously under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ....
(AIIMS). The College of Engineering, Trivandrum
College of Engineering, Trivandrum
The College of Engineering, Trivandrum, commonly known as CET, is situated in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. Founded in 1939, it is the top ranked engineering college in Kerala, and one of the top engineering schools in India....
is the main engineering college in Thiruvananthapuram.
The schools in the district are classified as Government, Aided and Unaided schools. There are currently 1129 schools are in the district. The government schools are run directly by the state government and follow the syllabus prescribed by the state government. The aided schools also follow the state syllabus. In addition to this, there are four Kendriya Vidyalaya
Kendriya Vidyalaya
Kendriya Vidyalaya, is a system of central government schools under the Ministry of Human Resource Development ....
s run directly by the Central government, which follow the CBSE syllabus, and private schools run by educational trusts or boards which follow CBSE and/or ICSE
Indian Certificate of Secondary Education
The Indian Certificate of Secondary Education or ICSE examination is an examination conducted by the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations, a private, non-governmental board of school education in India, for class 10, i.e., grade 10...
syllabus and/or NIOS
Nios
Nios may refer to:*National Institute of Open Schooling, Board of Education for school level in India *Nios embedded processor*Nios II*Lake Nyos, a crater lake in the Northwest Province of Cameroon in Africa...
syllabus and/or state syllabus. The first International school in Kerala, the Trivandrum International School
Trivandrum International School
Trivandrum International School is a co-educational international school situated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The school offers the International General Certificate of Secondary Education and is accredited by the Cambridge International Examinations and the Council for the Indian School...
, was started in August 2003.
Media
Thiruvananthapuram has long been a center of media in India. Kerala Chandrika, the first newspaper of the State, was published from ThiruvananthapuramThiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
in the year 1789. Now, more than 30 newspapers are being published from the district. The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...
, The New Indian Express
The New Indian Express
The New Indian Express is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as the Indian Express, under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu. In 1991, following the death of the then owner Ramnath Goenka, the Goenka...
, Malayala Manorama
Malayala Manorama
Malayala Manorama is a daily news paper, in Malayalam language, published in the state of Kerala, India. It was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1890, and currently has a readership of over 16 million . The Malayalam word "manorama" roughly translates to "entertainer"...
, Mathrubhoomi, Kerala Kaumudi
Kerala Kaumudi
Kerala Kaumudi is a popular Malayalam newspaper, founded in 1911 by C. V. Kunhiraman with K. Sukumaran B.A. as the founder editor. Printed from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kochi, Kozhikode, Kannur in Kerala and Bangalore, Kerala Kaumudi is the third most circulated Malayalam daily. The...
, Desabhimani
Desabhimani
Desabhimani is a Malayalam newspaper and the organ of the Kerala State Committee of the Communist Party of India . Started as a weekly in Kozhikode on September 6, 1942 and converted to a daily in 1946. Deshabhimani now has six different printing centres: Kozhikode, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram,...
, Deepika, Madhyamam, Janmabhoomi and Metro Vaartha are a few of the newspapers that are being published from Thiuruvananthapuram.
Several weeklies, fortnightlies, monthlies, bi-monthlies and quarterlies are published from various parts of the district. The Information and Public Relations Department
Kerala Information and Public Relations Department
The Information & Public Relations Department is an agency within the Government of Kerala. It is charged with "disseminating information on various activities of the Government to the people through the media and providing feedback to the Government on important matters reflected in the media...
is the main agency of the Government to disseminate information to the public and to provide feedback.
Most Malayalam TV channels are based in Thiruvananthapuram. The government owned Doordarshan
DoorDarshan
Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largest broadcasting organizations in India in terms of the infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Recently, it has also started Digital Terrestrial Transmitters. On September 15, 2009,...
began broadcasting from here in 1981. Asianet
Asianet
Asianet Communications Limited is an Indian media conglomerate jointly owned by STAR TV and Jupiter Entertainment. Formed in 1991 and headquartered in the city of Thiruvananthapuram in the south Indian state of Kerala, the company owns several television channels including Asianet, the first...
, the first private Malayalam channel, began its telecasts in 1991 from Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
.
There are so many radio stations in the district.Most of them broadcasts from Thiruvananthapuram City
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
. All India Radio
All India Radio
All India Radio , officially known since 1956 as Akashvani , is the radio broadcaster of India and a division of Prasar Bharati. Established in 1936, it is the sister service of Prasar Bharati's Doordarshan, the national television broadcaster. All India Radio is one of the largest radio networks...
has an AM (1161 MHz) and an FM (Ananthapuri FM; 101.9 MHz) station in the city. FM radio channels broadcast from Thiruvananthapuram are Ananthapuri FM (AIR) 101.9 MHz, Big FM 92.7 MHz, Club FM 94.3
Club FM 94.3
Club FM is a private FM radio station for the state of Kerala in India, operated by the Mathrubhumi in Kerala, specialising in popular music throughout the day. It bagged three of the RAPA awards in 2007, instituted by the Radio and TV Advertising Practitioners Association of India to honor...
MHz, Radio Mirchi
Radio Mirchi
Radio Mirchi is a nationwide network of private FM radio stations in India. It is owned by the Entertainment Network India Ltd , which is one of the subsidiaries of The Times Group....
98.3 MHz, Red FM
Red FM (India)
Red FM is an Indian FM radio brand, with stations broadcasting at 93.5 megahertz in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Kanpur in addition to Jamshedpur, Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Indore, Nashik, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, Gulbarga, Kochi, Trivandrum, Thrissur, Kannur,...
93.5 MHz and Radio DC
Radio DC
Radio DC is a non-commercial community radio administered by the DC School of Management and Technology . It is the first private FM community radio station in Kerala. It is located in KINFRA Film and Video Park, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.It was broadcasting at 99.1 MHz...
90.4 MHz.
The Radio DC broadcasts at Low power CRS. So the is channel only available at 15 km radius of the broadcasting station.
The wireline telephone
Plain old telephone service
Plain old telephone service is the voice-grade telephone service that remains the basic form of residential and small business service connection to the telephone network in many parts of the world....
services are provided by BSNL, Reliance
Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Ltd. is an Indian broadband and telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is the world's 16th largest mobile phone operator with over 144 million subscribers. Established on 2004, a subsidiary of the Reliance Group...
and Tata Indicom
Tata Indicom
Tata Teleservices Limited is a Indian broadband and telecommunications provider based in Mumbai, India. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate...
. The main GSM networks operating in the district are BSNL CellOne
CellOne
CellOne now Bsnl mobile was a mobile phone service provided by the Indian public enterprise BSNL.It provides pre-paid and post-paid mobile services as well as many value added services....
, Airtel, Aircel
Aircel
Aircel group is a mobile phone service provider in India. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India. The Aircel group is a joint venture between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities & Investments Private Limited, whose current...
, Tata Docomo
Tata DoCoMo
TATA DoCoMo, referred to as DoCoMo , is a Tata Teleservices Limited owned cellular service provider on the GSM and CDMA platform-arising out of the Tata Group's strategic joint venture with Japanese telecom giant NTT Docomo in November 2008...
, Uninor
Uninor
Uninor is a mobile operator in India. The company holds Unified Access Service licences to offer mobile telephony services in each of India’s 22 telecom circles, and has received spectrum to roll out services in 21 of these...
, Idea Cellular
Idea cellular
Idea Cellular, usually referred to as Idea, is an Indian wireless telecom company based in Mumbai, India. Idea is the 3rd largest mobile services operator in India, in revenue terms, and recorded of over 98.4 million customers as of August 2011....
, Vodafone
Vodafone Essar
Vodafone Essar, formerly Hutchison Essar, is a cellular operator in India that covers 23 telecom circles in India. It is based in Mumbai. On July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK firm paid $5.46 billion to its...
, Reliance
Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Ltd. is an Indian broadband and telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is the world's 16th largest mobile phone operator with over 144 million subscribers. Established on 2004, a subsidiary of the Reliance Group...
, Videocon
Videocon Mobile Service
Videocon Mobile Service., is a GSM based cellular operator in India based in Mumbai .Videocon Telecommunications Limited which holds a market share of 0.78% in the country, a Videocon group company offers GSM mobile services GSM service under the brand name Videocon.The Videocon Group is a $4...
and Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile India
Virgin Mobile India Limited is a cellular telephone service provider company which is a joint venture between Tata Teleservices and Richard Branson's Virgin Group. Currently, the company uses Tata's CDMA network to offer its services under the brand name Virgin Mobile, and it has also started GSM...
. The main CDMA providers are Reliance
Reliance Communications
Reliance Communications Ltd. is an Indian broadband and telecommunications company headquartered in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is the world's 16th largest mobile phone operator with over 144 million subscribers. Established on 2004, a subsidiary of the Reliance Group...
, MTS and Tata Indicom
Tata Indicom
Tata Teleservices Limited is a Indian broadband and telecommunications provider based in Mumbai, India. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate...
. Major broadband internet services are provided by BSNL DataOne
BSNL Broadband
BSNL Broadband is an Internet access service from state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited available in India since 14 January 2005. Until 30 September 2007 it was known as Data One....
, Asianet Dataline and Siti Cable
Siti Cable
Siti Cable is a major cable broadcasting and telecommunications company in India, which provides cable television, cell phone and internet services in major cities such as Kolkata, Mumbai, Banglore, Ahmedabad, Kochi and Trivandrum...
.
Sports
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
and volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
are also popular, mostly in schools. The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) is headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram City
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
. The Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium
Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium
Chandrasekharan Nair Stadium is a prominent football stadium situated in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. The stadium, also known as 'Police Stadium', was constructed in honor of the first Inspector General of Police of Kerala Shri. N. Chandrasekharan Nair in 1956. It hosts both national and...
, in the heart of Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
, is a prominent football stadium and has hosted both national and international level matches. The University Stadium
University Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
University Stadium is located in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala and is used for multiple sports - predominantly Football and Cricket matches. The stadium is part of University of Kerala campus and was built in 1952. The stadium is used as the home ground for the Indian domestic cricket...
has hosted two international cricket matches. This stadium is under the University of Kerala and is equipped with synthetic tracks for athletics games. The Central Stadium, which has facilities for athletics, football, basketball, volleyball and cricket practice nets.The Jimmy George
Jimmy George
Jimmy George is often considered one of the greatest Indian volleyball players of all time...
Sports Complex, is another major sports establishment in the district.
Rural development
There are 12 development blocks in the district and they are ParassalaParassala
Parassala is a small but busy town in India, at the the southern end of Kerala, bordering Tamil Nadu. Malayalam and Tamil language is spoken by the residents.-Parassala town:The name of Parassala became more popular after the rise of Prof. Parassala B...
, Perumkadavila, Athiyanoor, Nemom
Nemom
Nemom is a suburb of the city of Trivandrum , capital of Kerala state, India. It lies 8 km to the south of the city center, on the main arterial highway leading to Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of India. Nemom now falls within the municipal corporation of Trivandrum, though partly exclusive...
, Thiruvananthapuram Rural, Kazhakuttom, Vellanad, Nedumangad, Vamanapuram, Kilimanoor, Chirayinkeezhu and Varkala. The District Rural Development Agency co-ordinates the work in these blocks. Several welfare schemes like Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY)
Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana is an initiative launched by the Government of India to provide employment to poor people living in rural areas of the country. The scheme was launched on April 1, 1999....
, Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY)
Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana
The Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana was a scheme launched by the Government of India to attain the objective of providing gainful employment for the rural poor. From 1 April 1999, EAS became an allocation-based scheme...
, Total Sanitation Scheme (TSS), Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), Prime Minister’s Grama Sadak Yojana (PMGSY), Indira Awaaz Yojana (IAY) etc. are carried out in the blocks.
Further reading
- Manorama Yearbook 1995 (Malayalam Edition)
- Manorama Yearbook 2003 (English Edition) ISBN 81-900461-8-7