Ramavarmapuram is the northern suburb of Thrissur City in Kerala. It is home to several governmental and other institutions. The largest menhir type megalithic monument in granite in Kerala is found there.
At the time of the founding of a broadcasting station of All India Radio in Thrissur, the place where the station was established was renamed as Ramavarmapuram. Prior to that the place was known as Anappara. The original place name is still used locally. Over the years the place specified as Ramavarmapuram expanded to include the entire region in the northern suburbs of Thrissur City. After of the formation of Thrissur Municipal Corporation in September 2000, one of the fifty-two divisions of the city has been named Ramavarmapuram.List of divisions of Thrissur Municipal Corporation (in Malayalam) . Retrieved 19 January 2009
Origin of the name
A part of the real estate holdings of the Cochin royal family was acquired by the government for setting up a broadcasting station of All India Radio in Thrissur. The place where the station was established was named as Ramavarmapuram in honour and to perpetuate the memory of Rama Varma the donor of the land.C A Krishnan (2009). Anchuvilakku (Malayalam : അഞ്ചുവിളക്ക്), p.35-38. Green Books, Thrissur. The word 'Ramavarmapuram' can be loosely translated into English as 'Rama Varma's land'. The donor was the last king of the princely state of Cochin, Rama Varma Kunjunni Thampuran known popularly as Pareekshith Thampuran. He was born on 15 August 1876 and crowned as king in July 1948. On 1 July 1949, the princely states of Travancore and Cochin were integrated to form the Travancore-Cochin state. With that merger Thampuran ceased to be the Maharaja of Cochin. He died in November 1964 at Thripunithura.K K N Kurup, Hill Palace and Pareekshith Thampuran . Retrieved 23 January 2009Cochin Royal Family Historical Society . Retrieved 23 January 2009
In Cochin royal family all the male members were named according to the following convention: eldest son to a mother - Rama Varma, second son - Kerala Varma and third son - Ravi Varma.Rameshan Thampuran, Genealogy of Cochin Royal Family Because of this convention the official names of most of the rulers of Cochin were Rama Varma. Counting since 1500 CE Parikshith Thampuran was the eighteenth king named Rama Varma in the history of Cochin.Indian Princely States Website, The University of Queensland, Australia . Retrieved 25 January 2009
Parukutty Nethyar Amma connection
Parukutty Nethyar Amma (5 July 1875 - 25 February 1963) was the consort of the ruler of the Kingdom of Cochin, Maharaja Rama Varma XVI (popularly known as Madrassil Theepetta Thampuran), who reigned from 1914 to 1932. Nethyar Amma had a powerful influence in the administration of the Kingdom during the reign of Rama Varma XVI. In a biography of Nethyar Amma published in 2022, one can find this passage: "During the abdicated Raja's period of rule, the Central jail at Ernakulam had been transferred to a park in Viyyur, near Trichur, to a location that once housed the Trichur Zoo. That zoo had been closed in 1912 and the animals had been sent to Madras. Parukutty sold a thousand acres in Viyyur that she personally owned to the state for Rs 1. Of these, 200 acres next to the Central Jail were utilized to extend the jail grounds. She wanted to use the remaining 800 acres to create a township - Rama Varma Puram - in honour of Maharaja Rama Varma XVI. The intent was to create a university town similar to Oxford and to move the main colleges such as the Maharaja's College in Ernakulam to these premises. She also wanted to establish an engineering college, a veterinary college, an agricultural college and a medical college there." A website on the history of Cochin royal family states that from the official correspondences between British India Govt officials of the period one can infer that there indeed was a plan "... to move the Maharaja’s College from Ernakulam to Ramavarmapuram near Thrissur".
Pre-history of the locality
Ramavarmapuram has a little known pre-history. The area must have been the site of human settlement in very ancient times. This is evidenced by the presence of a megalithic monument there. The monument is in granite and is of menhir type. Such monuments are very rare in Kerala. In fact, including Ramavarmapuram, there are only two places in Kerala where such monuments exist. The other place is Kuttoor also in Thrissur district. The monument in Ramavarmapuram is the larger of the two and measures in height and in breadth. It is under the protection of Department of Archaeology since 1944.List of monuments in Kerala . Retrieved 19 January 2009 The monument is locally known as 'Padakkallu' or 'Pulachikkallu'.Kerala State Urban Development Project : Art and heritage of Thrissur . Retrieved 26 January 2009
These menhirs are memorials for the departed souls put up at burial sites. They belong to the Megalithic Age of Kerala, which is roughly estimated between 1000 BCE and 500 CE.S Hemachandran, "Monuments Embossing History", Kerala Calling, July 2007.. Retrieved 24 January 2009 All such monuments have not been dated exactly. Some experts are of the view that these are the remnants of the Neolithic Age in the development of human technology.
The Ramavarmapuram menhir is also believed to be a monument belonging to the Sangam period in the South Indian history.V V K Valath (1992). Keralathile Sthalacharithrangal: Thrissur Jilla,(Malayalam: കേരളത്തിലെ സ്ഥലചരിത്രങ്ങള്: തൃശ്ശൂര് ജില്ല) p.217. Kerala Sahithya Akadamy, Thrissur.
Terrain
The nature of the terrain of region is reflected in the original name of the area. 'Anappara' is the place of the 'elephant rock', a place with a rock resembling the back of an elephant. (There are many places in Kerala named Anappara.) Ramavarmapuram area has extensive granite quarries supplying large quantities of construction aggregates in the form boulders, crushed stone and gravel to the building industry in Thrissur district.
A factory has been established in 2003 to produce dimension stones in granite. The tiles and slabs produced by the factory have a unique color christened 'Malabar green'.T Ramavarman. "Quarrying in troubled times", The Hindu, 14 July 2005.. Retrieved 25 January 2009
Church murals There are around ten churches in Kerala having murals, all of them at least two centuries old. The renovated St. Francis Xavier's Church has 16 murals of incidents in the life of Jesus.Anjana Chandramouly Fusion time in Kerala murals The Business Line dated 26 June 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2009K K Gopalakrishnan The fine art of devotion The Hindu dated 23 December 2005. Retrieved 8 February 2009
Institutions in Ramavarmapuram
Ramavarmapuram has an unusual concentration of well-known establishments all connected to Kerala Police. These include one of the largest police training centres in India, south India's only police dog training centre and the headquarters of the Kerala Armed Police I Battalion. This has its origins in the separation of the then Cochin State Police into two divisions in the early 1930s and the stationing of the headquarters of one of the divisions in the present-day Ramavarmapuram.Official Website of Kasaragod Police . Retrieved 28 January 2009
Institutions connected to Kerala Police
Headquarters of Kerala Armed Police I Battalion
The battalion was established by a Government order in 1972. A striking feature of this campus of Kerala Armed Police is the particular shape of its barracks: Three-storied Z- and L-shaped barracks all constructed by Rao Bahadur T S Narayana Iyyer, Dewan of Cochin in 1930s. The camp site is located in a campus.Kerala Police History Retrieved 8 January 2009 This was the first such battalion to be formed in Kerala. Presently there are five such battalions.
The armed police battalions serve as reserve force to be deployed whenever and wherever the district police fall short of manpower in the maintenance of law and order. When so deployed, they function under the control of the district police officers and are returned to their camps as soon as the requirement is over. Unlike district police, they are not permitted to undertake crime investigation work. The battalions are maintained on the pattern of infantry battalions.Armed Police Battalions . Retrieved 26 January 2009
Kerala Police Academy
The Academy, spread over an area of 348 acres (1.4 km²), started functioning in May 2004. It is the main training centre of Kerala Police and is designed to have a capacity of training 1950 trainees at a time, which is one of the highest in India. Official website of Kerala Police Academy . Retrieved 8 January 2009
Police Dog Training Center
This is the only one such centre in South India. The first batch of dogs was passed out in October 2008. The centre is attached to Kerala Police Academy. Dog squad passes out, The Hindu dated 20 October 2008 . Retrieved 9 January 2009
There are two types of dogs employed by Police: 'Tracker dogs' which track criminals and 'Sniffer dogs' which detects explosives, narcotics etc. The dog training centre can accommodate 30 dogs at a time and they can be trained in both tracking and sniffing operations. On the Dog Squad of Kerala Police . Retrieved 26 January 2009
Thrissur District Armed Reserve Police
The administrative blocks, residential quarters, parade grounds and other establishments connected with Thrissur District Armed Reserve Police are all located in Ramavarmapuram adjacent to the campus of Kerala Armed Police I Battalion.
After several mergers of the various wings of the law-enforcement agencies existing in the different parts of Kerala before independence, a force called State General Armed Reserve was formed in 1941. This was bifurcated in 1958 to form the Special Armed Police Battalion and the District Armed Reserve Police.
Kerala Fire and Rescue Services Academy
The academy started functioning in June 2007. There is a growing demand for trained fire fighting men in foreign countries. The Academy is designed to run rescue and fire fighting courses for able bodied youth. The Government has requested the Central Government to upgrade the Academy as a national centre for disaster management training.42 new fire stations to be set up in Kerala, The Hindu dated 5 March 2008 . Retrieved 10 January 2009Rs. 10 crore for Fire and Rescue Services, The Hindu dated 5 June 2007 . Retrieved 9 January 2008
Administrative Office of Thrissur City Police Commissioner The Administrative Office of Thrissur City Police Commissioner is located in Ramavarmapuram. The Thrissur City Police Commissionerate was formed in March 2011 by bifurcating the then existing Thrissur police district into rural and urban. The administrative jurisdiction of the City Police Commissioner covers 12 police stations including a women's police station and a traffic station. These stations fall in three subdivisions, namely, Thrissur (comprising Thrissur East, Thrissur West and Ollur circles) and Guruvayur (comprising Peramangalam and Guruvayur circles). P. Vijayan is the first City Police Commissioner of Thrissur.
Civil Defence Training Institute Kerala's first Civil Defence Training Institute is being set up in a campus spread over eight acres of land in Ramavarmapuram near Viyyur Central Jail. Oommen Chandy, Kerala Chief Minister, laid the foundation for the Institute on 30 June 2012. The Institute is intended to train ex-service men, home guards, NCC cadets and the general public to deal with disasters, including natural calamities.
Educational institutions
State Institute of English, Kerala