KOCHI: Karikkamuri is a quiet, suburban residential neighbourhood nestled between Ernakulam South Railway Station and Ernakulam KSRTC bus stand. Once a hub of writers in Malayalam, including the venerable poet G Sankara Kurup, the march of time saw it don a notorious label in the ’90s.
“During my childhood, i.e. 40 years ago, Karikkamuri was a notorious place. Passengers deboarding at Ernakulam South Station used to take this road to reach the nearby KSRTC bus stand. Robberies and assaults were a regular occurrence on this stretch,” says Johnson C Abraham, a resident.
“The place,” Johnson adds, “was also equally famous for a toddy shop.” According to T Jayachandran, the owner of CICC Book House, the name Karikkamuri was likely influenced by this toddy shop. “Karakka, a local fruit, was sliced, salted, and served as a side dish at the toddy shop. Murri means half or sliced. Maybe this brought about the name,” Jayachandran adds.
However, M K Sanoo, a Malayalam writer and critic who resides in this neighbourhood, does not agree with this theory. While he admits that the toddy shop was quite famous, with it being a favourite haunt of Malayalam writers, he reasons that the karakka connection was “too hard to believe.”
According to Adv M K Saseendran, who is enthusiastic about studying the history of places, the name was likely derived from Karayma, an age-old practice prevalent across the region that saw janmis (landlords) transfer the power of land to others permanently.
“Karikkamuri was a place of paddy fields and marshy lands. Muri, or piece, indicates the division of land into small parts. Anjumuri and thaimuri are some examples of such place names. Karayma and muri became Karaykkamurri and later evolved into Karikkamuri,” Saseendran says.
T Ravindran, a resident and ex-government employee, does not agree. “Like many places in Kerala, Karikkamuri takes its name from a prominent family who lived nearby,” he says, offering examples to illustrate his point: Iyyattil junction from Iyyattil family; Pullepady from Pulleyil family, etc.
Hubert Williams of the Karikkamuri family concurs with Ravindran. According to Hubert, there were old property documents that cite that the Karikkamuri family provided land for constructing Mahakavi G road, which now cuts through the neighbourhood.
Even those unfamiliar with Karikkamuri would be delighted to learn that it makes its presence felt in a Mollywood film — Black, released in 2004, features Mammootty, who plays the dreaded hitman Karikkamuri Shanmughan, a reference to the region’s notorious past.
Karikkamuri is a calm residential area in the heart of Kochi, albeit dwarfed by other prime locations in the city. Yet, the trappings of history adorn it with a cultural value scantily represented elsewhere.