Friday, August 22, 2008

mattakara




The land of mattams According to the geographical peculiarity Mattakkara belongs to idanadu. It is full of mattams, small hillocks, rivulets, streams, coconut trees, areca nut trees rubber trees and paddy fields. Mattakkara is made fertile by the waters of Pannagamthode. It is 22 kilometers to the north east, about 22 kilometers to the west of Ponkunnam, and 18 kilometers to the south west of Pala. It comes under Akalakkunnam taluk of Kottayam district. Five out of ten wards in Akalakkunnam Panchayat come under Mattakkara. That is an indicator of the vastness of its area. Holy Family Church is situated at the very centre of Mattakkara.

In the past the most important means of travel was the Pannagamthode which flows through the centre of Mattakkara. Rice and lime were used to be brought on boats from Kuttanadu. From Mattakkara tapioca, firewood and other things were carried back along Pannagamthodu. There had been a large number of boatmen who regularly traded in those wares.

When someone had to be taken to the Kottayam District hospital, he had to be taken by boat or carried in a cot or a chair. The building materials for the old church as well as the new church such as lime, cement, steel, etc., were brought on boats. Sometimes they were brought on bullock carts.

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