Karamana

Karamana
Suburb
Karamana old bridge
Karamana Location in Kerala, India
Coordinates: 8.503°N 76.952°E / 8.503; 76.952
Country	India
State	Kerala
District	Thiruvananthapuram
Talukas	Thiruvananthapuram
Languages
• Official	Malayalam, English
Time zone	UTC+5:30 (IST)
PIN	695002
Vehicle registration	KL-01

Karamana is a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of Kerala, India. It is one of the most densely populated but green parts of Thiruvananthapuram. The land of Karamana is made fertile by the Karamana River, which starts from the southern tip of the Western Ghats at Agastya Mala. The river flows 68 km westward and merges into the Arabian Sea at the Thiruvallom-Karumam area near Kovalam. The Juma Masjid in Karamana is a famous landmark. Karamana is also known for its active marketplace and is a major transit point for both trade and travel to or from the Kanyakumari district of neighbouring Tamil Nadu.

Etymology

According to myths, the place name 'Karamana' came from a famous namboothiri (Kerala Brahmin) family who lived on the bank of the river. The area was referred to by their house or 'mana' on the bank or 'kara' of the river; hence the name Karamana was created.

Civil society and administration

Famous Sivan Kovil

Typical wall sharing street - 'Theruvu' (Sankara Subbayyar Street)

Karamana is situated inside the city limits of Thiruvananthapuram Corporation (TC). It is the 20th ward of TC and is represented by a Councillor in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Council. Like most parts of Trivandrum, Karamana too has a substantial non-Malayalam-speaking population, which contributes immensely to the rich and vibrant cultural scene in Trivandrum. It has one of the oldest Tamil Brahmin settlements of Thiruvananthapuram and the old "Theruvu" style of wall-sharing town-houses, gives one a peek into the Brahmin life-style of yore. It maintains a large community of various religions and castes. Karamana is a model for secularism and religious/cultural tolerance. National Highway 66, the main travel and trade corridor of Kerala, passes through Karamana onward to the Central business districts of Thiruvananthapuram.

Notable people

Neelakanta Sivan, later known as Nilakanta Dasar, a resident of Karamana, man of great spiritual attainments, wrote many devotional songs in Tamil.[1] His disciple, Papanasam Sivan was greatly influenced by his compositions. He was in government service until his 35th birthday. Then, he began to compose his lyrics, in praise of Siva. He composed more than a thousand songs.[2] He used "Nilakanta" as the mudra. His greatest contribution was 'Lalitha Mahatmiyam' [3]

Dr.Sambasivan, a neurosurgeon comes from Karamana. He devised a technique to operate posterior third-ventricular tumours — extremely complex brain surgery [4]. He is also the Tantri of Sathyavageeswarar Temple(Sivan Kovil) and Durga Temple at Sreekanteswaram.

Aarattu

Thaipusam at the banks of Karamana River

Places of interest and topology

Karamana is home to the temple of Sri Satyavageeswara (Lord Siva) and the Mahadeva Temple of Thaliyal.

Thaipusam festival

Every year, an annual Thaipusam festival is held.

Karamana settlement is mainly divided into streets. They are: Sivan Kovil street, Kinattumkara Theruvu, Telugu chetty theruvu, Keezhetheruvu, single street, Aattinkara street, S.S Street (Iratta Theruvu), Deekshan Bhagavathar theruvu, Kozhakka theruvu, Nagamaiyya Street(Kollamettu theruvu) and Krishnan Kovil Street. The predominant demographic is Tamil Brahmins of different vedas including Rig Veda, Yajur Veda and Sama Veda

Nearest places of interest: Sri Padmanabha Swamy temple, 3 km; Attukal Temple, 3 km;Sree Kanteswarem, Sree Varaham, 3 km, Ananthankadu temple 3 km, Muthumari amman temple, krishnan kovil, murugan kovil, vaniamman kovil, chilanthivala dharma sastha temple, hanuman swamy temple.

Sathyavageeswara temple: The main deity is Lord Shiva, next Sri. Gomathy ambal, hanuman swami, ganapathi, murugan, ayyappan and nandikesa. A function known "ATI RUDRA" is held every month in this temple.

Chilanthival Dharma Sastha Temple, main deity is Lord Ayyappa. Ganapathi, Melangode Bhagavathi, and Yakshi deities are also there in the temple.

See also

• Karamana Janardanan Nair - A Malayalam film actor from Karamana