When an average Malayali reads the name ‘Karakulam,’ the interpretation would be ‘Karayile Kulam’ or ‘a pond on land’. This may sound bizarre because can a place have a name that states the obvious? Is not all ponds on land? Then why is this place named so?
There are a lot of other places ending with ‘kulam’ or pond, like Kayamkulam, Akkulam, Ernakulam, and many more. According to Malayalam dictionaries, kulam does not only mean pond but also place or abode. Ernakulam, for instance, means the abode of Erayanar or Lord Shiva.
Now, does this place have a lot of ponds or does it have a guardian deity after whom the place is named? Karakulam is a town situated near the river Killi, and hence the logic still does not sit right to a layman.
The word ‘kara’ also has different meanings like the border of a cloth, banks of a river, land or boundaries of a district or a kingdom. So, the place could be something related to being situated on the boundaries of a place.
Historian Vellanad Ramachandran solves this puzzle by first explaining the word’s etymology. He says that the word means ‘a town on the border.’ He also explains the historical significance of this seemingly ordinary town.
“At a time when man-made boundaries did not exist, rivers and mountains marked the kingdom borders.
The river Killi used to be considered a natural line of bifurcation between two autonomous collateral branches of the fourth matrilineal descent of the Venad Kingdom — Thrippappur (now Thiruvananthapuram), and Perakam (now Nedumangadu).
Karakulam was a town that came up on the banks of this border,” says the historian.
Karakulam has another historical significance, says Ramachandran. “It was the second capital of the Perakam kingdom and the princes used to reside here.”
He says that it was also the home of the head of the army of Perakam, Karakulathu Pillai, who was murdered by the soldiers of King Marthanda Varma of Thrippappur. There are also records of a temporary bungalow of the resident sahib (a Brit representative of the East India Company) having existed here during the colonial era.
A sleepy town with a curious name on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram was once a busy, happening town when Travancore was still in the making.
Karakulam also happens to be the district’s most populated panchayat, according to the 2011 census. It is situated six kilometres away from Nedumangadu and around twelve from the capital city.
Some of the monuments at Karakulam are Our Lady of Assumption Malankara Syrian Catholic Church, which was established in 1933; and the scenic Mudisasthamcode Bhagavathi temple, which sits on the banks of the Killi river where ‘vavu bali’ rituals are held annually.
Karakulam now is a growing residential hub, which is witnessing developments in infrastructure, including plans for a `58.7-crore, 765-metre flyover.
“Over time, the once bustling Karakulam has been relegated to being a ‘sleepy suburb’. But once the flyover is in place, Karakulam will be better connected to the rest of the district,” says Soman Nair, a resident.