Peringulam

t hub of Roman Catholic Syrian Christians in India. The Peringulaites have enjoyed a reputation of being hard workers, as many from Peringulam migrated to the high ranges and the Malabar region of Kerala, turning forest land into farms. In those days they worked hard during the day and spent the evenings having toddy. That was the custom then. But nowadays as alcoholism has spread, it has little link with hard work. Poonjar Thekkekkara Gramapanchayathu, of which Poonjar is the headquarters, has produced people with notable contribution in many fields:

A Rare Social Model. Although Peringulam is very much associated with rubber cultivation, the widespread cultivation of rubber started here only around the middle of 20th century. But Peringulam was into agriculture decades - or even centuries - before that. Until rubber came, farming in Peringulam was of the composite type, i.e. all crops were inter-planted in all fields by everyone. Typically, all fields had several tiers of plants. Big trees like Coconut, Jackfruit, Mango etc were there at the upper-most level, followed by other plants of medium height that supported pepper vines. Then the banana plants were there, followed by tubers like tapioca, yam, sweet potato etc. These were staple items then. Further, there were the home-grown vegetables like lady's fingers, egg plant, different varieties of gourd etc. Finally, at the ground level, there were the shrub-like plants like ginger, turmeric etc. This form of composite cultivation, though required hard work throughout the year, was a self-supporting one. Another feature of Peringulam is that the place was colonized centuries ago by people migrating from the plains in search of land, and with the hope of making a living - if not a fortune - by 'taming' the land. It was a sort of "wild west". Many among the new migrants perished in the hostile environment, but those who survived became well off. Also, there were no "landless labor" that was common in other parts of Kerala. As a result of this novel practice, everyone was the owner of a small parcel of land that he cultivated himself. On the one hand, the cultivation of tapioca and other tuber crops saved the people from poverty and famines that affected other places, while on the other, the dispersed land holding helped to reduce disparities in income levels. A unique type of egalitarian social set up therefore emerged. This also prevented extremist ideologies from making inroads into Peringulam. True respect was reserved to the priests of the Church. The dominant presence of Syrian Catholic Church here also would have played a role in bringing about this unique social set up in Peringulam. Social change which swept the rest of Kerala naturally affected Peringulam also. In the second half the 20th century, as income from land got divided among the many children in each family, the more enterprising among them started the second wave of migration - this time to the high ranges in Idukki district and to the northern Malabar region of Kerala. Many of today's residents in those regions confirm that their ancestors came from places in and around Peringulam. The 1960s saw another development. As education became common, many young girls from even middle class families started going to Europe and USA to work as nurses and other medical support staff. This brought great prosperity to a section of population. This was followed by the so-called "Gulf Boom" in which, though late, even many from Peringulam also joined. As the price of rubber became erratic there was massive influx into government jobs too. The 1990s saw children from every family trying to get a job, preferably an overseas job. The advent of the Information Technology boom made the dreams of many come true. Meenachil River. The Meenachil River flows through the taluks of Meenachil, Vaikom and Kottayam. It is formed by several streams originating from the Western Ghats in Idukki district. At Erattupeetta, PERINGULAM River also joins it, takes a sharp turn and flows towards the west. At Kondur, it is joined by the Chittar and at Lalam it receives the Payuapparathodu and flows in a south- west direction till it reaches Kottayam. Here, it branches into several streams before emptying into the Vembanad Lake. The important towns in the basin are Pala, Poonjar, Ettumanoor and Kottayam. Country :India
State :Kerala
District(s) :Kottayam
Nearest city :Kottayam, Muvattupuzha
Gramapanchayathu President :Mrs.Jessy Jose
Time zone IST :(UTC+5:30)

Nearest Cities. Kochi (90 km northwest)
Thrissur (141 km north)
Thiruvananthapuram (195 km south)
Kozhikode (262km North West)
Kollam (142km Southwest)
Madurai (245km North East)
Coimbatore (257km North East)