THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Amid the hustle and bustle of daily life, Thiruvananthapuram has many serene places too. One such calm place enriched with village lifestyle is Vellanad. The place used to be rich with greenery, ridges and many paddy fields. It is now a block panchayat located under the Nedumangad Taluk. The origin of the name Vellanad has many fables to tell.
One such lore is related to the temple of goddess Athiparashakthi as Vellannattamma and the Paranettu Festival here. Many say the name could have originated from the name of the goddess. However, there is another story the natives tell. Valluvans, who are said to be the priests of the Pallava kings, ruled the place for years. And then the land came to be known as Vellanad. It could be a made-up story, as there is no evidence to substantiate it to date.
Some people believe that Vellanad means the land of water. ‘vellam’, the Malayalam word for water also meant uncountable in the olden days. About 500 years ago, people used the word ‘neeru’ instead of vellam. However, in Tamil, vellam means flood. But, there is no evidence of a flood, nor the presence of a large water body nearby. Many such fables exist about the origin of Vellanad.
Historian and author Vellanad Ramachandran traces its origin to another incident. “There are records dating back to 203 years of a place named Velloornadu. A group of British lieutenants conducted a survey which is recorded. The location was the same as the current Vellanad. Later, it was found that the surveyors recorded Vellanad as ‘Velloornadu’. The survey was done between the years 1815- 1820 by two British Lieutenants — B S Ward and W C Corner from Nanjinaad,” he says.
There are many places within Vellanad with ‘Velloor’ in all the names Velloorkaavu, Velloorkonam, Velloorpara, Cheruvelloor and Cheyvelloor. These places together constitute Vellanad. “Therefore, Vellornadu got shortened to Vellanad with time,” he concludes.