Kottayi is a small village in Palakkad district

Palakkad district

Palakkad District is one of the 14 districts of the Indian state of Kerala. The city of Palakkad is the district headquarters. Palakkad is bordered on the northwest by the Malappuram District, on the southwest by the Thrissur District and on the east by Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. The...

 of Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 state, South India

South India

South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

. It is under Alathur

Alathur

Alathur is a small town in the Palakkad district of Kerala, South India. It is the headquarters of the Alathur Taluk and is situated at the south west end of the district 24 km from the district headquarters at Palakkad. Alathur Taluk is predominantly rural and has an agricultural economy...

 Taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala state, India and is 15 km away from Palakkad town. Kottayi is well-connected by road. The main landmarks are the Kottayi Junction (Koottumukku) and the Kottayi High School.

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar was a Carnatic music singer from Palakkad . Known by his village name Chembai, or simply as Bhagavatar, he was born to Anantha Bhagavatar and Parvati Ammal in 1896, at Kottayi near Palakkad on Janmashtami day, with Bharani star in the month of Chingam...

, the great Indian Classical music

Indian classical music

The origins of Indian classical music can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu tradition. Indian classical music has also been significantly influenced by, or syncretised with, Indian folk music and Persian music. The Samaveda, one of the four Vedas, describes music...

 (Carnatic

Carnatic music

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...

) singer was born in Chembai, a very small village, near Kottayi, in 1895. The annual Chembai Parthasarathy Ekadasi Music festival, in memory of Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, takes place in Kottayi in February–March. One of Chembai's disciples, K. J. Yesudas

K. J. Yesudas

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...

 makes it a point to attend this event every year.

Historical Importance

Kottachantha

Kottachantha

Kottachantha is a village in Palakkad District of Kerala state, South India. It is 18 km away from Palakkad town under Alathur Taluk and spread in Kottayi & Peringottukurissi grama panchayat.-Historical Importance:...

 is a nearby village that spread in both Kottayi & Peringottukurissi

Peringottukurissi

Peringottukurissi is a panchayat headquarters in Palakkad district of Kerala state, south India. It is under Alathur Taluk in Palakkad district of Kerala state, India....

 grama panchayat.

It is said that Hyder Ali

Hyder Ali

Hyder Ali was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in southern India. Born Hyder Naik, he distinguished himself militarily, eventually drawing the attention of Mysore's rulers...

 had plan to build the famous Palakkad Fort

Palakkad Fort

Palakkad Fort is an old granite fort situated in the heart of Palakkad town of Kerala state, southern India. It was built by Haider Ali in 1766 ACE and remains one of the best preserved forts in Kerala.-History:...

 at Kottachantha

Kottachantha

Kottachantha is a village in Palakkad District of Kerala state, South India. It is 18 km away from Palakkad town under Alathur Taluk and spread in Kottayi & Peringottukurissi grama panchayat.-Historical Importance:...

, before it is built in its present location. Granites and rocks were kept there for constructing the fort. But the plan was changed and the fort was constructed at Palakkad

Palakkad

Palakkad , formerly known as Palghat, is a municipality and a town in the state of Kerala in southern India, spread over an area of 26.60 km2.The city is situated about north of state capital Thiruvananthapuram. It is the administrative headquarters of Palakkad District...

. The resulted massive plain land was used by the people of nearby villages as a market of ancient times. Since then this area is known as 'Kottachantha' of which 'Kotta' means Fort and 'Chantha' means Market in malayalam language.

It is believed that the name of the village Kottayi is derived from the use 'Kottayilekkulla Vazhi/Vayi' meaning 'The way to Fort' which also strongly support Hyder Ali's plan to build the fort at Kottachantha

Kottachantha

Kottachantha is a village in Palakkad District of Kerala state, South India. It is 18 km away from Palakkad town under Alathur Taluk and spread in Kottayi & Peringottukurissi grama panchayat.-Historical Importance:...

. However, there are no disputes over the arguments on historical importance of Kottayi & Kottachantha connected to Palakkad Fort.

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