Changanassery is a town in Kottayam district of Kerala, south India. It is located 23 km from Kottayam town. The town has an 18th century temple and is the host to the Deepam festival, which is celebrated every winter.
In the past, the town was known as Anchu Vilakkinte Pattanam in local languange, meaning Town of five fire lamps, which symbolises unity and point to old business time.
Changansserry was an old business place during the pre-British area. During the renovation of Travencore Changanasserry was the boundary and was called Thekkum koor.
The origin of the name Changanessery (Changanechery)
This was the land with a special type of grass called "changanam" and that gave the name changana chery (means land) and that later transformed to changanassery.
It is also believed that there were a lot of Jaina Sangha (group of Jaina people) and that gave the name sangham cherry, which ultimately transferred to Changanacherry.
Education Center
Changanassery is famous for its many excellent schools and colleges. St. Berchmans' College, Assumption College and NSS Hindu College are the three main centers for higher education. St. Berchmans' High School is the oldest school and is over a hundred years old.
Nair Service Society - NSS
Nair Service Society or the NSS as it is popularly known in Kerala has its headquarters in Changanacherry. NSS is a social organization which has made remarkable contributions in the fields of education , medicine and agriculture. It's volunteers spanning about 4000 odd karayogams spread across kerala continue to work towards upliftment of the downtrodden sections society focussed on localized activities across kerala. The Society was started by Mannathu Padmanabhan (Mannam) on 31 October 1914. Mannathu Padmanabhan revived and reshaped the old concept of village societies, the Karayogams, which practically set the tenor of family and village life Mannam fought for social equality, the first phase of being the Vaikom Styagraha, demanding the public roads near the temple at Vaikom be opened to low caste Hindus. He supported the admission of low caste Hindus into temples was the chairman of the Guruvayur Satyagraha, paving the way for the temple entry proclamation. In 1950 he set up the Hindu Mandalam to draw together Hindus. Rousing them to support the National Movement. He suffered imprisonment for his support. As the first president of Travancore Devaswom Board he revitalised many temples which had almost ceased to function. NSS, started by Mannam continues its social activities based out of Changanacherry.
Kurichy a beautiful place close to Changanachery
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