KOCHI: Once a suburban part of the city, Kadavanthra has, over time, emerged as a prime commercial and residential area, with multiple apartment complexes, hotels, hospitals, and more recently, a metro station.
Kadavanthra underwent quite an evolution from the times when it used to be home to large swathes of marshy land and canal networks. Popular versions of the area’s toponymy, indeed, trace back to the waterways of yore.
“Long ago, when people depended on boats for travel, there was a busy ‘kadavu’ (boat jetty) in the area. And ‘thara’ was a common usage for a portion of land. So the place got the name Kadavu-thara (land by the ‘kadavu’). This eventually became Kadavanthra,” says Reverend Benny John Maramparampil of the St Joseph’s Church here.
He says back in the day, it was common to name places after families or regional peculiarities or landmarks with the suffix ‘thara’. “Thottungathra, Manaithra, Painuthra, Koithara are some examples,” the reverend says. Though partially agreeing with this take, P M Appachan, a local resident and history buff, offers another theory.
”I believe the name is a combination of ‘Kadavanmar’ and ‘thara’. The Kadavanthara junction area was once home to people of Kadavan community. That’s how the place came to be known as Kadavan-thara. Not many residents are aware of this story,” he says.
Lawyer and historian M K Saseedran believes the name Kadavanthra is associated with the ‘kadavu’ and the backwaters. “It is Kadavanthra that appears in the Portuguese texts as ‘Kadavath’,” he claims. “Ancient explorer Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battutah made his way on boat from Kalikoth (Kozhikode) to Kola (Kollam) through the backwaters on the eastern side of Kadavanthra,” he says.
What’s in a name
Weekly column on the history of place names. Got any suggestions? Write to cityexpresskoc@newindianexpress.com