KOCHI: The very air in Pukkattupady, a suburb of Kochi city, is bristled with the growl of industry. Home to a slew of factories and manufacturing units, it is one of the fastest-growing industrial centres in the district.
What perhaps turned this once-small village enveloped by forests and with a scanty population into one of the crucial commercial hubs in the district boils down to location. Strategically located at the intersection of major bus routes and equidistant to all major centres of Kochi, Pukkattupady’s fortunes are now intertwined with that of the district.
The booming trade that was possible here also saw an influx of people, cutting across political ideologies and religious customs. A plethora of temples, churches and mosques lot the landscape. There’s also a reasonable population of Sikh residents — a reflection of the suburb’s rich cultural diversity.
The etymology behind the name Pukkattupady has a more recent origin, according to Abdul Kareem, the ward representative in the Edathala panchayath office. “Pukkattupady was previously known as Kalathipadi. This name came from the Kalathil family, a highly influential aristocratic family that resided there. The members of this family served as ministers in the royal court back then,” he says.
“The Pukkatt family, too, was a prominent family in this village. Eventually, the place came to be known by their family name.” Kareem recounts how Pukkatt Balan was one of the last remaining members of this family that stayed in Pukkatupady before they sold their land and moved away.
Balan’s family owned a tea shop and a vast area of land in the village. Eventually, they sold this land to various industry groups that started setting up their branches there. The main junction of Pukkatupady begins from the present-day location of the Pukkatt family and, thus, the name Pukkattupady.
The setting up of factories, clearing of forests for increased settlement and industrialisation, and the change in name all happened in the last 50-60 years. Dr Rema Kumari, an Ayurvedic doctor and a Pukkatupady native for the past 38 years, has another theory.
According to her, Pukkattupady likely got its name from the fact that flowers from the area used to be collected and transferred to Thrikkakara temple for performing poojas. Back then, the region was part of the forest. The English translation of ‘Pukkatt’ means a forest of flowers, and the village’s role in distributing flowers likely contributed to it being named Pukkattupady.
What’s in a name
Weekly column on the history of place names. Got any suggestions? Write to cityexpresskoc@newindianexpress.com