Idukki district

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Idukki district (ഇടുക്കി; ) is one of the 14 districts in the Indian state of Kerala in the southwest of the country. It is the largest district in Kerala and lies amid the Cardamom Hills of Western Ghats in Kerala. Idukki district contains two municipal towns – Kattappana and Thodupuzha, and five taluks.

The district was constituted on 26 January 1972, by taking Peerumade, Udumbanchola, Devikulam taluks of the former High Range division from Kottayam district and the Thodupuzha taluk from Ernakulam district. Its division was previously headquartered at Kottayam city but moved to Kuyilimala near Painavu and Cheruthoni in June 1976. Malayalam and English are the two official administrative languages in the district. Tamil is the second most spoken language in Idukki district after Malayalam.

Around 66% of Kerala's power needs come from various hydroelectric power projects in Idukki district. Numerous cash crops and spices are cultivated throughout the district, making it The Spice Garden of Kerala. The Idukki Dam is one of the highest arch dams in Asia.

The major tourism destination of Idukki is Munnar.

Etymology

The name Idukki was derived from the Malayalam word ‘Idukk’, which means gorge.

History

thumbnail|ittings topography

A perfect blend of the Malayali, the Tamil and various tribal cultures is found in the Idukki district.

Located on the highest point of elevation on the Peninsular India, the Cardamom Hills and its surrounding regions were inhabited by human beings during the Megalithic age itself. Tribal people who were in contact with Tamil culture came to Idukki, from present day Coimbatore, Madurai and Ramanathapuram districts, as evidenced by their language, customs and art forms. According to modern anthropologists, the aborigines here belong to the Proto-Australoid race. Many stories are popular about their (Idukki) mountain climbing. One is that they were given the position of forest chiefs as a reward for helping the Pandya Raja clan. At one point, they had to leave Madurai and reached Idukki via Kumily via Gudalur in Tamilakkam with the help of King Poonjar. It is also believed that those who were appointed to collect forest products for the local kings settled down here over time. The tribal people here may have migrated here in search of better living facilities. As the number of families in each tribal village increases, a new community is created. The clothing used in the early days was wood made from crushed arayanjil. They also made musical instruments from animal skins. Adivasis have great ability to weave household items using reeds. They worshiped the forces of nature and trees. All the tribes had their own system of administration. The heads of the huts are known as Muppan or Kani depending on the caste. It is king among mannans. Urali are believed to be the first tribe to migrate to the hills of Idukki. Uralis still practice some practices of the Stone Age in a nominal way. It is believed that the black stone placed over the grave after burial is a continuation of the Stone Age grass stone. There are 33 tribal sanctuaries in Idukki including Venmani, Mullaringad, Nadukani, Kurukanadu, Koovakandam, Kannampadi, Muthampadi, East Mattucutta, Vellall, Memarikudi, Poovantikudi. In later times, the people who came to Poovanthikudi, Ayyappancoil who fled from the forest where the Mullaperiyar Dam is located, they left agriculture with the migration of the Britishers, Tamils and the Malayalis. All the adivasi tribes were the owners of a great cultural heritage, the tribals who danced in the inner forests, engaged in handicrafts, organized their lives in their own unique way and created many rare charms of the ancient culture. Almost all the tribal tribes of the Western Ghats were owners of a life identity that was destroyed by various invasions. Most of the land that the British planters found to plant cardamom, tea and coffee was in the lands where the tribal tribes roamed freely. As the mountains were cut down and whitened one by one, each tribal community was pushed back. Each of the tribes has their own language closely related to Tamil and Malayalam.

Classical Antiquity

Ancient Roman coins have been found from the regions like Edamaruku near Thodupuzha, indicating ancient trade between the Ancient Rome and the region during the Classical Antiquity. The Chera dynasty is mentioned as The Keralaputras in the inscriptions of the emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire (322 BCE – 184 BCE). The Thodupuzha-Muvattupuzha region was part of a province called Keezhmalanadu during this time, with its headquarters at Karikode near Thodupuzha. The High Range region, which lies to the east of Keezhmalanadu, was possibly included in two provinces namely Nantuzhanadu

The Kannan Devan Hills on the High Range region were given on lease on 11 July 1877 by the ruler of the Poonjar dynasty to John Daniel Munroe from London and for tea plantations. The land and the plantations were later resumed by the Government of Kerala through the Kannan Devan Hills (Resumption Of Lands) Act, 1971.

Munnar has acted as the summer residence of the British residents in Travancore. Tradition states that Colonel Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, was the first British man to pass through Munnar during Tipu Sultan's campaign into Travancore in the last decades of the 18th century CE, but this is unsubstantiated. The first survey of the terrain was undertaken by Benjamin Swayne Ward in 1816–1817, who followed the Periyar River into the Western Ghats and established a camp at the confluence of three rivers, from which the name of Munnar is derived. Early plantations had few facilities and were mainly huts of straw. Many dams were constructed in Idukki district during the Travancore rule in the region.

The High Range division in the northeastern part of Travancore included the Taluks of Devikulam and Peerumade.

The erstwhile Kingdom of Cochin was reorganized into Thrissur district and Taluks of North Paravur and Kunnathunad were transferred to that district. Similarly the Cherthala Taluk was transferred into the newly formed Kollam district on 1 July 1949. The Travancore Tamil Nadu Congress (TTNC) had requested to merge it with the Madras State as a part of the upcoming States Reorganization Act of 1956.

Furthermore, some quick decisions were taken by Pattom Thanu Pillai, who was the first prime minister of Travancore, to ensure that the taluk of Devikulam will retain in the modern-state of Kerala, as the region had a greater economic importance in the future coastal state of Kerala. Two new Taluks, namely Kanjirappally (from Changanassery and Thiruvalla) and Udumbanchola (from Devikulam and Peerumede) were carved out on 1 October 1956 in the Kottayam district. The High Range region was merged with the Thodupuzha taluk of Ernakulam district to form the district of Idukki. It was the largest district of Kerala by area at that time. In 1998, Kuttampuzha village was transferred into the Ernakulam district, making Idukki the second largest district in Kerala, only after to Palakkad.

The High Range region is still sparsely populated and various cash crops and spices are extensively cultivated there. In September 2023, Idukki regained its status as the largest district in the state after the addition of 12718.5095 hectares of land which was a part of Kutampuzha village in Ernakulam district to Idamalakudi village in Idukki.

Geography

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The Idukki district forms a high altitude plateau with rugged mountainous terrain, several river valleys and deep gorges. The entire northern part of the district forms a sub plateau higher than the rest of the district, this region includes the tallest peaks like Anamudi and includes the areas around Munnar, Pallivasal, Kanthalloor, Vattavada and Mankulam. The Pambar river valley (Marayoor, Keezhanthoor) forms an eastern sloping rain shadow region of the Western Ghats. The eastern frontier of the district (Kumily, Kattappana, Nedumkandam, Rajakumari and Ramakkalmedu) constitutes the Cardamon hills. The western part of the district is covered by forests and hills bordering the eastern regions of Ernakulam and Kottayam district like Neriyamangalam, Vannapuram, Thommankuthu, Moolamattom, Vagamon and Kuttikanam. Places like Thodupuzha, Koothattukulam, Udumbanoor and Muttom are situated in the semi elevated Thodupuzha River plains with scattered hills. The Periyar river basin in the district which includes Vandiperiyar, Ayyapankoil, Rajakkad, Idukki, Cheruthoni and Adimaly is an elevated plateau crisscrossed by river valleys and lies between the high peaks of the western and eastern parts of the district. The southern region is entirely covered with the forests of the Periyar National Park.

Anamudi and Meesapulimala, the two highest peaks in India south of the Himalayas, are located in Idukki district. Anamudi is situated in the Kuttampuzha Panchayat of Adimali Block in the Kannan Devan Hills village of Devikulam taluk. Thirteen other peaks in the district exceed a height of . Periyar, Thodupuzhayar, Muthirappuzhayar, and Thalayar are the important rivers of the district. Idukki Dam, Asia's largest arch dam, is located in the Idukki Township. The dam is located at the point where the Periyar flows through the gorge formed between two high and massive rocks known as 'Kuravan' and 'Kurathi'.

Climate change

Idukki has a large area of dense forest cover and shola forests. It is highly vulnerable to floods and drought and is considered a climate change hotspot in Kerala, along with the districts of Alappuzha, Palakkad, and Wayanad. Researchers attribute the increasing frequency of landslides in Idukki to climate change and deforestation. Changes in rainfall patterns caused by climate change, coupled with deforestation and large-scale construction projects, are among the contributing factors that led to the August 2020 landslide that killed 65 people, including plantation workers.

Demographics

According to the 2018 Statistics Report, Idukki district has a population of 1,093,156. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was −1.93% due to emigration and low fertility rates. Idukki has a sex ratio of 1,006 females for every 1,000 males,

| style="background:Orange;"|Name of Division

| style="background:Red;"|Malayalam (%)

| style="background:Green;"|Tamil (%)

! Cottayam Division

| 95.19

| 3.65

! Devicolam Division

| 36.18

| 59.14

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="line-height:20px;text-align:center;"

|+Languages by Taluks (1881)

| colspan="2" style="background:Black;"|Name of Taluk

| Total population

| colspan="2" style="background:Red;"|Malayalam

| colspan="2" style="background:Green;"|Tamil

| colspan="2" style="background:gray;"|Others

! 1

! Cardamom Hills

| 6,228

| 2,253

| 36.18%

| 3,683

| 59.14%

| 292

| 4.69%

! 2

! Todupulay

| 24,321

| 23,227

| 95.50%

| 1,085

| 4.46%

| 9

| 0.04%