Nestled in the shadow of Kerala’s famed Chottanikkara temple, the small town of Kureekkad was once a feeding ground where cattle trading took place. However, the area today connects Tripunithura, Thiruvankulam and Puthiyakavu, acting as a crucial junction.
A linguistic clue points to the place’s wooded past: ‘kaadu’ directly translates to forest. Many residents believe Kureekkad was once an unbroken stretch of forest. Some even say a river flowed through its middle and later dried up.
“When I came here after marriage, the place was a dark, remote one,” says former panchayat member Omana Shashi. “Nights were scary. There was zero sign of development.”
Most people who live here echo this view. While ‘kaadu’ is undisputed, the meaning of the prefix ‘Kuree’ remains a subject of debate and speculation.
Divakaran Asharuparambil, a tea stall owner in Kureekkad whose family was among the earliest settlers, recalls a story passed down through generations. “I have heard my grandfather telling us that the land was home to a large population of ‘kuruvi (sparrows)’,” he says.
“Initially, they must have called the place ‘Kuruvi-kadu (sparrow forest)’. That gradually became Kureekkad.”
He adds another tale. “A family that had settled here was called ‘Anachalil’ (which means elephant brook). Their house was located near a stream where elephants from the forest came to drink water. All these make more sense with the name of the town being something related to the forest,” he says.
Vinod M K, a senior clerk in the agricultural department, offers a different explanation rooted in martial history. “My grandfather once explained that Kureekkad was the borderland of Thiru-Kochi,” he says.
“Nearby is a place now called Koothuparambu, referring to land where Kalaripayattu was practised. In earlier times, at Koothuparambu, the soldiers and forces of Thiru-Kochi used to stay and train. Their guru, the teacher who trained the soldiers, stayed in the nearby forest (kaadu). Thus, the place was called ‘Guruvinte-kaadu’. Slowly, as time passed, the name of the place changed to Kureekkad.”
Another account comes from Gopalakrishnan, a former ONGC driller from Kureekkad, who points to its strategic location. “In earlier times, Kureekkad had a border checkpost. You can still see the remains of a stone called ‘kothikallu’, which marked the border between the erstwhile Kochi and Travancore kingdoms,” he says.
On the toponymy of Kureekad, Gopalakrishnan shares a plausible explanation. “This place used to be home to sacred groves. The shrines now administered by the Kureekkad temple committee once existed as individual groves. Earlier, there was an abundance of the kuril tree (Uvaria narum), which is used in Ayurvedic medicines. These trees were a huge part of our childhood,” he says.
“We used to relish the fruits from the kuril trees in the sacred groves. Thus, in all likelihood, the place was called ‘Kuril-kadu’, and that later became Kureekkad.”
Well, between sparrows, soldiers, sacred groves and medicinal trees, the story of Kureekkad remains layered — rooted firmly in the forest that once defined it.