KOCHI: Cheranalloor is a Kochi city suburb which lies on the banks of the Periyar. The new national highway to Vallarpadam container terminal passes through the village forming the only junction on the way, thereby connecting Edappally, Kalamassery, Paravoor and Ernakulam.
However, this entire area used to be fertile farmlands at one point in time. According to lore, the earlier residents found the place to be extremely fertile and beautiful. They named it ‘Cheranalloor’ which means ‘good village of the Cheras’.
Cheras were one of the three major powers that controlled ancient Tamilakam (which includes the present-day states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry) in the early centuries of the Common Era. There are other versions of the etymology of Cheranalloor too. Since the place was fertile with vast stretches of paddy and coconut trees, the place was always considered prosperous and yielding by those who came to live there. Thus, “cheran nalla ooru” meaning a good place to come together, became Cheranalloor.
“While some historians say the name is related to the fact that the place once had an abundance of paddy fields and coconut orchards, according to V V K Valath, famous historian of Malayalam Language, it is related to Cheraman Perumal,” says Ramachandran Kizhakedath, a retired BSNL employee and a long-time resident of Cheranalloor. ‘Cheraman Perumalinte nalla ooru’ which translates to ‘good village of Cheruman Perumal’ was reduced to Cheranalloor.
“We do not know the actual reasons as to why people came to Cheranalloor and called it ‘cheran nalla ooru’. However, we can guess that it could perhaps be because of the climate, the number of temples in the locality or maybe even because it is surrounded by the river on all three sides — which would have helped in its trade connections,” says R Satheeshchandran Kartha, retired deputy commissioner of Rubber Board and a resident of Cheranalloor.