Thrissur (, ), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and the 21st largest in India. Thrissur is classified as a Tier-2 city by the Government of India. The city is built around a hillock called Thekkinkadu Maidanam which seats the Vadakkumnathan temple. It is located north-west of the state's capital city, Thiruvananthapuram. Thrissur was once the capital of the Kingdom of Cochin, and was a point of contact for the Assyrians, Greeks, Persians, Arabs, Romans, Portuguese, Dutch and English.
Thrissur is known as City of Celebrations and also called the cultural capital of Kerala because of its cultural, spiritual and religious leanings throughout history. The city centre contains the Kerala Sangeetha Nadaka Academy, Kerala Lalithakala Akademi and Kerala Sahitya Academy. The city hosts the Thrissur Pooram festival, the most colourful and spectacular temple festival in Kerala. The festival is held at the Thekkinkadu Maidan of Vadakumnathan Temple in April or May, in the Malayalam month 'medam'. Thrissur is home to the Academy of Sharia and Advanced Studies an Islamic institute that is unusual in that it teaches Sanskrit and aspart of the Sanskrit syllabus it includes study of several key Hindu texts.
The city is the headquarters of four major scheduled banks, South Indian Bank Ltd, CSB Bank, Dhanalakshmi Bank and ESAF Small Finance Bank as well as several chit funds. The city is also a big centre for silks and gold jewellery. Thrissur attracts the largest number of domestic tourists in Kerala.
Thrissur is also a major academic hub and is home to several educational institutions, including the Kerala Kalamandalam, Kerala Agricultural University, Kerala University of Health Sciences, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Sree Kerala Varma College, St Thomas College, Jawahar Bal Bhavan Thrissur, Kerala Institute of Local Administration, Kerala Forest Research Institute, Kerala Police Academy, Police Dog Training Centre, Kerala Fire and Rescue Services Academy, Excise Academy and Research Centre, Government College Of Music And Performing Arts, Government College of Fine Arts, Government Law College, Government Engineering College, Government Medical College and Vaidyaratnam Ayurveda College. UNESCO has included Thrissur in its Global Network of Learning Cities (GNLC) in recognition of the city's outstanding efforts to make lifelong learning a reality for all at the local level.
Etymology
The name Thrissur (Malayalam: തൃശ്ശൂർ) is a shortened form of the Malayalam word Thirusshivaperoor (meaning: Town of the Sacred Lord Shiva). The name owes itself to the most prominent feature of the city, which is the Vadakkumnathan Temple, which has Shiva as its presiding deity. Thrissur was officially known by its anglicized name Trichur until 1990 when the government decided to replace it with its real Malayalam name. Thrissur was also known as "Vrishabhadripuram" (Kailasam of the South) in ancient days.
History
The presence of numerous prehistoric megaliths and dolmens indicates that Thrissur has been occupied from at least 1000BCE to 500CE.
thumb| Image of the main entrance of [[Vadakkunnathan Temple seen from Swaraj Round from Illustrated Guide to the South Indian Railway|left]]
The Portuguese had naval influence in many parts of Kerala in the 16th century, including Thrissur. At the beginning of the 17th century, the Portuguese naval power was reduced and Dutch became the main naval power. With the help of the Dutch, the royal family of the Kingdom of Cochin recaptured Thrissur from the Zamorin of Calicut in 1710.
Thrissur rose to importance after Maharaja Sakthan Thampuran ascended the throne of the Kingdom of Cochin (1769–1805) and made Thrissur his capital. The Maharaja made the city into a major financial and commercial hub of South India, by inviting Syrian Christian families and Brahmins from adjoining areas. In the meantime, Rama Varma X, the successor of Sakthan Thampuran signed a treaty with the East India Company, transforming the state of Cochin into a British Protectorate.thumb|The first known map of Thrissur City with [[Vadakkunnathan Temple prepared by John Gould in 1816|left]]
The Indian independence movement gained momentum after a Committee was formed at the 1919 meeting of the Indian National Congress. The civil disobedience movement attracted many people in Thrissur in subsequent years, and Mahatma Gandhi visited the city in 1927 and 1934 to promote it.
R. K. Shanmukham Chetty, the controversial Diwan of Cochin Kingdom from 1935 to 1941, developed the city by constructing Thrissur Town Hall and Ramanilayam, buildings which remain important in Kerala politics. Other important civic buildings and infrastructure constructed around this time include the Municipal Corporation Building of Thrissur and the Swaraj Round.
In 1947, when India gained independence from colonial rule, Thrissur was part of the Kingdom of Cochin. Thrissur district was formed on 1 July 1949, with the headquarters at the city of Thrissur.
Geography
thumb|The [[Thrissur Kole Wetlands|Thrissur-Ponnani Kole Wetlands is one of largest, highly productive and threatened wetlands in Kerala. It acts as natural drainage for City of Thrissur.|alt=|left]]
Thrissur is the headquarters of Thrissur district, in the center of the Indian state of Kerala. The city is 75 km north-east of Kochi, 133 km south-west of Coimbatore, 124 km south-east of Kozhikode and 151 km north of Changanacherry. The city is located in a hillock called Thekkinkadu Maidan which is the second highest point in the city after the Vilangan Hills. The city has an average altitude of 2.83 meters above sea level.
The city is located in the midland region of Kerala, with an extended part of the Palakkad plains. The city geologically is composed of Archaean gneisses and crystalline schists. Major parts of the city are covered by Archaean rocks. The city lies near the center of the Indian tectonic plate (the Indian Plate) and is subject to comparatively little seismic or volcanic activity.
thumb|Ponds and canals in [[Vadakkechira, Thrissur prevent flooding during monsoon season.|alt=|left]]
Climate
Under the Köppen climate classification, the City of Thrissur features a tropical monsoon climate (Am). Summer lasts from March to May which is the hottest time of the year. Summer months are uncomfortable due to higher levels of heat and humidity. Daytime temperatures can rise up to coupled with excessive humidity. Summer is followed by the southwest monsoon from June to September. October and November form the post-monsoon or retreating monsoon season. Winter from December through February is cooler, and windy, due to winds from the Western Ghats. Winter months are generally dry and less humid compared to other months of the year. Morning temperatures are usually cool and daytime temperatures hover around .
The city is drenched in the monsoonal season by heavy showers. The average annual rainfall is approximately . The South-west monsoon generally sets in during the last week of May. After July the rainfall decreases. On average, there are 124 rainy days in a year. The maximum average temperature of the city in the summer season is while the minimum temperature recorded is . The winter season records a maximum average of and a minimum average of .
Economy
Thrissur is home to many Malayali entrepreneurs and is a major financial and commercial hub of Kerala. Historians say that King Sakthan Thampuran invited Syrian Christian families and Brahmins to settle in Thrissur city from their business centers in adjoining areas. Soon, Thrissur became a flourishing centre of internal trade in Kerala. Thrissur is one of the major manufacturing centers of plain gold and rolled gold jewellery in South India; up to 70% of Kerala's jewellery is manufactured in Thrissur. There are around 3,000 gold ornaments manufacturing units in the city and 40,000-odd artisans and others work in these units. The industry provides direct and indirect employment to 200,000 people in Thrissur. The artisans based in these units craft nearly 85 percent of one tonne gold which is used per day in Kerala. About 90 tonnes of gold was being used annually in Kerala for manufacturing of ornaments daily.
thumbnail|The Town Hall in Thrissur|left
According to the Reserve Bank of India, Thrissur has been regarded as a banking town since the 1930s, when 58 banks were headquartered in the city. In the present, the city remains a significant center for banking and finance, with the headquarters of major banks like South Indian Bank, CSB Bank, Dhanlaxmi Bank, and other financial institutions like Manappuram Finance, Kerala State Financial Enterprises and ESAF Small Finance Bank. Many chit funds, a type of Indian savings and credit system, are located in Thrissur. In 2010, an estimated 3,000 chit fund companies were located in Thrissur, employing approximately 35,000 people.
thumb|right|[[South Indian Bank headquarters in Thrissur City]]
The city is a hub for the Ayurvedic drug-manufacturing industry. Out of the 850 ayurvedic drug-manufacturing companies in Kerala, about 150, including some of the largest in the state like Oushadhi, Vaidyaratnam Oushadhasala, KP Namboodiris, are located in and around the city. Thrissur Ayurveda Cluster, another initiative by a group of Ayurvedic manufacturers of Thrissur, has developed a cluster in KINFRA Park in Koratty in Thrissur District.
Retail businesses in Thrissur include Kalyan Group, Jos Alukkas, Joy Alukkas and Josco Group. InfoPark Thrissur, the fourth technology park in Kerala, is situated in Thrissur District. Tourism has also contributed heavily to the economy of Thrissur. Domestic tourists generally use the city as a hub to explore the highly promoted tourism industry of the state of Kerala. The city with its temples, old churches and its culture, is ranked first in the number of domestic tourists visiting Kerala. In 1932, the new corporation building was constructed, and in 1972, several village councils or panchayats were added to the municipality. For administrative purposes, the city is divided into 52 wards, from which the members of the corporation council are elected for five years.
It is the second-largest city corporation in the state of Kerala in India. The corporation, headquartered in the city of Thrissur proper, directly controls power, water supply and solid waste management system in the city. The Thrissur Urban Development Authority and Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) are the agencies that prepare development plan for the city.
The Kerala Water Authority manages the city’s water supply, while the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services Department is responsible for fire protection and emergency response. The Thrissur City Police maintains law and order, and the Kerala State Electricity Board provides electricity to the city. Public transport is operated mainly by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), along with private bus operators.
Police services
The city is the headquarters of Thrissur City Police and Thrissur Rural Police. The Thrissur City Police is headed by a Police Commissioner, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. The city is divided into four sub divisions, Thrissur, Kunnamkulam, Ollur and Guruvayur. It also operates 24 police stations, including a woman police station and a traffic police station.
The Thrissur City Police Commissionerate operates out of the erst-while District Armed Police headquarters at Ramavarmapuram. The Thrissur Rural Police has its headquarters at the District Collectorate complex at Ayyanthole. The city is also the headquarters of the Inspector General of Police, Thrissur Range, which looks after the law and order of Thrissur District, Palakkad District and Malappuram District. All the Superintendent of Police of these three districts come under his jurisdiction. The city also contains the Kerala Police Academy, Central Prison, Viyyur, Police Dog Training Centre and Excise Academy and Research Centre. Indian Reserve Battalion, the new commando unit of Kerala Police is headquartered in Ramavarmapuram. Border Security Force (148 battalion) have its first center in Kerala in Thrissur only.