Kumily

9°37′0″N 77°9′0″E / 9.61667°N 77.15000°E / 9.61667; 77.15000Country IndiaStateKeralaDistrictIdukkiTalukPeerumeduNamed forThekkady tourist spotGovernment • TypePanchayati raj (India) • BodyKumily Grama PanchayatArea • Total203.31 km² (78.50 sq mi)Elevation880 m (2,890 ft)Population • Total30,276 • Density150/km² (390/sq mi)Languages • OfficialMalayalam, English^[1]Time zoneUTC+5:30 (IST)PINArea code04869Nearest CityKottayam, KochiAssembly constituencyPeerumeduLok Sabha constituencyIdukki

Kumily, also spelt as Kumaly is a revenue village and Gram Panchayat in the Idukki district of the state of Kerala. It is a town in Cardamom Hills near Thekkady and Periyar Tiger Reserve. Kumily is a gateway town into Kerala from Tamil Nadu.^[2]

History

Kumily, once known as Kuzhumoor, used to be the capital of the Thekkumkoor Kingdom.  In the 18th century, Marthanda Varma of Travancore defeated the Thekkumkoor Rajas. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern-day southern Kerala, the district of Kanyakumari , and the southernmost parts of the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. After India's independence, Travancore merged with Cochin to form Travancore-Cochin which again, some time later, joined with Malabar district of Madras State to form Kerala.

Later the Travancore kings granted control of the region to their serf, the Lord of Poonjar (Poonjar Thamburan). Till the 19th century, the lords of Poonjar governed the region and the Travancore kings visited the place rarely, with the sole intention of hunting.

It was with the advent of the British in the region that it underwent drastic changes. The British either bought or obtained on lease, vast stretches of land and hilly areas of this region from the feudal lords or from the princely state of Travancore. They converted the forestlands to plantations of tea, coffee, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon and other spices. People from Tamil Nadu and Kerala were brought to work in the plantations.

The 1920s saw the arrival of  Malayalis to this area in great numbers. There are different stories about the events that led to this. According to one, the Malayali settlers here bought land from the descendants of a certain Ankur Rawther , a Tamil muslim shepherd who lived in this area in the 19th century.

Rawther is supposed to have helped the king of Travancore and his entourage find their way out of the forest when they got lost in a remote area while on a hunt. The grateful king rewarded him with acres of forestland. The king was Sree Moolam Thirunal who was the ruling maharajah of Travancore between 1885 and 1924.

Another story is that when the king came to supervise the construction of the Mullaperiyar dam in the 1890s, Ankur Rawther served him sheep’s milk. His kindness touched the king and that was what inspired the king to gift him land.^[3]

Demographics

As of 2011 Census, Kumily village had population of 30,276 where 15,162 are males and 15,114 are females. Kumily village spreads over an area of 203.31 km² (78.50 sq mi) with 7,404 families residing in it. The average sex ratio was 997 lower than the state average of 1084. In Kumily, 10.3% of the population was under 6 years of age. Kumily had an average literacy of 90.5% lower than the state average of 94%; male literacy was 93.6% and female literacy was .87.4%.^[4]

Transportation

Two national highways pass through Kumily town.

• NH 183 (previously known as NH 220) connects Kollam in Kerala and Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. The part of Kottayam to Kumily is commonly known as KK road which is the main steam of transportation and passing through the near by towns Vandiperiyar, Kuttikkanam, Mundakayam, Kanjirapally, Ponkunnam and reaches Kottayam. KK road also connects Kumily to Thiruvananthapuram through Mundakayam and Pathanamthitta. Also Ernakulam can access through Mundakayam, Ponkunnam, Pala, Thalayolaparambu and Thripunithura.

• NH 185 connects Adimaly and Kumily through important towns like Painavu, Cheruthoni, Kattappana and Anavilasam of Idukki district.^[5][6]

The nearest railway station is 60 km away at Theni. Madurai International Airport is the nearest airport to Kumily of about 120km km distance.

See also

• Thekkady
• Wagamon
• Vandiperiyar
• Periyar
• Gavi

References

CitiesTownsVillagesHill stations