The Old Danavu — Kottayam's First Jail

Everyone in Kottayam knows that the sub-jail stands east of the police parade ground. But not everyone knows where Kottayam's very first jail once stood. That original jail was no mere sub-jail — it was the principal prison of the kingdom's own capital!

The photo shows an old house known as "Danavil," located past Aruthutty junction on the Kottayam–Kumarakom road, opposite the old market (Pazhaya Chantha). This house stands on the very spot where a jail operated in Kottayam 270 years ago. "Danavu" means "prison" in Persian, and the jail of that time was indeed known by that name. When a house was later built on the site, it too came to be called Danavil.

A large window, said to have survived from the old jail, was kept preserved by the family living in this house — it was seen there some years ago. It is understood, however, that it has since been lost.

It was the Thekkumkur dynasty who, in the fifteenth century, established the Danavu to imprison offenders at their administrative capital, "Kottayakam." It stood directly opposite Thaliyanthanapuram Chantha, which was founded in AD 1445. Further east of it stood a palace called Idathil Madam — the official residence where the Thekkumkur kings would come solely to meet with their subjects. A house called Poonithuramadam now stands on that spot; though the house-name has changed over time, it has retained the word "Madam."

Oral tradition holds that when the Travancore army conquered Kottayam in October 1749, the Danavu was thrown open and its prisoners set free. There is no record of the Danavu functioning after that. It would be another century and a half before a sub-jail was established in Kottayam.