Paika is a small town 8 km away from Palai on Pala-Ponkunnam road of Muvattupuzha

Muvattupuzha

Muvattupuzha is a municipality in Ernakulam district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is a junction of three districts namely Ernakulam, Kottayam and Idukki. The town is bordered by Kottayam district on southern side and Idukki district on eastern side approximately 20 km from the town...

 - Punalur

Punalur

Punalur is a city situvated near the Tamil Nadu Kerala Border in Kollam district in the southern state of Kerala, India. It is the pioneer in starting industrial revolution in Kerala by establishing Punalur Paper Mills, the first industry in kerala. It is situated in the banks of the river Kallada...

 state highway No.8, in Kottayam district

Kottayam district

Kottayam is one of the 14 districts in the state of Kerala, India. The district has its headquarters at Kottayam town, located at 9.36° N and 76.17° E. According to the 1991 census, it is the first district to achieve highest literacy rate in the whole of India...

, 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....

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is part of Meenachil

Meenachil

Meenachil is the name of the north-eastern region of Kottayam district in Kerala, south India. The name originates from Meenakshi the Dravidian goddess. Palai is the main town in Meenachil. The arterial river of the district is also named Meenachil...

 Taluka, known as the best fertile agricultural land of Travancore

Travancore

Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...

. Majority of people are Syrian Malabar Nasrani

Syrian Malabar Nasrani

The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...

 Catholic Christians continuing their rich traditions from the times of St. Thomas, an apostle of [Jesus Christ]. This region is part of the midlands (adjacent to the highranges) of south-eastern kerala. Main income is from Agriculture mostly rubber plantations.

Many famous Syrian Catholic families of Kerala have origins around Meenachil that includes places like Pala, Paika, Edamattom, Bharananganam, Poovarany, Vilakkumadom, Pinnakkanadu etc.

The Syrian Catholic families,most of them here are rubber estate owners.The Sabarimala

Sabarimala

Sabarimala is a Hindu pilgrimage center located in the Western Ghat mountain ranges of Pathanamthitta District in Kerala. It is the largest annual pilgrimage in India with an estimated 45–50 million devotees visiting every year. Sabarimala is believed to be the place where the Hindu God Ayyappan...

Pilgrimage route passes through Paika.

The Jubilee feast of the shrine of Our Lady(St.Mary's shrine Paika) of St. Joseph's Church conducted during the second week of December attracts thousands of believers every year to this small, panoramic hamlet. Miles of colourful decorations along the pathways and processions led by traditional orchestra during the feast provide cynosure to the eyes.Bible Tableau n Two Wheeler Fancy Dress competitions conducted in association with Jubilee Thirunaal attracts thousands of people to this small town.

The elders are of the opinion that the former name of Paika was Kottakachery, and it was a thriving market in the past. Famous short-story writer Mr. Paul Zacharia hails from Urulikunnam, a beautiful village near Paika.

Famous Christian Pilgrim centre Bharananganam is very near to Paika. Njandupara,Kochukottaram,Valiakottaram,Urulikunnam, Vilakkumadom, Edamattom Vattamthanam etc..are a few beautiful villages around Paika. Some of the first or second order rivers in the area are Valiya thodu, Cheria thodu, Ponnozhukum thodu etc.

Gov.Hospital Jn is near to Paika,where the Public Community Health Centre of Paika is Situated.
International Eye Hospital run by Lions Club is situated on the Paika - Bharananganam Route.

To locate these places on a satellite image, please go to the following link http://wikimapia.org/#lat=9.6537656&lon=76.7252541&z=17&l=0&m=b if that does not work, enter "paika town" in quotation marks on google and a satellite image will appear.

For more details login to www.paika.blogspot.com/www.paikatown.blogspot.com