Farmlands Beneath the Water Level

Those who look at satellite maps often notice, with curiosity, the triangular and quadrilateral pieces of land arranged next to Vembanad Lake. Being man-made, this land — lying in precise geometric shapes, stacked one after another — has made some people zoom in just to find out what it is.

What one sees here are the paddy fields (paadashekharams) of Kuttanad, the southern part of Vembanad Lake bordered by Kottayam and Alappuzha districts, formed by reclaiming the lake for cultivation. These farmlands, where paddy and coconut are grown, are called kayal nilams (lake-lands).

In ancient times, all these areas were simply open, deep backwaters. As the rivers Meenachil, Kodoor, Manimala, and Pamba deposited silt over the years, the water became shallower, and from the east, people began building bunds, pumping out the water, and cultivating paddy — the lake gradually receded. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the kings of Thekkumkur, Vadakkumkur, and Chempakassery took the lead in bunding the remaining three sides adjoining Mattathodu, using wheel-pumps to remove water and begin cultivation. Since these princely states had strong trade ties with the Dutch East India Company, it is reasonable to assume that Dutch influence contributed to the adoption of this technology. This is how the areas where silt had accumulated and the lake had receded came to be transformed into farmland. Most of the farmland in Upper Kuttanad, as well as areas like Veliyanad, Kumarakari, Mankombu, Chaturthyakari, Kainakari, Pulinkunnu, Kavalam, Cherukara, and Kainady in Lower Kuttanad, were formed in this way even before the eighteenth century.

It was only later that cultivation began by building mud bunds on all four sides within the lake itself and pumping out the enclosed water. This practice was pioneered in the late nineteenth century by a farmer from Kainady named Pallithanam Mathai Luka. Following him, his son Pallithanam Luka Mathai and some other farmers reclaimed large areas of the lake. Chalayil Ramakrishna Panicker and Chalayil Iravi Kesava Panicker of Kavalam together reclaimed a few kayal-lands. Akkare C.J. Kurian of Kottayam and several others, and finally Murikkummoottil Thomman Joseph, known as Murikkan, prepared kayal-lands and cultivated paddy. Murikkan reclaimed lake-lands named Chithira, Marthandam, and Rani in the deep central part of Vembanad Lake, removing the water with the help of a German pump. Murikkan carried out this task on government orders to address the food shortage in Travancore.

Many people have travelled through these kayal-lands on Vembanad Lake by boat, canoe, or houseboat. Not everyone realizes that each of these farmlands was once part of a vast, open lake, and that the waterways they travel through — which look like canals or rivers — are what remains of that lake. Many travelers may not have paid attention to identifying, by name, the various farmlands visible on either side during their journey. This piece is meant to introduce the kayal-lands of Kuttanad — rare in the world, geographically distinctive, and naturally beautiful. It will be easier to understand each one by referring to the accompanying map.

Venattukadu Kayal, a paddy field made cultivable by building an outer bund in the lake between 1862 and 1872 through the labor of hundreds of farm workers under the leadership of Pallithanathu Mathai Luka of Kainady, lies west of Pulinkunnu, adjoining the western branch of the Manimala river. This kayal covers about 537 acres.

Just north of Venattukadu Kayal lies Madathil Kayal, divided into a "high" and a "low" section, totaling 600 acres. This too was formed between 1862 and 1872 through the efforts of Pallithanathu Mathai Luka. Adjoining its south is the Venattukari paddy field (200 acres).

Adjoining the southern tip of Kumarakom is Methran Kayal, reclaimed and made cultivable in 1888 on the instructions of Pulikkottil Mar Dionysius II, the Malankara Metropolitan at the time, for the needs of the old Kottayam Seminary. It covers about 406 acres. A few years ago, it was in the news that certain private individuals had encroached upon it in an attempt to misuse it for tourism projects, which the government intervened to stop, after which cultivation was resumed. This farmland is also known as Seminary Kayal.

North of Kavalam and west of Kainady lies a single block comprising the Cherukara, Pallithanam, and Rajapuram kayals. These were reclaimed and made cultivable between 1898 and 1903. Cherukara Kayal, lying just west of Kainady, was reclaimed by Luka Mathai — son of Pallithanathu Mathai Luka — and his brother Mathai Ouseph, after their father's death. It covers about 473 acres. Around the same time, Pallithanathu Luka Mathai reclaimed Pallithanam Kayal (250 acres), lying to the west of Cherukara Kayal.

Rajapuram Kayal (626 acres), lying just west of Pallithanam Kayal, near where the eastern branch of the Manimala river joins Vembanad Lake, was reclaimed between 1898 and 1903 by Chalayil Iravi Kesava Panicker of Kavalam and his associates. Reclaimed with the permission of Raja Rama Rao, the Dewan Peshkar of the Kollam Division, this kayal was named Raja Ramapuram Kayal — later shortened to Rajapuram Kayal, as it is known today. The spot where the Dewan Peshkar arrived by boat from Alappuzha and stepped ashore for the first sowing here is known as Diwan Moola.

West of Kavalam lies Mangalam Kayal (979 acres), reclaimed between 1898 and 1903 under the leadership of Madathil Govinda Pillai. The Manikyamangalam paddy field is part of it. Sreemoolamangalam Kayal (560 acres), lying between Pulinkunnu, Venattukadu, and Mangalam Kayal, was reclaimed by the Vachapparambil family of Pulinkunnu between 1898 and 1903. It is named in memory of Sree Moolam Thirunal, the Maharaja of Travancore. To its south lies a broad waterbody that remains a true lake to this day, called Vattakayal. Curiously, a lake excluded from cultivation in this way is also called tharisu (fallow)! It adjoins Kayappuram, the western part of Pulinkunnu panchayat. Kayappuram has considerable tourism potential.

Mathi Kayal (511 acres) was reclaimed between 1898 and 1903 under the supervision of Kavalam Chalayil Ramakrishna Panicker. It is divided into South Mathi and North Mathi.

Adjoining Kainakari, Cherukali Kayal covers 271 acres and Arupanku Kayal covers 523 acres.

The British issued an order banning the reclamation of lake areas for farmland, halting this process for about the next ten years. Their stated reason was that it would affect the survival of Kochi port. However, this ban was lifted in 1912, after which the second phase of lake reclamation began. This time, efforts were made to reclaim farmland even in the relatively deeper parts of the lake.

(A.H. Bastow, an Englishman who served as Chief Engineer of Travancore, drew up the plans for the kayal-lands to be reclaimed thereafter. He was the one who named all the kayal-lands in English alphabetical order. He managed to mark the kayal-lands from C to T, excluding A, B, O, and P.)

East of Punnamada Kayal and north of Kainakari, the C-Block kayal-land, covering about 659 acres, was made cultivable in 1913 by Chirayil Chacko Antony and Pavuthra Panicker.

Also in 1913, under the leadership of Vallikkattu Mathai Ouseph, the stretch of lake lying between Mathi Kayal and Rajapuram Kayal was bunded and made cultivable. Covering about 558 acres, it was named D-Block South.

North of D-Block South lies D-Block North (616 acres), reclaimed in 1913 by Vettathu Thommi Ouseph together with the Vachapparambil family. It is also known as Attumukham Kayal.

West of D-Block North, also in 1913, the Thevarkkattu family reclaimed D-Block New (646 acres).

East of D-Block North lies a wide stretch of open lake. Further east is the largest of all the kayal-lands, E-Block. Covering 2,400 acres, this kayal-land is commonly called "Irupathinalayiram" (Twenty-Four Thousand). It was reclaimed in 1913 by Pallithanathu Luka Mathai and Kottarathil Krishna Iyer together with Kunnumpurathu (Akkare) C.J. Kurian — a prominent member of the Nazrani community and a planter from Kottayam. These paddy fields have yielded good harvests in recent years.

Where E-Block meets Kainady village lies a place in the lake called Kuruthikkalam. Oral tradition holds that during the era of feudal rule, criminals were bound inside wooden cages made of teak and drowned in the lake at this very spot.

East of E-Block and south of Pazhukkanila Kayal lies F-Block (628 acres), also known as Judge Aarayiram Kayal (Judge's Six Thousand). It lies west of Chingavanam. Adjoining the Kurichi area, covering about 215 acres, is the paddy field known as G-Block. To its southwest is the Akkanadi paddy field.

So far, this has described the kayal-lands south of the old shipping channel — which runs in a straight east-west line from Pazhukkanila Kayal in Pallam, Kottayam, to Punnamada Kayal in Alappuzha. Now let us turn to the kayal-lands north of that line. These were formed after 1917.

After the Twenty-Four Thousand (E-Block), the next largest are H-Block and R-Block. H-Block (1,511 acres) was reclaimed in 1917 by Pallithanathu Luka Mathai together with the Vachapparambil and Pazhayaparambil families.

The small farmland between H-Block and Pazhukkanila Kayal, I-Block (370 acres), was reclaimed in 1917 by Kunnathussheril Pius Ouseph.

J-Block (908 acres) was reclaimed in 1917 under the leadership of Akkare C.J. Kurian. This paddy field is known as "Ombathinayiram" (Nine Thousand). East of Ombathinayiram lie the Malarikkal and Thiruvaikkari paddy fields, which had already been made cultivable centuries earlier. These fields lie close to where the Meenachil river meets the lake. The Neelithodu canal, starting from Kiliroor and emptying into Pazhukkanila, runs north-south just east of Ombathinayiram. At its midpoint lie the remains of a fort belonging to the Thekkumkur dynasty from about three hundred years ago. The area west of this canal was, at that time, part of the open lake — and it is this stretch that was reclaimed to form J-Block.

West of J-Block, south of Thiruvarppu and Kumarakom, and north of H-Block, lie K and L Blocks. K-Block (661 acres), to the east, is known as Maaran Kayal. L-Block (145 acres) is very small and juts out like a wedge into Pallikkayal, and is therefore also called Appu Kayal (Wedge Lake). The Kottayam–Alappuzha waterway runs along the northern edge of the Maaran-Appu kayals. These kayal-lands were reclaimed in 1917 under the leadership of Akkare C.J. Kurian.

M and N Blocks lie north of Maaran Kayal, adjoining the western fields of Thiruvarppu panchayat. M-Block covers 276 acres and N-Block covers 261 acres. These were made cultivable in 1917 by Akkare C.J. Kurian.

Among the kayal-lands, R-Block (1,590 acres) was once a leader in paddy cultivation. It was reclaimed in 1922 by Pallithanathu Luka Mathai together with the Pazhayaparambil and Ettuparambil families. After the irrigation systems fell into disrepair, paddy cultivation declined, and the standing water eventually killed off the coconut trees, R-Block lay fallow for years. Today, R-Block is known for its stunted, "headless" coconut trees. At one time, this area produced some of the finest toddy (coconut liquor) in Kerala.

The third phase of lake reclamation for cultivation began in 1942. To address the food shortage that struck Travancore during the Second World War, on the orders of Maharaja Sree Chithira Thirunal of Travancore, Murikkummoottil Thomman Joseph led the reclamation of three kayal-lands from the middle of the lake. Of these, the one just west of R-Block, Q-Block (654 acres), is known as Marthandam Kayal, named in memory of Uthradam Thirunal Marthanda Varma, the junior prince of Travancore at the time.

Adjoining Marthandam Kayal to the north is S-Block (573 acres), or Rani Kayal, named after Sethu Parvathi Bayi of Travancore.

North of R-Block and east of Rani Kayal lies T-Block (730 acres), or Chithira Kayal, named in memory of Maharaja Sree Chithira Thirunal of Travancore. Without permission from the Church or any parish, Murikkan built a fairly large church in the southwestern corner of Chithira Kayal. Though he built separate tombs for himself and his wife, he was never granted the chance to be laid to rest there. The church, now closed and without worship, survives today only as a historical monument.

East of the Malarikkal area and west of the Muttam–Pallam area, north of Pazhukkanila Kayal, lies the paddy field known as Thiruvaikkari. The Meenachil river flows along its north and the Kodoor river along its east. It is said to have once been royal (pandarapattam) land belonging to the Poonjar royal family. In an islet in the middle of the southern part of Thiruvaikkari paddy field stands the famous Valiyaveettil Bhagavathy Temple, whose deity follows the "single-breasted" (ottamulachi) iconographic tradition. It lies very close to Irambam in Pazhukkanila.

The Kottayam–Alappuzha waterway and the Kumarakom–Kottayam waterway meet at the open lake known as Pallikkayal. The waterway connecting the Munro Lighthouse at Punnamada in Alappuzha and the Munro Lighthouse at Pallam in Pazhukkanila, in a straight east-west line, is believed to be the ancient shipping channel. Ships heading to the old port known as Kodiyoor sailed along this very channel. Timbers resembling parts of ships have been found in various parts of the Thiruvaikkari paddy field, hinting at this historical possibility.

A.H. Bastow, an Englishman who served as Chief Engineer of Travancore, drew up the plans for the kayal-lands. He was the one who named all the kayal-lands in English alphabetical order. He managed to mark the kayal-lands from C to T, excluding A, B, O, and P.