Adoor

Adoor (Ad-oor) in Malayalam translates as "Ad" means "separated" (adarnu) and "oor" means "place" or "land". So it means "adarnu kittiya ooru" in Malayalam and in English it means "An obtained separated land".

The history of Adoor is directly connected to the history of Kollam district. During the 1st century A.D., most of the places in Kollam district were ruled by the Ay Kingdom, with their headquarters at south Travancore. It is known that during the rule of the Ay Kings, a Buddhist Monastery existed in Adoor. Some megalithic monuments like dolmens, dating back to the Neolithic period, have been discovered in the Enadimangalam village of Adoor Taluk.

Adoor was once part of Ilayidathu Dynasty and Pandalam dynasty. In 1741, Venad Maharaja Marthandavarma included Adoor to the Travancore Kingdom. King Marthandavarma once came to Adoor to hide from Ettuvettil Pillai (a wealthy family who tried to capture King Marthandavarma and to get hold of his throne) and sought the help from Chittundayil house but it was refused and then support and shelter was provided by the grandmother of Nellimuttil family at Adoor, in the later days, after he became the King he then made revenge to the Chittundayil house and granted help to the Nellimuttil house. During the rule of Dharmaraja, a notable event was the battle against Tippu Sultan, where travancore made alliance with the East India Company. During the rule of Rani Gowri Parvathy Bayi, in 1812 A.D., pandalam was annexed to the kingdom of Travancore. The Anantharamapuram market situated at Parakkode is known to be one of the oldest, largest and busiest market during the Travancore era. After India got its independence in 1947, the Maharaja of Travancore refused to join Indian Union, but later had to agree. On 1 July 1949, Travancore and Cochin States were integrated and the Maharaja of Travancore became Rajpramukh of Travancore-Cochin State. On 1 November 1956, The State of Kerala was formed integrating the earlier regions of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar. After that, Adoor was in Kollam district until a new 13th district called, the Pathanamthitta District came into existence as a separate administrative unit on the 1 November 1982. The newly formed Adoor Taluk comprised nine Villages of Kunnathur Taluk and two villages of Mavelikkara Taluk of former Kollam and Alappuzha districts. On 1 April 1990, Adoor municipality came into existence and the area under Adoor municipality is presently known as Adoor Town.

Adoor was part of Central Travancore and was never directly under British rule. Adoor was a major town of both wealthy Hindu families and notable Saint Thomas Christian families. Adoor was never captured by King Marthanadavarma.

Adoor Dharma Hospital (now known as Adoor General Hospital) was established in the 1880s during Travancore rule.

In 1914, the first school opened in Adoor: Adoor Malayalam School, known today as Adoor Govt. UP School.

In 1934, Mahatma Gandhi visited Adoor and laid the foundation stone of the present SNDP building situated near a private bus stand. The message of khadi and charkha gained more attention during this time. During the 1940s, communism started emerging in Adoor. SNDP and NSS have made great contributions to the development of Adoor.

Adoor is part of the Pathanamthitta district and is one of the two major revenue divisions of Pathanamthitta. Before the formation of the Pathanamthitta district in 1982, Adoor belonged to the Kollam district. Adoor's Assembly Constituency is a part of the newly formed Pathanamthitta Loksabha with the present MP being Shri Anto Antony. The present MLA of Adoor is Shri Chittayam Gopakumar.

As per the 2011 Indian census, Adoor has a population of 29,171 and a population density of 1,401 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,630/sq mi). Of this, 47.1% are males and 52.9% are female. 8.27% of the population is under 6 years of age. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes constitute 12.41% and 0.13% of the population respectively. The total literacy rate was 96.31% (97.49% for males and 95.27% for females), which is higher than the state average of 94% and the national average of 74.04%.

Religion

Religion in Adoor (2011)

  Hinduism (53.97%)

  Christianity (36.55%)

  Islam (9.33%)

  None (0.1%)

  Other (0.04%)

St. John's Cathedral

According to the 2011 census, Hindus are the majority with 54% of the population adhering to the religion. Christians form a significant minority, constituting 37% of the population. Muslims constitute 9% of the population.

• Govt. General Hospital, Adoor

General Hospital, Adoor

• Lifeline superspeciality hospital and fertility clinic, Adoor
• Mount Zion medical college Hospital, Adoor
• Hollycross Hospital, Adoor
• Maria Hospital, Adoor
• Mount Sinai Medical Centre, Paranthal
• Government Veterinary Hospital, Adoor

Adoor has at least four medical colleges within 40 km radius or one hour travel proximity. Famous Medical colleges and hospitals include Konni Government Medical College (28 km), Pushpagiri Medical College (31 km), Believers Church Medical College Hospitals (37 km) and Muthootu Medical Centre Pathanamthitta (18 km).

Adoor is home to many places of worship, including the Mannadi Temple.

Parthasarathy Temple, Adoor

rightTrichendamangalam Mahadevar Temple

Sree Narayanapuram Mahavishnu Temple

• Sree Narayanapuram Mahavishnu Temple

Marthashamuni Orthodox Church, Moonnalam

St. Thomas Malankara Syrian Orthodox Cathedral, Kadampanad

• St. Thomas Orthodox Cathedral, Kannamcode
• St. Mary's Orthodox Church & Holy MarthaMariam Pilgrim Centre, Karuvatta

College of Engineering Adoor

• College of Engineering, Adoor
• Kendriya Vidyalaya Adoor

• Adoor Bhasi, actor
• Adoor Bhavani, actress
• Adoor Gopalakrishnan, director
• Govindankutty, actor-anchor
• Gouri G. Kishan, actress
• Adoor Pankajam, actress
• Adoor Prakash, former Kerala Minister, present Attingal MP
• E. V. Krishna Pillai, writer

• http://www.adoormunicipality.in/ Archived 19 March 2020 at the Wayback Machine

Media related to Adoor at Wikimedia Commons

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Adoor.