Parassala is a small but busy town in 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...

, at the the southern end 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....

, bordering Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. Malayalam and Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

 language is spoken by the residents.

Parassala town

The name of Parassala became more popular after the rise of Prof. Parassala B. Ponnammal, an elderly woman who was the first female singer in the famous Navarathri Mandapam of Thiruvananthapuram during 2006 http://www.keralatourism.org/leadinglights/ms--parassala-ponnammal-69.php.

A large proportion of the population are involved in the collecting of palmyra nectar and fermenting to produce alcoholic drinks. The typical nectar collected on pots from atop palmyra

Palmyra

Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...

 trees are also used for making 'karupatti' which is known for its medicinal properties and is what the town is mostly know for.

Banking facilities are available, the main Bank

Bank

A bank is a financial institution that serves as a financial intermediary. The term "bank" may refer to one of several related types of entities:...

s are Federal Bank

Federal Bank

Federal Bank Limited is a major Indian commercial bank in the private sector, headquartered at Aluva, Kochi, Kerala. As of March 31 2011 it has 743 branches spread across 24 states in India and 803 ATMs around the country.-History:In the year 1931, Travancore Federal Bank was inaugurated at...

, SBI

SBI

The initialism SBI could mean:*Sound Business, Inc. a non-profit organization. College and Career Preparation for A. Philip Randolph Campus High School* SBI Group, a financial services company of Japan...

, SBT

State Bank of Travancore

State Bank of Travancore , is a subsidiary of the State Bank Group and also has private share-holders. It is the premier bank of Kerala State, India, where it has 700 branches...

, South Indian Bank, Indian Bank

Indian Bank

Indian Bank is a major Indian Commercial Bank headquartered in Chennai , India. It has 22,000 employees, 1923 branches and is one of the big public sector banks of India. It has overseas branches in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and 229 correspondent banks in 69 countries...

 and KSFE.

A railway station

Station

-Traffic and infrastructure:* Filling station, a gas station* Power station* Space station* Transit station ** Bus station** Metro station, a transit rail station** Train station or railway station** Train order station...

, telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

 exchange, bus depot

Bus depot

Bus depot has the following meanings:*A bus station is a structure where buses pick up and drop off passengers. .*A bus garage is a place where buses are stored when out of service and worked on....

, a number of multi-specialist hospitals and a government Taluk hospital

Hospital

A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....

 have given drastic change to the rustic image of this old town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

.

Education

There are several educational institutions, Government Girls Vocational, Higher Secondary School, Evans Higher Secondary School & The Teachers Training Institute are among a few that reap excellent results in public examinations.

Mr. V.R.Dhurai Raj a native of Parassala has been acknowledge with a National and State Award for best teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

.

Politics

Parassala assembly constituency is part of Trivandrum (Lok Sabha constituency)

Trivandrum (Lok Sabha constituency)

-Assembly segments:Trivandrum Lok Sabha constituency is composed of the following assembly segments:#Trivandrum#Kazhakuttom#Vattiyoorkavu#Nemom#Kovalam#Neyyattinkara#Parassala-Members of Parliament:Travancore-Cochin*1951: Annie Mascarene, Independent...

. The former Deputy Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, Sundaran Nadar, came from Parassala. Currently the Member of Kerala Legislative Assembly from Parassala Mr.Selvaraj belongs to the Communist front.

Religion

Parassala Sree Mahadeva temple is one of the foremost centres of worship in south Kerala and the temple is situated at the tiny village of Parassala adjoining the 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....

 Tamil Nadu boundary. Here the deity, Lord Siva is facing the west, which is considered as a rare phenomenon

Phenomenon

A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...

, and devotees even from far off places attend the worship

Worship

Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...

. It was built by Mallen Chembakaraman Delava of Venad royal family

The temple is centuries old and the structure is rare stone architecture and Parvathy devi and Vighneswara are the upadevathas. The temple is famous for its rare rites and ceremonies and from time immemorial entry was allowed to all sects in the community

Community

The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

 irrespective of caste or creed and significantly arayas - a backward community have the privilege of participation for the commencement of important rituals in the temple from ancient times onwards and the Lord render blessings to all irrespective of caste, colour or creed. Parassala, the holy place is well-known for communal harmony.

Many Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 worship places are in Parassala and around. Assemblies of God

Assemblies of God

The Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...

 Church in Parassala (cheruvarakonam) is a one of the largest churches in Kerala by worshippers.Spiritual Fire Fest Global Worship Center is one of the fastest growing pentecostal worship centers.

There is the famous Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 Church

Church

In the Christian religion, a church building is a building or structure whose primary purpose is to facilitate the meeting of a church. Originally, Jewish Christians met in synagogues, such as the Cenacle, and in one another's homes, known as house churches...

 in Parassala, Abbs Memorial Church, built in the 1880s in memory of the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 missionary Rev. John Abbs. The church choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 is called "Abbs Echoes" with their main vision stated as "To produce the echoes of The Great Missionary Abbs"

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...

have been active in this area since 1975. They canvass the village house to house to spread their religious message.

Southern Kurisumala is the location of a famous Christian pilgrim location.