The Old Market of Kottayam and St. Thomas Marthoma Church

The market currently active in Kottayam was relocated to Kodimatha, south of the town, only a few years ago. Before that, a market had stood for about a century just north of Chanthakkadavu in Thirunakkara. Trade still thrives there actively today. This market at Thirunakkara had itself been relocated there in 1881 by Sir T. Rama Rao, the first Dewan Peshkar of the Kottayam Division, from its earlier location north of Kacheri Kadavu, which includes the Hajur Kacheri (chief public office).

But even this was not the first market ever established in Kottayam town. At the site of the very first market stands today a Christian church that has just completed 125 years.

Records indicate that the earliest local marketplace in Kottayam town, known as Thaliyanthanapuram Chantha, was established in AD 1445 to the east of Thalikkotta by Veera Kerala Varma, the Thekkumkur king of that time. In a book titled "The History of Vakathanam" by the late local historian Prof. K.M. Kuriakose, in a passage describing the origins of the Plapparambil family, it is noted that Sankarapuri Thomman arrived at Thazhathangadi in Kottayam in 1447 and presented himself before the Thekkumkur king. Following the establishment of the old market in Kottayam in AD 1445, the Thekkumkur king had brought the Kochett, Maliyekkal, Kizhakkeyattam, and Thekkethalaykkal families from Kuravilangad to settle in Kottayam. Sankarapuri Thomman, who arrived afterward, was settled by the king to the east of Aruthutty Bridge, at a place called Kuttanchira.

As early as the first half of the fifteenth century, the Thekkumkur kingdom had developed the area comprising Thaliyilkunnu and Thazhathangadi as its administrative capital. A fort with six bastions and moats was built around Thaliyilkunnu. Palaces and administrative offices were established there. The market came into being as a natural extension of this development. Though the presence of the fort (kotta) gave the place its name, Kottayam, the market itself continued to be known as Thaliyanthanapuram Chantha.

Three hundred years ago, Kottayam town extended west from Annankunnu and Chungam up to Kummanam, and from Govindapuram in the north to Thiruvathukkal in the south. It was called a "town" (pattanam) because, unlike ordinary villages, it housed the seat of administration, a jail, a garrison, trading centers, and residential areas — giving it a distinctly urban character.

At that time, the area now known as Thirunakkara was still overgrown with scrub and unfit for habitation. Muttambalam and Vayaskara were the other inhabited areas near Thirunakkara. Thirunakkara gained prominence only after the Thirunakkara Temple was established, sometime between 1500 and 1550. Thaliyanthanapuram Chantha was the local marketplace where residents of old Kottayam town — which included the trading centers of Thazhathangadi, Valiyangadi, and Puthenangadi, all important for export trade — bought their everyday necessities.

The market remained active for about 435 years through the Thekkumkur era, until AD 1881, when Dewan Peshkar Sir T. Rama Rao relocated it to Thirunakkara as part of urban reforms. Even then, traders were reluctant to leave. Local people did not shift to the new market either. Goods continued to arrive at the old site by waterway, by headload, and by bullock cart. It took the authorities one or two years — deploying police to intimidate and turn away traders and redirect them to Thirunakkara — before the shift to the new market was finally achieved.

Goods brought from distant places by boat along the Meenachil river would enter through a canal starting at Karikkuzhikkadavu, north of Valiyangadi, and arrive at the broad waterbody called Nettayam on the northern edge of the market. Boats would moor at Chanthakkadavu on the bank of this waterbody, after which goods were carried by headload to the market. Today, the canal, the Nettayam, and Chanthakkadavu have all disappeared — the entire area has been filled in and developed into a residential zone. A few years ago, a stone post with a hole in it, once used to tie up boats at Chanthakkadavu, was unearthed during excavation work near a house north of the old market site.

The principal traders here were Nazranis (Syrian Christians). It is said that at the very spot where the altar (madbaha) of today's Marthoma church stands, there once stood a rice shop belonging to the Pukadiyilkar family. Apart from the church precinct itself, the market's shop rows and open trading area stretched east to west, including the surrounding neighborhood.

The site where Thaliyanthanapuram Chantha once stood later came to be known as Pazhaya Chantha (Old Market). The junction where the public road from Puthenangadi joins was called Pazhenthakkavala. After the Aruthutty canal was cut open in AD 1906, the place came to be called Aruthutty, and the junction, Aruthuttikkavala. The canal was named Aruthuttithodu because it was formed by cutting through and joining together patches of laterite land. This canal was dug specifically to give cargo boats coming from the east an easier route to the relocated market landing at Thirunakkara. Before that, boats coming from Pala and other places had to go around via Thazhathangadi and Illickal before reaching Kodimatha, and only then could they arrive at Chanthakkadavu.

St. Thomas Marthoma Church was established at the site of the old market in 1901. This place of worship, later popularly called "Pazhenthapally," was built under the leadership of Thazhath Chandapilla Kathanar for the Syrian Christians of the Marthoma Church. The church's title deeds record the phrase: "at the site where Thaliyanthanapuram Chantha once stood..." Some records also mention that after the market's relocation, missionaries ran a thatched English school for girls in the area, which later closed once Baker School was established.

Trade goods reached this market from various regions via boats plying the Meenachil river. Near Valiyangadi, a large canal starting at Karikkuzhikkadavu on the Meenachil river and flowing eastward joined the broad Nettayam waterbody that lay to the south of the market. Boats would arrive here in rows and moor together, after which porters would carry the goods to the market. On inquiry, the author learned that this waterbody no longer exists. A small stretch of the old market canal, from Karikkuzhikkadavu onward, survives today only as a narrow drain.

After Marthanda Varma conquered Thekkumkur in AD 1749, this area — which had been part of Kottayamkara — was gifted to the Kumaranalloor Ooranma Devaswom. Those who had traditionally lived near the church continued to hold and use the land, which passed down within their families. The main royal road ran from Chettitheruvu, along the left side of the market, up to the main gate of Thalikkotta — today, this forms part of the Kottayam–Kumarakom road. To the south of the market stood the Thanavu (jail); the house that now stands in that spot is still called "Thanavil." East of the Thanavu stood a palace called Idathil Madam. According to local historian Kurishummoottil Lukose, this was where the Thekkumkur kings would come in the evenings to meet with their subjects. A Christian house called Poonithramadam now stands where this palace once was. To its east lay a large waterbody called Parasuraman Chira, which was later filled in and became Chirayil Padam (paddy field) — and has since been filled in further and developed into a residential area.