In Kochi’s ever-evolving landscape, Kundannoor is more than a busy junction. It’s a name that stirs up memories, theories, and more than a few laughs from those who’ve lived here long enough to wonder where it all began. Ask around, and the answers are as varied as the traffic on a Monday morning.
“It’s quite straightforward,” says Anilkumar Menon, a retired schoolteacher and longtime resident of the area. “Kunnu means small hill, and oor means place. Long before the flyovers, this area had undulating terrain. So, Kundannoor was literally ‘land of little hills.’”
Not everyone agrees. “My grandmother always said it came from kunda, the fire altar used in Vedic rituals,” says Meera Babu, a lecturer at a nearby college. “There used to be an old temple nearby – she believed the name had sacred roots connected to that.”
Shibu Varkey, a homestay owner, has another take. He had heard that ‘kundhan’ meant ‘pure gold’ in Hindi. “I once told a tourist it means ‘land of gold pots’,” Shibu laughs. “He noted it down seriously. I didn’t have the heart to correct him.”
For the newer generation, the name might not carry deep history, but it holds its own weight. “No idea what it means,” shrugs Sarath Nair, who runs a mobile store near the junction. “But the name has character. It sounds like it matters.”
And matter it does. Today, Kundannoor is flanked by five-star hotels like Le Meridien and Crowne Plaza, and the recently opened Forum Mall. The flyover has made driving smoother – somewhat – but signals and bottlenecks still cause headaches.
“People think the area is sorted just because of the infrastructure,” says Jithin, who runs a tea stall nearby. “But locals are slowly moving out. Rents are rising, and traffic hasn’t disappeared.”
Amid all this, Maradu municipal councillor C V Santhosh insists that change is underway.
“We’ve shifted from a rural to a more urban mindset. The flyover has helped, and there are hopes for a metro extension and possibly a Water Metro stop near Forum Mall,” he says.
“Also, thanks to continuous monitoring, we’ve tackled open waste dumping in the area.”
The name, however, still sparks curiosity – and creativity. “I always thought it came from kundu (pit),” laughs Devassy, an autorickshaw driver. “Back in the day, the roads here had more potholes than pavement. During the monsoons, you couldn’t tell where the road ended and a canal began.”
While he may have meant it as a joke, there’s truth in jest. As Changampuzha Samskarika Kendram president P Prakash notes in his book Kochiyile Sthalanamangalude Charithram, “The name Kundannoor likely comes from kundam (pit) and chathuppu (surrounding area), reflecting the uneven terrain that once defined this locality..”